About CIA — Central Intelligence Agency

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=7YQSqjSh" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/index.html","20081209234952","https://web.archive.org/","web","https://web-static.archive.org/_static/", "1228866592"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=p7PEIJWi" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8"/> <link rel="kss-base-url" href="/about-cia/index.html"/> <script type="text/javascript" src="/web/20081209234952js_/https://www.cia.gov/javascript/register_function-cachekey1018.js"> </script> <style type="text/css"></style> <link rel="kinetic-stylesheet" type="text/css" href="deploy_link_error"/> <title>About CIA — Central Intelligence Agency</title> <meta content="The Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947 with the signing of the National Security Act by President Harry S. Truman. The act also created a Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) to serve as head of the United States intelligence community; act as the principal adviser to the President for intelligence matters related to the national security; and serve as head of the Central Intelligence Agency. " name="description"/>   <link rel="author" href="deploy_link_error" title="Author information"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="/web/20081209234952im_/https://www.cia.gov/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="home" href="/index.html" title="Front page"/> <link rel="contents" href="/sitemap.html" title="Site Map"/> <link rel="search" href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/search_form" title="Search this site"/>  <meta http-equiv="imagetoolbar" content="no"/> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="/web/20081209234952js_/https://www.cia.gov/javascript/javascript.js"></script> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="/web/20081209234952js_/https://www.cia.gov/javascript/events.js"></script> </head> <body class="section-about-cia template-document_view" dir="ltr"> <a id="top" name="top"></a> <p class="hiddenStructure"> <a accesskey="2" href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/index.html#documentContent">Skip to content.</a> | <a accesskey="6" href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/index.html#portlet-navigation-tree">Skip to navigation</a> </p>  <table id="mnBG"> <tr> <td id="mnBGL"><div id="mnBGLStripe"></div></td> <td id="mnBGC">  <div id="ciaUtilityBlock">   </div>  <div id="lColBG"> <div id="rColBG"> <table id="portal-columns"> <tr> <td id="portal-column-one">  <div class="visualPadding"> <div id="portletwrapper-706c6f6e652e6c656674636f6c756d6e0a636f6e746578740a2f434941676f760a676c6f62616c5f6c6f676f" class="portletWrapper kssattr-portlethash-706c6f6e652e6c656674636f6c756d6e0a636f6e746578740a2f434941676f760a676c6f62616c5f6c6f676f"> <a id="portal-logo" accesskey="1" href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/index.html"> CIA </a> </div> <div id="portletwrapper-706c6f6e652e6c656674636f6c756d6e0a636f6e746578740a2f434941676f760a6e617669676174696f6e" class="portletWrapper kssattr-portlethash-706c6f6e652e6c656674636f6c756d6e0a636f6e746578740a2f434941676f760a6e617669676174696f6e"> <dl id="portlet-navigation-tree" class="portlet portletNavigationTree"> <dt class="portletHeader"> <span class="portletTopLeft"></span> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/sitemap.html" class="tile">Navigation</a> <span class="portletTopRight"></span> </dt> <dd class="portletItem lastItem"> <ul class="portletNavigationTree navTreeLevel0"> <li class="navTreeItem"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/index.html" class="" title=""> CIA Home </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeCurrentNode navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/index.html" class="state-published navTreeCurrentItem navTreeCurrentNode navTreeFolderish" title="About CIA Description"> About CIA </a> </div> <ul class="navTree navTreeLevel1"> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/todays-cia/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title=""> Today's CIA </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/leadership/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title=""> Leadership </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-vision-mission-values/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title=""> CIA Vision, Mission & Values </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/virtual-tour/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title=""> Headquarters Tour </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-museum/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title=""> CIA Museum </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/history-of-the-cia/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title=""> History of the CIA </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/faqs/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title=""> FAQs </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/strategic-intent-2007-2011.html" class="state-published" title="This Strategic Intent, which benefited greatly from [employee] comments and suggestions, is our roadmap for the next five years. It will enable us to become a more effective organization in fulfilling our paramount mission: protecting the American people. Its central theme is integration鈥攐perating as a team within our Agency and with our Community colleagues. "> Strategic Intent 2007-2011 </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/no-fear-act/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title="Note - link to the No Fear Act parent page, which is housed under EEO"> NoFEAR Act </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/site-policies/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title=""> Site Policies </a> </div> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/careers/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title=""> Careers </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/offices-of-cia/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title="Offices of CIA Description"> Offices of CIA </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/news-information/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title="News & Information Description"> News & Information </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/library/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title="Library Description"> Library </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/kids-page/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title="Kids' Page Description"> Kids' Page </a> </div> </li> <li class="navTreeItem visualNoMarker navTreeFolderish"> <div> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/contact-cia/index.html" class="state-published navTreeFolderish" title=""> Contact CIA </a> </div> </li> </ul> <span class="portletBottomLeft"></span> <span class="portletBottomRight"></span> </dd> </dl> </div> <div id="portletwrapper-706c6f6e652e6c656674636f6c756d6e0a636f6e746578740a2f434941676f760a6d697373696f6e" class="portletWrapper kssattr-portlethash-706c6f6e652e6c656674636f6c756d6e0a636f6e746578740a2f434941676f760a6d697373696f6e"><div id="ciaMission"> <h3>Mission</h3> <p>The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an independent US Government agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior US policymakers.</p> <p> For more on the Agency's mission, visit our <a title="Strategic Intent 2007-2011" class="internal-link" href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/strategic-intent-2007-2011.html">Strategic Intent</a>.</p> </div> </div> <div class="managePortletsLink"> </div>   </div>  </td> <td id="contentColsA-R">  <div id="topHeadContainer"> <div id="flashArea2" title="Central Intelligence Agency"><span>Central Intelligence Agency</span></div> </div> <div id="ciaWorkSearchBar"> <div id="ciaWork">The Work of a Nation. The Center of Intelligence</div> <form id="ciaSearchForm" method="post" action="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/search?NS-search-page=results"> <label class="hiddenStructure" for="searchBox">Search Field</label> <input id="searchBox" name="NS-query" type="text" maxlength="2047" value="Search" onfocus="clearSearch(this);" onblur="showSearch(this)"/> <label class="hiddenStructure" for="searchBox">Search Type</label> <input type="hidden" name="NS-search-type" id="NS-search-type" value="NS-boolean-query"/> <label class="hiddenStructure" for="searchBox">Max Records</label> <input type="hidden" name="NS-max-records" id="NS-max-records" value="20"/> <label class="hiddenStructure" for="searchBox">Collection</label> <input type="hidden" name="NS-collection" id="NS-collection" value="Everything"/> <label class="hiddenStructure" for="searchBtn">Search Button</label> <input id="searchBtn" type="image" alt="Search" src="/web/20081209234952im_/https://www.cia.gov/images/searchBtn.gif"/> </form> </div> <div class="floatClear"></div>  <table id="contentColsB"> <tr> <td id="portal-column-content"> <div id="sectionHeadBar"> <h1>About CIA</h1> </div> <div id="viewlet-above-content"><div id="portal-breadcrumbs"> <a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/index.html">CIA Home</a> <span class="breadcrumbSeparator"> > </span> <span dir="ltr"> <span>About CIA</span> </span> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div id="region-content" class="documentContent"> <span id="contentTopLeft"></span> <span id="contentTopRight"></span> <a name="documentContent"></a> <dl class="portalMessage info" id="kssPortalMessage" style="display:none"> <dt>Info</dt> <dd></dd> </dl> <h1 class="documentFirstHeading">About CIA</h1> <div id="category" class="documentByLine"> </div> <div class="plain"> <p>The Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947 with the signing of the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081209234952/http://www.intelligence.gov/0-natsecact_1947.shtml">National Security Act</a> by President Harry S. Truman. The act also created a Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) to serve as head of the United States intelligence community; act as the principal adviser to the President for intelligence matters related to the national security; and serve as head of the Central Intelligence Agency. The <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081209234952/http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ458.108">Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004</a> amended the National Security Act to provide for a Director of National Intelligence who would assume some of the roles formerly fulfilled by the DCI, with a separate Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.</p> <p><a title="General Michael V. Hayden, USAF" href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/leadership/hayden.html">General Michael V. Hayden, USAF</a>, became Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on May 30, 2006.</p> <p>The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency serves as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency and reports to the Director of National Intelligence. The CIA director's responsibilities include:</p> <ul><li>Collecting intelligence through human sources and by other appropriate means, except that he shall have no police, subpoena, or law enforcement powers or internal security functions;</li><li>Correlating and evaluating intelligence related to the national security and providing appropriate dissemination of such intelligence;</li><li>Providing overall direction for and coordination of the collection of national intelligence outside the United States through human sources by elements of the Intelligence Community authorized to undertake such collection and, in coordination with other departments, agencies, or elements of the United States Government which are authorized to undertake such collection, ensuring that the most effective use is made of resources and that appropriate account is taken of the risks to the United States and those involved in such collection; and</li><li>Performing such other functions and duties related to intelligence affecting the national security as the President or the Director of National Intelligence may direct. </li></ul> <p>The function of the Central Intelligence Agency is to assist the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in carrying out the responsibilities outlined above.</p> <p>To accomplish its mission, the CIA engages in research, development, and deployment of high-leverage technology for intelligence purposes. As a separate agency, CIA serves as an independent source of analysis on topics of concern and also works closely with the other organizations in the Intelligence Community to ensure that the intelligence consumer鈥攚hether Washington policymaker or battlefield commander鈥攔eceives the best intelligence possible.</p> <p>As changing global realities have reordered the national security agenda, CIA has met these challenges by:</p> <ul><li>Creating special, multidisciplinary centers to address such high-priority issues such as nonproliferation, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, international organized crime and narcotics trafficking, environment, and arms control intelligence. </li><li>Forging stronger partnerships between the several intelligence collection disciplines and all-source analysis. </li><li>Taking an active part in Intelligence Community analytical efforts and producing all-source analysis on the full range of topics that affect national security. </li><li>Contributing to the effectiveness of the overall Intelligence Community by managing services of common concern in imagery analysis and open-source collection and participating in partnerships with other intelligence agencies in the areas of research and development and technical collection. </li></ul> <p>By emphasizing adaptability in its approach to intelligence collection, the CIA can tailor its support to key intelligence consumers and help them meet their needs as they face the issues of the post-Cold War World.</p> <p><a title="Strategic Intent 2007-2011" href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/strategic-intent-2007-2011.html">Strategic Intent 2007-2011</a></p> </div> <div class="relatedItems"> </div> <div class="visualClear"></div> <div class="documentActions"> </div> <div class="reviewHistory" id="review-history"> </div> <div class="documentByLine"> <br/> <div> Posted: Dec 19, 2006 02:07 PM<br/> </div> <div> Last Updated: Jun 02, 2008 09:34 AM<br/> </div> <div> Last Reviewed: Apr 19, 2007 06:37 AM<br/> </div> <br/> </div> <span id="contentBottomLeft"></span> <span id="contentBottomRight"></span> </div> </div> </td> <td id="portal-column-two"> <div class="visualPadding"> <div id="portletwrapper-706c6f6e652e7269676874636f6c756d6e0a636f6e746578740a2f434941676f760a72696768745f636f6c756d6e5f636f6e74656e74" class="portletWrapper kssattr-portlethash-706c6f6e652e7269676874636f6c756d6e0a636f6e746578740a2f434941676f760a72696768745f636f6c756d6e5f636f6e74656e74"><div id="portletRightColumnContent"> <p> </p> </div> </div> <div class="managePortletsLink"> </div>   </div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </div>  <hr class="netscape4"/> <div id="footerBlockContainer"> <div id="footerBlock"> <div class="footerBlockBGR"> <div class="footerBlockBGC"> <ul id="footerLinks-L"> <li><a title="Site Policies" class="internal-link" href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/site-policies/index.html#privacy-notice">Privacy</a></li> <li><a title="Site Policies" class="internal-link" href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/site-policies/index.html#copy">Copyright</a></li> <li><a title="Site Policies" class="internal-link" href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/site-policies/index.html">Site Policies</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081209234952/http://www.usa.gov/">USA.gov</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081209234952/http://www.foia.cia.gov/">FOIA</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081209234952/http://www.dni.gov/">DNI.gov</a></li> <li><a title="No FEAR Act" class="internal-link" href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/no-fear-act/index.html">NoFEAR Act</a></li></ul> <ul id="portal-siteactions"> <li id="siteaction-contact"><a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/contact-cia/index.html" accesskey="9" title="Contact CIA">Contact CIA</a></li> <li id="siteaction-sitemap"><a href="/web/20081209234952/https://www.cia.gov/sitemap.html" accesskey="3" title="Site Map">Site Map</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <br/> <div id="portal-footer2"> <div id="colL"></div> <div id="colR"></div> </div>  </td> <td id="mnBGR"><div id="mnBGRStripe"></div></td> </tr> </table>  <div class="visualClear"></div>  <div id="kss-spinner"><img alt="" src="/web/20081209234952im_/https://www.cia.gov/images/spinner.gif"/></div> </body> </html>

CINXE.COM

About CIA — Central Intelligence Agency