Office of the Coordinator of Information: Difference between revisions
m Delink dates (WP:MOSUNLINKDATES) using Project:AWB |
Found a MUCH HIGHER QUALITY version of the logo of the COI on a document at the Hoover Administration |
||
| (24 intermediate revisions by 21 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{More ref|date=May 2024}}{{short description|Defunct US intelligence agency}}{{Infobox government agency |
|||
| ⚫ | The '''Office of the Coordinator of Information''' was an intelligence agency of the [[Federal government of the United States|United States Government]], founded on July 11, 1941 by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], prior to U.S. involvement in the [[World War II|Second World War]]. It was intended to overcome the lack of coordination between existing agencies which, in part, it did by duplicating some of their functions. |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| formed = 11 July 1941 |
|||
| dissolved = 13 June 1942 |
|||
| superseding1 = [[Office of Strategic Services]] |
|||
| jurisdiction = {{USA}} |
|||
| chief1_position = Director |
|||
| chief2_name = [[William J. Donovan]] |
|||
| chief2_position = Deputy Director |
|||
| chief3_name = [[David K.E. Bruce]] |
|||
| chief3_position = Deputy Director |
|||
| chief4_name = [[Millard Preston Goodfellow]] |
|||
| chief4_position = Deputy Director |
|||
| chief5_name = [[Garland H. Williams]] |
|||
| chief5_position = Director of Training |
|||
| chief6_name = [[William L. Langer]] |
|||
| chief6_position = Deputy Director Research and Analysis |
|||
| embed = [[World War II]] |
|||
}} |
|||
| ⚫ | The '''Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI)''' was an intelligence and propaganda agency of the [[Federal government of the United States|United States Government]], founded on July 11, 1941, by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], prior to U.S. involvement in the [[World War II|Second World War]]. It was intended to overcome the lack of coordination between existing agencies which, in part, it did by duplicating some of their functions. |
||
Roosevelt was persuaded to create the office several months before the United States entered the war by prominent New York lawyer [[William J. Donovan]], who had been dispatched to London by the president to assess the ability of the British to continue fighting after the French capitulation to German aggression, and by American playwright [[Robert E. Sherwood|Robert Sherwood]], who served as Roosevelt's primary speechwriter on foreign affairs.<ref>Houseman, John, ''Front & Center'', 1979, New York: Simon and Schuster, pp. 45-46.</ref> |
|||
Roosevelt was encouraged to create the agency by British officials, John H. Godfrey, head of the British [[Naval Intelligence Division]] and [[William Stephenson]], head of [[British Security Coordination]] in [[New York City]]. New York attorney and [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] recipient [[William Joseph Donovan]] was appointed head of the new agency. The office acquired staff and offices from various existing departmental services, including the undercover branch of the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]]. The agency had a total staff of 600 and a budget of $10 million. |
|||
British officials, including [[John Henry Godfrey|John Godfrey]] of the British Naval Intelligence Division and [[William Stephenson]], head of [[British Security Co-ordination]] in New York, also encouraged Roosevelt to create the agency. British-Australian MI6 intelligence officer [[Dick Ellis]] has been credited with writing the blueprint for Donovan. |
|||
In 1942, following U.S. involvement in the war, the COI split in two, with covert operations coming under the control of the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] as the [[Office of Strategic Services]], and propaganda operations being transferred to a newly formed [[United States Office of War Information|Office of War Information]]. |
|||
Donovan's primary interests were military intelligence and covert operations. Sherwood handled the dissemination of domestic information and foreign propaganda. He recruited the noted radio producer [[John Houseman]], who because of his Romanian birth at the time was technically an [[enemy alien]],<ref>Houseman, John (1979), ''op. cit.'', p. 23.</ref> to develop an overseas radio program for broadcast to the [[Axis powers]] and the populations of the territories they had conquered, which became known as the [[Voice of America]]. The first broadcast, called in German ''Stimmen aus Amerika'' ("Voices from America") aired on Feb. 1, 1942, and included the pledge: "Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war. ... The news may be good or bad for us – We will always tell you the truth."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chriskern.net/essay/voaFirstBroadcast.html |title=A Belated Correction: The ''Real'' First Broadcast of the Voice of America |last=Kern |first=Chris |access-date=2010-10-19}}.</ref> |
|||
Donovan's desire to use propaganda for tactical military purposes and Sherwood's emphasis on what later became known as [[public diplomacy]] were a continuing source of conflict between the two men.<ref>Houseman, John (1979), ''op. cit.'', pp. 25–28.</ref> On June 13, 1942, Roosevelt split the functions and created two new agencies: the [[Office of Strategic Services]], a predecessor of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], and the [[Office of War Information]], a predecessor of the [[United States Information Agency]].{{Intelligence agencies of USA|state=collapsed}} |
|||
==References== |
|||
{{Reflist}} |
|||
==External links== |
==External links== |
||
*[https://www.cia.gov/library/ |
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150906075138/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/intelligence-history/oss/art02.htm COI Came First], from the website of the CIA |
||
[[Category:Defunct United States intelligence agencies]] |
|||
{{US-gov-stub}} |
{{US-gov-stub}} |
||
| ⚫ | |||
Latest revision as of 19:23, 6 July 2024
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2024) |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 11 July 1941 |
| Dissolved | 13 June 1942 |
| Superseding agency | |
| Jurisdiction |  United States |
| Agency executives |
|
| World War II | |
The Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI) was an intelligence and propaganda agency of the United States Government, founded on July 11, 1941, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, prior to U.S. involvement in the Second World War. It was intended to overcome the lack of coordination between existing agencies which, in part, it did by duplicating some of their functions.
Roosevelt was persuaded to create the office several months before the United States entered the war by prominent New York lawyer William J. Donovan, who had been dispatched to London by the president to assess the ability of the British to continue fighting after the French capitulation to German aggression, and by American playwright Robert Sherwood, who served as Roosevelt's primary speechwriter on foreign affairs.[1]
British officials, including John Godfrey of the British Naval Intelligence Division and William Stephenson, head of British Security Co-ordination in New York, also encouraged Roosevelt to create the agency. British-Australian MI6 intelligence officer Dick Ellis has been credited with writing the blueprint for Donovan.
Donovan's primary interests were military intelligence and covert operations. Sherwood handled the dissemination of domestic information and foreign propaganda. He recruited the noted radio producer John Houseman, who because of his Romanian birth at the time was technically an enemy alien,[2] to develop an overseas radio program for broadcast to the Axis powers and the populations of the territories they had conquered, which became known as the Voice of America. The first broadcast, called in German Stimmen aus Amerika ("Voices from America") aired on Feb. 1, 1942, and included the pledge: "Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war. ... The news may be good or bad for us – We will always tell you the truth."[3]
Donovan's desire to use propaganda for tactical military purposes and Sherwood's emphasis on what later became known as public diplomacy were a continuing source of conflict between the two men.[4] On June 13, 1942, Roosevelt split the functions and created two new agencies: the Office of Strategic Services, a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Office of War Information, a predecessor of the United States Information Agency.
References
[edit]- ^ Houseman, John, Front & Center, 1979, New York: Simon and Schuster, pp. 45-46.
- ^ Houseman, John (1979), op. cit., p. 23.
- ^ Kern, Chris. "A Belated Correction: The Real First Broadcast of the Voice of America". Retrieved 2010-10-19..
- ^ Houseman, John (1979), op. cit., pp. 25–28.
External links
[edit]- COI Came First, from the website of the CIA
.svg){kind=small} | This United States government–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |