DIRECTORATE OF PLANS (DP).The Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) in August 1952 consolidated the activities of the Office of Pol-
icy Coordination (OPC) and the Office of Secret Operations (OSO)
by establishing the Directorate of Plans. The DP’s mission was to en-
gage in espionage, counterintelligence, and covert actions. The DP
was renamed the Directorate of Operations (DO) in 1973.DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE (DCI).Until 2005, the
nominal head of the intelligence community (IC), the position of the
DCI was established in January 1946 for coordinating—not direct-
ing—American intelligence activities. This thrust did not change much
over the years, although the White House and Congress occasionally
bolstered the DCI’s authorities in coordinating U.S. intelligence.
The DCI’s responsibilities evolved over the years to include three
functions. First, he put together, submitted, and controlled the Na-
tional Foreign Intelligence Program (NFIP) budget—the IC
budget—although a substantial portion of it went to Department of
Defense(DOD) intelligence elements. Second, the DCI had author-
ity to coordinate counterintelligenceprograms of all intelligence
community agencies. Third, the DCI had the responsibility to ensure
the protection of sources and methods, which enabled him to es-
tablish standard rules and regulations governing access to intelli-
gence installations, personnel, and information.
These three responsibilities—submitting a community budget, con-
ducting counterintelligence, and protecting sources and methods—
were the only ones the DCI exercises in his statutory role as head of
the intelligence community. Even in these tasks, the DCI was only
able to exercise soft power techniques like persuasion and influence.
To overcome this deficiency, the typical DCI had to bring to his office
attributes that would enable him better to manage the community—a
personal relationship and access to the president, the skills of an ex-
cellent negotiator, and the patience of a mediator.
Some DCIs, such as Allen W. Dulles, brought such qualities to
their job to great effect. Most, however, lacked in these qualities and
therefore were less successful in wielding their community hat. Be-
cause the heads of IC agencies—except the CIA—reported directly
to their policy principals, the DCI’s relative position in the White
House pecking order also came into play in the bureaucratic politicsDIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE•5705-398 (2) Dictionary.qxd 10/20/05 6:27 AM Page 57