The Development of CIA Covert Action

Abstract

The chapter considers how the CIA developed its covert action capabilities. it begins with a discussion of the centrality of OSS figures to the early character and shape of the Agency. It also considers how the dominant political personalities of the Truman administration impacted on the CIA’s development and deployment of it covert actions. It illustrates how inter-departmental rivalries were rife, but how by the end of the Truman administration, covert action was formally centralised and lead by the CIA. Document: NSC 5412/2.