Inside America’s CIA: The Central Intelligence Agency

Established in 1947 by President Harry Truman, the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, is America’s international intelligence organization. Charged with intelligence gathering and analysis abroad as well as covert action against foreign governments, the CIA reports directly to the president and to the National Security Council. The history of the CIA has sometimes revealed it to be a maverick organization with its own set of rules. Today, with the threat of the Soviet Union’s influence gone, the CIA has shifted its focus to the Middle East and unstable governments that promote terrorism.