the agency's office of policy coordination ran covert action under cover of the state department from 1948 until 1952. legendary station chiefs of that era — wisner, helms, hugh cunningham — came up through OPC. the term "the company" originated in OPC slang. #cia #intelligencehistory

james woolsey, DCI 1993-1995. clinton met with him exactly twice in two years. when a small plane crashed on the white house lawn during his tenure, the joke went around langley: "that was woolsey trying to get a meeting." he resigned after ames. #cia #intelligencehistory

the 9/11 commission, headed by tom kean and lee hamilton. its 2004 report ran 567 pages and was a bestseller. its core finding: a "failure of imagination." the agency, congress, and the bureau had not connected the dots. the agency made no major arrests as a result. #cia #intelligencehistory

1947. the agency's first headquarters was a series of decaying world war one tempo buildings on the mall, near the lincoln memorial. agents nicknamed it "the campus." the original headquarters building in langley opened in 1961. dulles laid the cornerstone. #cia #intelligencehistory