Central Intelligence Agency, Director

Department/Agency: Central Intelligence Agency

Position:

Director

Executive Schedule: Executive Level II - Presidential Appointment with Senate Confirmation

Major Responsibilities:

Collect national intelligence outside the United States through human sources and other means
Correlate and evaluate intelligence related to national security
Assist the Director of National Intelligence in advising the President
Manage the operations, personnel and budget of the CIA.
Act as the National Human Source Intelligence (HUMINT) Manager

Key Competencies and Preferred Qualifications:

Strong management skills
Knowledge of the intelligence community and intelligence gathering
Comprehensive grasp of international affairs
Experience running large military or civilian enterprises

Insight:

Budget: Classified

Staff: Classified

When retired four-star Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden became director of central intelligence in 2006, he sent out a memo saying that one of his goals was to keep the spy agency out “of the news as a source or subject.” With the Central Intelligence Agency facing sharp scrutiny from Congress over its methods for interrogating suspected terrorists and its treatment of detainees, that proved impossible. But Hayden tried to neutralize congressional criticism by increasing the number of lawmakers who receive classified briefings on the agency’s counterterrorism programs (previously limited to four lawmakers) and by working to improve relations with foreign intelligence services that had distanced themselves from the Bush administration over the Iraq War. As he had at the National Security Agency, which he directed from 1999 to 2005, Hayden also courted the press and gave some reporters their first look inside that super secret agency, which is home to the country’s experts in cryptology.

It was the NSA under Hayden that collected wireless intercepts without court orders within the United States on people suspected of having links to the al Qaeda terror network after 9/11. Despite the controversy over those actions, the Senate overwhelmingly voted to confirm Hayden as CIA director in 2006 after President Bush promoted him from deputy to the Director of National Intelligence.

Until December 2004, the CIA director was the unequivocal head of the U.S. intelligence community. Upon the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, the Intelligence Community was reorganized and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence created. The CIA director lost his title as director of central intelligence and now reports to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), who conducts the president’s daily intelligence briefing.

George Tenet was the second-longest serving director in CIA history, serving from 1997 to 2004 under Presidents Clinton and Bush. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the CIA bore the brunt of blame for intelligence failures. But Tenet also quickly prepared what became the administration’s blueprint for the war on terror, and before he stepped down in 2004, Bush presented Tenet with the Medal of Freedom.

Bush nominated Florida congressman Porter J. Goss to succeed the long-serving Tenet. Porter began his career as a clandestine CIA officer and chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence during his eight terms in Congress. But his tenure was rocky, with more than a score of senior CIA officials resigning and Goss himself bowing out after 19 months. News reports suggested he was forced out after failing to sufficiently rein in the CIA under the new intelligence hierarchy, headed by John Negroponte, the first Director of National Intelligence. The CIA remained risk averse, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

Hayden toiled to repair the CIA’s reputation. In an April 2008 speech at Kansas State University, he said, “The image held by many Americans—that CIA and the Intelligence Community at large is full of people who speak strange languages, work in exotic places, gather secret information from mysterious sources—well, that’s actually true … but it is also a caricature.”

“The headlines tell you where we’re spending an awful lot of our time right now: The threat from al Qaeda and its affiliates, the war in Iraq, the potential for nuclear proliferation in Iran, and, more broadly, the risk of WMD—weapons of mass destruction—proliferation across the globe,” he said. In addition to focusing on this “swarm of bees,” the CIA also must discern distant, future threats. The CIA “is expected to understand the present, but also to look ahead …. We’ve got to identify and comprehend underlying global trends, and that’s just as important, just as vital to American security and to our charge of strengthening and safeguarding the United States,” said Hayden.

“Both my Agency and our Community have made huge strides over the past six years. We think we have strengthened our tradecraft, our expertise, our capabilities. We're also sharing and combining those things within the community as never before. These improvements, and the enduring commitment to do even better, give me optimism as we contemplate the challenges of the 21st century,” Hayden said.

The CIA is not a policy-making organization; its mission is to collect, evaluate and disseminate foreign intelligence and to assist the President and senior U.S. government policymakers in making decisions relating to the national security. To accomplish this mission, the CIA Director works closely with the Intelligence Community to ensure key stakeholders receive the best intelligence possible. The Director leads the Agency and manages the Intelligence Community’s National Human Source Intelligence (HUMINT). The Director is also responsible for managing the open source collection programs on behalf of the DNI.

Key Relationships – Within the Department or Agency:

Deputy Director of the CIA
Associate Deputy Director of the CIA
Director of Intelligence
Director of the National Clandestine Service
Director of Science & Technology
Director of Support
Director of the Center for the Study of Intelligence

Key Relationships – Within the Government:

National Security Council
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
National Counter Terrorism Center

The Intelligence Community (consisting of 16 members or elements including the CIA):

United States Department of Defense
Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency (AF ISR or AIA)
Army Military Intelligence (MI)
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA)
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)
National Security Agency (NSA)
Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)
United States Department of Energy
Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (OICI)
United States Department of Homeland Security
Office of Intelligence and Analysis(I&A)
Coast Guard Intelligence (CGI)
United States Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
United States Department of State
Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR)
United States Department of the Treasury
Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI)

Key Relationships – Outside the Government:

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI)
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI)

Nomination Referred to:

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Current Position Profile:
1. Leon E. Panetta, LLB, JD (Confirmed: Feb. 12, 2009). Former Founder and Director, The Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, California State University, Monterey Bay. The nine-term California Congressman joined the Clinton administration in 1993 as Director of the Office of Management and Budget and went on to serve as Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff.

Recent Position Profiles:

2. Michael V. Hayden, M.A. (2006- 2009). Former first principal deputy director of national intelligence; former director of the National Security Agency (NSA). Retired four star Air Force general.

3. Porter J. Goss, B.A. (2004-2006). Former congressman and former CIA officer.

4. George J. Tenet, M.A. (1996-2004). Former Deputy Director of the CIA; and former staff director of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Current managing director of an investment bank.