Dulles-Jackson-Correa Report
Encyclopedia
The Dulles-Jackson-Correa Report (also known as Intelligence Survey Group (ISG) and the Dulles Report) was one of the most influential evaluations of the functioning of the United States Intelligence Community
, and in particular, the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA). The report focused primarily on the coordination and organization of the CIA and offered suggestions that refined the US intelligence effort in the early stages of the Cold War
.
ended, the United States
had to decide what to do with regard to its Intelligence structure. Not wanting to relive another Pearl Harbor
, and with the growing threat of the Cold War
, the United States decided to establish an Intelligence agency that operated continually rather than only during times of war and conflict. The National Security Act of 1947
(signed by President Harry S. Truman
on July 26, 1947) implemented a permanent, non-military, Intelligence agency called the Central Intelligence Agency
, an agency that evolved out of the Office of Strategic Services
(OSS). The CIA was not to be part of the military command structure, nor was it to have a domestic role or police power and was to be under the control of the newly established position of Director of Central Intelligence
. In addition to creating the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Act of 1947 established the United States National Security Council
(NSC). The National Security Council was composed of the President, Vice President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (now titled, Director of Central Intelligence), and other key members to advise the President on national security and foreign policy matters.
The National Security Act of 1947 also modified the structure of the United States military. The Act created the Department of the Air Force
from the existing United States Army Air Forces
as a response to the emerging significance of air power. In addition, the National Security Act merged the War Department and the Navy Department under one department known as the Department of Defense
. Although Admiral James Forrestal
and the Navy were originally opposed to having a unified Department of Defense, integration allowed for top-level coordination efforts between all three branches and provided a continuing voice for the military as the Secretaries of the three military branches were permanent members on the National Security Council.
and the Task Force on National Security Organization of the First Hoover Commission. Between 1948 and 1949 the U.S. government conducted two investigations into the national intelligence effort as a response to the changing role of the U.S. federal government. Congress passed the first investigation, the First Hoover Commission, unanimously while the second, the Dulles-Jackson-Correa Report, was conducted through the NSC per President Truman’s request.
Former President Herbert Hoover
was chairman of the 12-member bipartisan Congressional Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch, which was established prior to the passage of the National Security Act of 1947. As part of the Commission, the Task Force on National Security Organization (led by Ferdinand Eberstadt
) examined the effectiveness of the intelligence agencies and reviewed federal bureaucracy. After a series of hearings, the Hoover Commission
submitted a 121-page report written by Eberstadt’s task force on January 13, 1949. The Eberstadt Report found that the National Security Act of 1947 soundly constructed the national security organization; however there remained organizational and qualitative inadequacies in national intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency. The report’s biggest criticism concerned the lack of coordination efforts between the CIA, the military, and the State Department that resulted in duplication efforts, and subjective and biased intelligence estimates.
Other key findings of the Eberstadt Report were:
Despite the efforts of the Eberstadt Report to modify the national intelligence organization, the Dulles-Jackson-Correa Report, submitted to the NSC on January 1, 1949, overshadowed the Task Force on National Security Organization’s findings.
thought that it was important to review the development of the intelligence system since World War II in order to determine how the NSC should exercise its routine oversight of the CIA. With the development of the industrial war machine and the emergence of a Cold War, America was vulnerable to potentially catastrophic attacks. With the realization that intelligence would serve as the first line of defense, the NSC thought it was necessary that the newly formed CIA’s performance was as efficient as possible.
The principal defect of the Central Intelligence Agency is that its direction, administrative organization and performance do not show sufficient appreciation of the Agency’s assigned functions, particularly in the fields of intelligence coordination and the production of intelligence estimates. The result has been that the Central Intelligence Agency has tended to become just one more intelligence agency producing intelligence in competition with older established agencies of the Government departments.
Another finding was that the CIA was “the weak link in the system” due to shortcomings in direction from the DCI (Hillenkoetter). In essence, the Dulles Report was accusing Hillenkoetter of not effectively coordinating intelligence efforts among agencies and departments with national security interests. In addition to a lack of coordination efforts, the Dulles Report found that the CIA was failing with its production of national intelligence, and in particular, National Intelligence Estimates (NIE). To correct this problem, the report suggested creating an “Estimates Division” that would be composed of a select group of individuals with a high-level of experience that would review specialized intelligence to create the NIE. In addition, “all of the principle intelligence agencies were to participate in and approve them,” making them the most authoritative and available to policymakers.
Covert operations was another focal point of the Report. With little open source information available from communist nations, the US would have to use clandestine operations to obtain vital information. The Dulles Report suggested the incorporation of covert and clandestine intelligence into one single office within the CIA, therefore the Office of Special Operations (OSO), responsible for clandestine intelligence collection, and the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC), responsible for covert actions, should integrate into a single division.
The personnel situation at the CIA was of concern to the Dulles Report as well. In particular, internal security, high turnover rates of employees, and a large number of military personnel were of concern. The Dulles Report suggested that the DCI should be of a civilian status and that military personnel should resign their positions in order to add to continuity and to maintain independence from other agencies
The implementation of the Dulles-Jackson-Correa Report recommendations began in the late 1950’s after President Truman forced DCI Hillenkoetter to resign due to the latter’s failure to foresee the North Korean invasion of South Korea in June 1950. On October 7, 1950, President Truman appointed Lt. General Walter Bedell Smith
(“Beetle Smith”) as the new DCI who in turn hired William Harding Jackson
as his Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (DDCI). Using recommendations from the Dulles Report, DCI Smith quickly reorganized the CIA’s Office of Reports and Estimates (ORE) into three units. The first unit was to focus on national intelligence and became known as the Office of National Estimates. The second unit, the Office of Current Intelligence, had a current intelligence role, and produced the daily bulletin for the President. The Last unit, the Office of Research and Reports, was to conduct a basic intelligence function and focus on intelligence analysis that was more strategic in nature and beyond the scope of any of the established intelligence agencies. The reorganization greatly reduced confusion that had previously occurred regarding the analytic mission of the CIA.
DCI Smith demonstrated the type of leadership the Dulles Report required of that position. Perhaps Smith’s greatest contribution to the Intelligence Community as DCI was that he used his latent authority to lead the intelligence establishment rather than go along with what other agencies had been doing. In essence, the Dulles Report’s recommendations, and DCI Smith’s execution of these recommendations became the blueprint for the future organization and the operation of the CIA.
United States Intelligence Community
The United States Intelligence Community is a cooperative federation of 16 separate United States government agencies that work separately and together to conduct intelligence activities considered necessary for the conduct of foreign relations and the protection of the national security of the...
, and in particular, the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA). The report focused primarily on the coordination and organization of the CIA and offered suggestions that refined the US intelligence effort in the early stages of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
National Security Act of 1947
As World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
ended, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
had to decide what to do with regard to its Intelligence structure. Not wanting to relive another Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, and with the growing threat of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the United States decided to establish an Intelligence agency that operated continually rather than only during times of war and conflict. The National Security Act of 1947
National Security Act of 1947
The National Security Act of 1947 was signed by United States President Harry S. Truman on July 26, 1947, and realigned and reorganized the U.S. Armed Forces, foreign policy, and Intelligence Community apparatus in the aftermath of World War II...
(signed by President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
on July 26, 1947) implemented a permanent, non-military, Intelligence agency called the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, an agency that evolved out of the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS). The CIA was not to be part of the military command structure, nor was it to have a domestic role or police power and was to be under the control of the newly established position of Director of Central Intelligence
Director of Central Intelligence
The Office of United States Director of Central Intelligence was the head of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the principal intelligence advisor to the President and the National Security Council, and the coordinator of intelligence activities among and between the various United...
. In addition to creating the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Act of 1947 established the United States National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
(NSC). The National Security Council was composed of the President, Vice President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (now titled, Director of Central Intelligence), and other key members to advise the President on national security and foreign policy matters.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
from the existing United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
as a response to the emerging significance of air power. In addition, the National Security Act merged the War Department and the Navy Department under one department known as the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
. Although Admiral James Forrestal
James Forrestal
James Vincent Forrestal was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense....
and the Navy were originally opposed to having a unified Department of Defense, integration allowed for top-level coordination efforts between all three branches and provided a continuing voice for the military as the Secretaries of the three military branches were permanent members on the National Security Council.
The First Hoover Commission
The First Hoover Commission is also known as the Eberstadt ReportEberstadt Report
The Eberstadt Report, officially known as the Task Force Report on National Security Organization, was a study conducted by the United States government which evaluated the structure and operations of the United States Department of Defense and United States Intelligence Community...
and the Task Force on National Security Organization of the First Hoover Commission. Between 1948 and 1949 the U.S. government conducted two investigations into the national intelligence effort as a response to the changing role of the U.S. federal government. Congress passed the first investigation, the First Hoover Commission, unanimously while the second, the Dulles-Jackson-Correa Report, was conducted through the NSC per President Truman’s request.
Former President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
was chairman of the 12-member bipartisan Congressional Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch, which was established prior to the passage of the National Security Act of 1947. As part of the Commission, the Task Force on National Security Organization (led by Ferdinand Eberstadt
Ferdinand Eberstadt
Ferdinand A. Eberstadt was an American lawyer, investment banker, and an important policy advisor to the United States government who was instrumental in the creation of the National Security Council.-Biography:...
) examined the effectiveness of the intelligence agencies and reviewed federal bureaucracy. After a series of hearings, the Hoover Commission
Hoover Commission
The Hoover Commission, officially named the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, was a body appointed by President Harry S. Truman in 1947 to recommend administrative changes in the Federal Government of the United States...
submitted a 121-page report written by Eberstadt’s task force on January 13, 1949. The Eberstadt Report found that the National Security Act of 1947 soundly constructed the national security organization; however there remained organizational and qualitative inadequacies in national intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency. The report’s biggest criticism concerned the lack of coordination efforts between the CIA, the military, and the State Department that resulted in duplication efforts, and subjective and biased intelligence estimates.
Other key findings of the Eberstadt Report were:
- The CIA must be the central organization of the national intelligence system.
- Within the CIA, at the top echelon, a board should be created with the responsibility of conducting intelligence evaluation.
- A civilian DCI with a long office term is favorable.
- All clandestine operations should be integrated into one CIA office under NSC supervision.
- During times of war, clandestine operations should be the responsibility of the Joint Chiefs of StaffJoint Chiefs of StaffThe Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...
(JCS). - The CIA’s internal structure and personnel system was not organized properly and that departmental responsibilities should be clearer and proper personnel selection and training systems must be established.
- Supported secrecy of the CIA budget to provide administrative flexibility and anonymity.
- Rejected the possibility of handing the FBI’s counterintelligence responsibilities over to the CIA.
- An increase in medical and scientific intelligence is necessary.
Despite the efforts of the Eberstadt Report to modify the national intelligence organization, the Dulles-Jackson-Correa Report, submitted to the NSC on January 1, 1949, overshadowed the Task Force on National Security Organization’s findings.
Purpose of the Dulles-Jackson-Correa Report
The purpose of the Dulles Report was to “evaluate the CIA’s effort and its relationship with other agencies.” NSC officials and DCI Roscoe H. HillenkoetterRoscoe H. Hillenkoetter
Roscoe Henry Hillenkoetter , born in St. Louis, Missouri, was the third director of the post-World War II U.S. Central Intelligence Group , the third Director of Central Intelligence , and the first director of the Central Intelligence Agency created by the National Security Act of 1947...
thought that it was important to review the development of the intelligence system since World War II in order to determine how the NSC should exercise its routine oversight of the CIA. With the development of the industrial war machine and the emergence of a Cold War, America was vulnerable to potentially catastrophic attacks. With the realization that intelligence would serve as the first line of defense, the NSC thought it was necessary that the newly formed CIA’s performance was as efficient as possible.
Membership
- Allen Welsh DullesAllen Welsh DullesAllen Welsh Dulles was an American diplomat, lawyer, banker, and public official who became the first civilian and the longest-serving Director of Central Intelligence and a member of the Warren Commission...
- April 7, 1893 – January 28, 1969
- Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, B.A. 1914, M.A. 1916 - George Washington UniversityGeorge Washington UniversityThe George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, LL.B. 1926 - US Diplomatic Service, Department of State, 1916–26
- Head of Office of Strategic ServicesOffice of Strategic ServicesThe Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS) post in Bern, Switzerland, 1942–45 - Deputy Director for Plans, CIA, January 4, 1951 to August 23, 1951
- Deputy DCI August 23, 1951 to February 26, 1953
- Acting DCI February 9–26, 1953
- DCI February 26, 1953 – November 29, 1961
- Member of President’s Commission on the Assassination of President KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, 1963–1964
- William Harding JacksonWilliam Harding JacksonWilliam Harding Jackson was a U.S. civilian administrator, New York lawyer, and investment banker who served as Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Jackson also served briefly under President Dwight D...
- March 25, 1901 – September 28, 1971
- Princeton University, B.A. 1924
- Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, LL.B. 1928 - New York Lawyer and Investment banker
- US Army, 1942–1945
- Intelligence staff of General Omar Bradley, 1944
- Deputy DCI October 7, 1950 to August 3, 1951
- Part time special assistant and senior consultant to DCI, Aug 1951- Feb 1956
- Special Assistant to President Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
, various assignments in national security field, 1956–57
- Mathias Correa
- US District Attorney for the Southern District of New York, 1941- 1943
- Former assistant to James V. Forrestal when Forrestal served as the Secretary of the Navy during World War II
Objectives
The objective of the Dulles Report was to report discrepancies with the organization and procedure of the CIA and make appropriate recommendations. In addition, the Dulles Report was to examine other government departments and agencies with activities that relate to national security, and make recommendations that would increase operation and overall coordination between agencies and departments (something that the Eberstadt Report did not do).Findings
Dulles, Jackson, and Correa submitted their findings to the NSC on January 1, 1949 in a 193-page report. Echoing many of the shortcomings addressed in the Eberstadt Report, the Dulles report gave 56 recommendations and, in general, was mainly critical to the CIA and the DCI. It stated that the CIA was not effectively meeting the conditions for which the Agency was established.The principal defect of the Central Intelligence Agency is that its direction, administrative organization and performance do not show sufficient appreciation of the Agency’s assigned functions, particularly in the fields of intelligence coordination and the production of intelligence estimates. The result has been that the Central Intelligence Agency has tended to become just one more intelligence agency producing intelligence in competition with older established agencies of the Government departments.
Another finding was that the CIA was “the weak link in the system” due to shortcomings in direction from the DCI (Hillenkoetter). In essence, the Dulles Report was accusing Hillenkoetter of not effectively coordinating intelligence efforts among agencies and departments with national security interests. In addition to a lack of coordination efforts, the Dulles Report found that the CIA was failing with its production of national intelligence, and in particular, National Intelligence Estimates (NIE). To correct this problem, the report suggested creating an “Estimates Division” that would be composed of a select group of individuals with a high-level of experience that would review specialized intelligence to create the NIE. In addition, “all of the principle intelligence agencies were to participate in and approve them,” making them the most authoritative and available to policymakers.
Covert operations was another focal point of the Report. With little open source information available from communist nations, the US would have to use clandestine operations to obtain vital information. The Dulles Report suggested the incorporation of covert and clandestine intelligence into one single office within the CIA, therefore the Office of Special Operations (OSO), responsible for clandestine intelligence collection, and the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC), responsible for covert actions, should integrate into a single division.
The personnel situation at the CIA was of concern to the Dulles Report as well. In particular, internal security, high turnover rates of employees, and a large number of military personnel were of concern. The Dulles Report suggested that the DCI should be of a civilian status and that military personnel should resign their positions in order to add to continuity and to maintain independence from other agencies
Changes to the Intelligence Community
Walter Bedell Smith
Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith was a senior United States Army general who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forces Headquarters during the Tunisia Campaign and the Allied invasion of Italy...
(“Beetle Smith”) as the new DCI who in turn hired William Harding Jackson
William Harding Jackson
William Harding Jackson was a U.S. civilian administrator, New York lawyer, and investment banker who served as Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Jackson also served briefly under President Dwight D...
as his Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (DDCI). Using recommendations from the Dulles Report, DCI Smith quickly reorganized the CIA’s Office of Reports and Estimates (ORE) into three units. The first unit was to focus on national intelligence and became known as the Office of National Estimates. The second unit, the Office of Current Intelligence, had a current intelligence role, and produced the daily bulletin for the President. The Last unit, the Office of Research and Reports, was to conduct a basic intelligence function and focus on intelligence analysis that was more strategic in nature and beyond the scope of any of the established intelligence agencies. The reorganization greatly reduced confusion that had previously occurred regarding the analytic mission of the CIA.
DCI Smith demonstrated the type of leadership the Dulles Report required of that position. Perhaps Smith’s greatest contribution to the Intelligence Community as DCI was that he used his latent authority to lead the intelligence establishment rather than go along with what other agencies had been doing. In essence, the Dulles Report’s recommendations, and DCI Smith’s execution of these recommendations became the blueprint for the future organization and the operation of the CIA.
See also
- Central Intelligence AgencyCentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
- National Intelligence EstimateNational Intelligence EstimateNational Intelligence Estimates are United States federal government documents that are the authoritative assessment of the Director of National Intelligence on intelligence related to a particular national security issue...
- Director of Central IntelligenceDirector of Central IntelligenceThe Office of United States Director of Central Intelligence was the head of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the principal intelligence advisor to the President and the National Security Council, and the coordinator of intelligence activities among and between the various United...
- Allen Welsh DullesAllen Welsh DullesAllen Welsh Dulles was an American diplomat, lawyer, banker, and public official who became the first civilian and the longest-serving Director of Central Intelligence and a member of the Warren Commission...
- William Harding JacksonWilliam Harding JacksonWilliam Harding Jackson was a U.S. civilian administrator, New York lawyer, and investment banker who served as Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Jackson also served briefly under President Dwight D...
- Roscoe H. HillenkoetterRoscoe H. HillenkoetterRoscoe Henry Hillenkoetter , born in St. Louis, Missouri, was the third director of the post-World War II U.S. Central Intelligence Group , the third Director of Central Intelligence , and the first director of the Central Intelligence Agency created by the National Security Act of 1947...
- Walter Bedell SmithWalter Bedell SmithWalter Bedell "Beetle" Smith was a senior United States Army general who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forces Headquarters during the Tunisia Campaign and the Allied invasion of Italy...
- Armed Forces Security Agency
Further reading
- Changing the Guard: The Politics of U.S. Intelligence Reform, by Brent Durbin
- Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy, by Mark Lowenthal
- Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner