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| 1941 | 11 July | President
Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints William J. Donovan as "Coordinator of Information."
Donovan was a prominent lawyer who won the Congressional Medal of Honor
as an Army colonel in World War I.
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| 1942 | 13 June | President
Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a military order establishing the Office of
Strategic Services (OSS) and naming William J. Donovan as its Director.
Donovan remained a civilian until 24 March 1943, when he was appointed brigadier
general. He advanced to the rank of major general on 10 November 1944.
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| 1945 | 1 October | President
Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9621 abolishes the OSS and transfers its
functions to the State and War Departments.
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| 1946 | 22 January | President
Truman signs a Presidential Directive establishing the Central Intelligence
Group to operate under the direction of the National Intelligence Authority.
Truman names the first Director of Central Intelligence, Rear Admiral Sidney
W. Souers, USNR, who was sworn in on the following day.
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| 1947 | 18 September | The
National Security Act of 1947 establishes the National Security Council
and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to replace the National Intelligence
Authority and the Central Intelligence Group.
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| 1949 | 20 June | The
Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 provides special administrative
authorities and responsibilities for the Agency and the Director.
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| 1955 | 4 August | President
Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill authorizing $46 million for construction
of a CIA Headquarters Building.
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| 1956 | 13 January | President
Eisenhower establishes the President's Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence
Activities, predecessor to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory
Board.
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| 1959 | 3 November | President
Eisenhower presides at laying of cornerstone of CIA Headquarters Building
in Langley, Virginia.
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| 1961 | 17 April | Invasion
of Cuba by CIA-supported Cuban exiles at Bay of Pigs.
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| 20 September | First
employees move into CIA Headquarters from various offices in Washington,
D.C. area.
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| 1962 | 15-28 October | The
Cuban Missile Crisis, precipitated by the CIA discovery in Cuba of Soviet-made
nuclear missiles capable of reaching most of the United States.
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| 1975 | 4 January | President
Gerald R. Ford signs Executive Order 11828 creating the Commission on CIA
Activities within the United States. Chaired by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller,
the Commission submitted its report on CIA domestic activities to the President
on 6 June 1975.
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| 27 January | The
Senate establishes its Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations
With Respect to Intelligence Activities under the chairmanship of Senator
Frank Church (D-ID). The Church Committee investigated the nation's intelligence
activities for 15 months and was disestablished upon submission of its final
report to the public on 26 April 1976.
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| 19 February | The
House establishes its Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate allegations
of "illegal or improper" activities of federal intelligence agencies. Its
first chairman, Representative Lucien Nedzi (D-MI), was later replaced by
Representative Otis G. Pike (D-NY). On 29 January 1976, two days before
the Committee was scheduled to conclude its activities, the House voted
to withhold public dissemination of the Committee's final report.
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| 1976 | 19 May | The
Senate establishes a permanent Select Committee on Intelligence under the
chairmanship of Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) to carry out oversight of
the nation's intelligence organizations.
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| 1977 | 14 July | The
House of Representatives establishes a permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,
chaired by Representative Edward P. Boland (D-MA). It differs from the SSCI
in that it has oversight jurisdiction over the CIA but shares with several
other House committees legislative oversight authority over all other intelligence
agencies.
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| 1978 | 24 January | President
Carter signs Executive Order 12036 which reshapes the intelligence structure
and provides explicit guidance on all facets of intelligence activities.
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| 1981 | 20 October | President
Reagan reconstitutes the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
and names 19 distinguished citizens outside of government to serve on the
Board.
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| 4 December | President
Reagan signs Executive Order 12333, which clarifies ambiguities of previous
orders and sets clear goals for the Intelligence Community in accordance
with law and regard for the rights of Americans.
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| 1982 | 23 June | President
Reagan signs Public Law 97-200, the Intelligence Identities Protection Act
of 1982, imposing criminal penalties on those who reveal the names of covert
intelligence personnel.
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| 1984 | 15 October | President
Reagan signs the Central Intelligence Agency Information Act of 1984, which
exempts the Agency from the search and review requirements of the Freedom
of Information Act with respect to operational and other sensitive files
which cannot be released because of operational or security considerations.
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| 1985 | 1 November | Vice
President Bush presides at the laying of the cornerstone for the Headquarters
Building Expansion.
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| 1987 | 27 May | First
annual memorial ceremony commemorates Agency employees who have died in
the line of duty.
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| 1991 | March | The
New Headquarters Building, attached to the Original Headquarters Building,
is completed and occupied.
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| 1992 | 18 December | Berlin
Wall Monument Dedication.
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| 1996 | 7 June | Memorial
Garden Dedication.
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| 1997 | 18 September | The
Central Intelligence Agency celebrates its 50th Anniversary.
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| 1999 | 26 April | The
CIA headquarters compound is dedicated as the George Bush Center for Intelligence
as specified in the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 1999.
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| 2000 | 4 May | Dedication
of Sherman Kent School for Analysis—a key part of Strategic Direction
initiatives aimed at fostering analytic tradecraft.
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