Interactive Timeline

13 June 1942
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.

1 October 1945
President Harry S. Truman’s Executive Order 9621 abolishes the OSS and transfers its functions to the State and War Departments.

22 January 1946
President Truman signs an executive order 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 is sworn in on the following day.

18 September 1947
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.

1 December 1950
The Directorate of Administration is established.

2 January 1952
Creation of the Directorate of Intelligence

1 August 1952
Creation of the Directorate of Plans.

4 August 1955
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill authorizing $46 million for construction of a CIA Headquarters Building.

3 November 1959
Laying the cornerstone of the CIA Headquarters Building in Langley, Virginia.

5 August 1963
The Directorate of Science and Technology is created.

1 December 1964
President Lyndon B. Johnson receives the first President’s Daily Brief (PDB).

1 March 1973
The Directorate of Plans becomes the Directorate of Operations.

1 November 1985
Vice President George H.W. Bush presides at the laying of the cornerstone for the Headquarters Building Expansion. The New Headquarters Building is completed and occupied in the fall of 1989.

18 September 1997
The Central Intelligence Agency celebrates 50 th Anniversary.

26 April 1999
The CIA headquarters compound is dedicated as the George Bush Center for Intelligence as specified in the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 1999.

4 June 2001
CIA announces a major realignment of its support functions by replacing the Directorate of Administration with the CFO (Chief Financial Officer), CIO (Chief Information Officer), Global Support, Human Resources and Security Mission Support Offices.

17 December 2004
President George W. Bush signs the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, which restructures the intelligence community, abolishes the positions of DCI and DDCI, and creates the position of the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

4 January 2005
Creation of the Directorate of Support, which replaces Mission Support Offices.

13 October 2005
Creation of the National Clandestine Service, replacing the Directorate of Operations, to oversee the Agency’s operational activities and the task of coordination clandestine HUMINT collection community-wide.

18 September 2007
The Central Intelligence Agency celebrates its 60 th Anniversary.