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Cold War Museum
to host a lecture and book signing reception
for top-level CIA analyst, David Rudgers,
author of "Creating the Secret State:
The Origins of the Central Intelligence
Agency, 1943-1947".
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(Fairfax, VA - July 26, 2000):
While much has been disclosed about the CIA's
cloak-and-dagger activities during the Cold
War, relatively little is known about the
real origins of this secret organization.
David Rudgers, a 22-year CIA veteran, has
written the first complete account of its
creation, revealing how the idea of "centralized
intelligence" developed within the government
and debunking the myth that former OSS chief
William J. Donovan was the prime mover behind
the agency's founding. To kick off the release
of the book: "CREATING THE SECRET STATE: The
Origins of the Central Intelligence Agency,
1943-1947", (University Press of Kansas; $35.00;
July 5, 2000), the Cold War Museum will host
a book signing reception on Thursday, July
27, 2000 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. The reception
will take place at Old Town Hall, 3999 University
Drive, in the City of Fairfax. In addition
to remarks made by David Rudgers, Francis
Gary Powers, Jr., son of the U-2 pilot shot
down over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960,
will give a brief overview of efforts currently
underway to establish a Cold War Museum in
the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Admission
is free but seating is limited. Autographed
copies of Creating the Secret State will be
available for sale at the reception.
Creating the Secret State locates the CIA's
origins in government wide efforts to reorganize
national security during the transition from
World War II to the Cold War. Rudgers maintains
that the creation of the CIA was not merely
the brainchild of "Wild Bill" Donovan. Rather,
it was the culmination of years of negotiation
among numerous policy makers such as James
Forrestal and Dean Acheson, each with strong
opinions regarding the agency's mission and
methods. He shows that Congress, State and
Justice Departments, Joint Chiefs, and even
the Bureau of the Budget all had a hand in
the establishment of this "secret state" that
operates nearly invisibly outside the American
political process.
Based almost entirely on archival and other
primary sources, Rudgers's book describes
in detail how the CIA evolved from its original
purpose--as a watchdog to guard against a
"nuclear Pearl Harbor" -- to the role of clandestine
warriors countering Soviet subversion, eventually
engaging in more forms of intelligence gathering
and covert operations than any of its counterparts.
It suggests how the agency became a different
organization than it might have been without
the Communist threat and also shows how it
both overexaggerated the dangers of the Cold
War and failed to predict its ending. An indispensable
resource for future studies of the CIA, Creating
the Secret State tells the inside story of
why and how the agency was called into existence
as it stimulates thinking about its future
relevance in a rapidly changing world.
From the Back Cover
"This book is a gem. It out-trumps Thomas
Troy's Donovan and should easily achieve the
status of the standard account of CIA origins.
Anyone with a serious interest in the history
of U.S. Intelligence will have to be aware
it. I am filled with admiration for Rudgers's
research and the forensic skill he displays
in putting the pieces of the debate into such
clear perspective." -- Wesley Wark, author
of The Intelligence Revolution: Espionage
and International Relations Since 1900.
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