Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is identified as one of the institutions established during the postwar reorganization of the federal government. The book gives it significance as part of a changed structure of power in Washington, but does not describe its operations, personnel, or specific activities.

Place in the Postwar Government

The Central Intelligence Agency is named alongside the unified Defense Department and the National Security Council as part of a restructuring that, in the book’s account, surpassed even the sweeping institutional changes made under Franklin D. Roosevelt. The agency’s appearance in this grouping situates it within the postwar expansion and reorganization of federal power.

Civilian Control and Nuclear Authority

The same account distinguishes the creation of these institutions from the civilian control of nuclear power. It credits the Atomic Energy Commission with keeping that control in civilian hands. The contrast frames the postwar security structure not simply as an enlargement of government, but as a set of institutions whose authority and oversight mattered.

Scope of the Account

The book’s treatment of the Central Intelligence Agency is brief and institutional. It identifies the agency as part of the new Washington structure but supplies no further detail about its remit, internal organization, or role in particular decisions. Its significance here is therefore the place it occupies in the postwar framework, rather than any operational episode.