Director of Central Intelligence

The Office of United States Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) was established by U.S. President Harry Truman on January 23, 1946 with Admiral Sidney Souers occupying the position. The DCI was coordinating intelligence activities among and between the various United States intelligence agencies, also called the American Intelligence Community.

Until April 2005, the DCI also served as de facto Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and was often referred to colloquially as the "CIA Director." After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and the subsequent investigation by the 9/11 Commission, a movement grew to re-organize the Intelligence Community. That movement prompted the creation, on April 21, 2005, of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), in whose purview was the job portfolio that had been performed previously by the Director of Central Intelligence. The latter position then ceased to exist.

List of directors of central intelligence

Status

Office of the Coordinator of Information (1941 – 1942) / Office of Strategic Services (1942 – 1945) / Strategic Services Unit (1945 – 1946)

No.	Image	Name	Term of office			Ref.	President(s)
			Start	End	Duration
1		William J. Donovan	July 11, 1941	June 13, 1942	337 days	.		Franklin D. Roosevelt (1941–1945)
2		William J. Donovan	June 13, 1942	October 1, 1945	3 years, 110 days	.
3		John Magruder	October 1, 1945	January 22, 1946	113 days	.		Harry S. Truman (1945–1946)

Central Intelligence Group (1946 – 1947) / Central Intelligence Agency (1947 – 2004)

No.	Image	Name	Term of office			Ref.	President(s)
			Start	End	Duration
1		Sidney Souers	January 22, 1946	June 10, 1946	138 days			Harry S. Truman (1945–1953)
2		Hoyt Vandenberg	June 10, 1946	May 1, 1947	325 days
3		Roscoe Hillenkoetter	May 1, 1947	October 7, 1950	3 years, 159 days
4		Walter Smith	October 7, 1950	February 9, 1953	2 years, 125 days			Harry S. Truman (1945–1953)
								Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961)
–		Allen Dulles	February 9, 1953	February 26, 1953	17 days			Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961)
5			February 26, 1953	November 29, 1961	8 years, 276 days
6		John McCone	November 29, 1961	April 28, 1965	3 years, 150 days			John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)
								Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969)
7		William Raborn	April 28, 1965	June 30, 1966	1 year, 63 days			Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969)
8		Richard Helms	June 30, 1966	February 2, 1973	6 years, 217 days			Richard Nixon (1969–1974)
9		James Schlesinger	February 2, 1973	July 2, 1973	150 days
–		Vernon Walters Acting	July 2, 1973	September 4, 1973	64 days
10		William Colby	September 4, 1973	January 30, 1976	2 years, 148 days
								Gerald Ford (1974–1977)
11		George H. W. Bush	January 30, 1976	January 20, 1977	356 days
–		Henry Knoche Acting	January 20, 1977	March 9, 1977	48 days			Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
12		Stansfield Turner	March 9, 1977	January 20, 1981	3 years, 317 days
13		William Casey	January 20, 1981	January 29, 1987 On leave: December 18, 1986 – January 29, 1987	6 years, 9 days			Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
–		Bob Gates Acting	December 18, 1986	May 26, 1987	159 days
14		William Webster	May 26, 1987	August 31, 1991	4 years, 97 days
								George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
–		Richard Kerr Acting	September 1, 1991	November 6, 1991	48 days
15		Bob Gates	November 6, 1991	January 20, 1993	1 year, 75 days
–		William Studeman Acting	January 21, 1993	February 5, 1993	15 days			Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
16		Jim Woolsey	February 5, 1993	January 10, 1995	1 year, 339 days
–		William Studeman Acting	January 11, 1995	May 9, 1995	118 days
17		John Deutch	May 10, 1995	December 15, 1996	1 year, 219 days
–		George Tenet	December 16, 1996	July 11, 1997	207 days
18			July 11, 1997	July 11, 2004	7 years, 0 days			George W. Bush (2001–2009)
–		John McLaughlin Acting	July 12, 2004	September 24, 2004	74 days
19		Porter Goss	September 24, 2004	April 21, 2005	209 days

References