Before The CIA There Was The Central Intelligence Group

President Harry S. Truman (left) presents the Distinguished Service Medal to Rear Admiral Sidney Souers, U.S. Naval Reserve (right). Souers had served as the first Director of Central Intelligence. (Photo: Abbie Rowe, National Park Service, Harry S. Truman Library Museum.)

RCL: Before the CIA, There Was the “Cloak and Dagger Group of Snoopers”

The CIG lasted less than two years but laid the groundwork for today's famous spy agency.

Fleet Adm. William D. Leahy had a very weird day on Jan. 24, 1946. As he recorded in his journal:

“At lunch today in the White House, with only members of the Staff present, [Rear Adm.] Sidney Souers and I were presented [by President Truman] with black cloaks, black hats, and wooden daggers, and the President read an amusing directive to us outlining some of our duties in the Central Intelligence Agency ‘Cloak and Dagger Group of Snoopers.'”

Leahy wrote “Central Intelligence Agency,” but he actually got the name wrong — that agency wouldn’t exist for more than 18 months. He was referring to another U.S. intelligence outfit, one with a brief tenure in post-World War II America: the CIG, or Central Intelligence Group.

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WNU Editor: A little bit of history on the U.S. intelligence community.