The OSS, which had begun as a shoestring operation run by amateurs and oddballs, was by war’s end a global enterprise, active in Europe, the Mediterranean, and China. It had 3,500 civilian employees and over 8,000 military personnel. But all this was dismantled after the war as the nation demobilized. Not until July 1947, under the pressures of the intensifying cold war, did President Truman devote attention to building up the intelligence services. The National Security Act created the National Security Council, chaired by the president, which in turned would supervise the new Central
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