Sidney Souers
Sidney William Souers (March 30, 1892 – January 14, 1973) was an American admiral and intelligence expert.
Sidney Souers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1st Director of Central Intelligence | |
| In office January 23, 1946 – June 10, 1946 | |
| President | Harry Truman |
| Deputy | Kingman Douglass |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Hoyt Vandenberg |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 30, 1892 Dayton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | January 14, 1973 (aged 80) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Education | Purdue University, West Lafayette Miami University (BA) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1929–1946 |
| Rank |  Rear Admiral |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Rear Admiral Souers was appointed as the first Director of Central Intelligence on January 23, 1946, by President Harry S. Truman, where he would be in charge of the new Central Intelligence Group (CIG).[1] Prior to this, as Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, Souers had been one of the architects of the system that came into being with the President's directive. He had written the intelligence chapter of the Eberstadt Report, which advocated a unified intelligence system. Toward the end of 1945, when the competing plans for a national intelligence system were deadlocked, Souers' views had come to the attention of the President, and he seems to have played a role in breaking the impasse.
Souers subsequently became executive secretary of the United States National Security Council.[2] In this role he saw President Truman daily,[2] and was the person Truman talked to most regarding national security issues.[3] It was through Souers that Truman first learned of the possible existence of the hydrogen bomb, and Souers coordinated some of the work being done by different departments during the U.S. government's debate regarding whether to go forward with the development of that weapon.[2]
Timeline
- 1911–1912 Student at Purdue University
- 1914 A.B., Miami University, member of the Kappa chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon
- 1920–1925 President, Mortgage & Securities Company, New Orleans
- 1922–1928 President and founder, First Joint Stock Land Bank
- 1925–1926 Executive, Piggly Wiggly Stores, Memphis
- 1925–1930 Executive vice president, Canal Bank & Trust Company, New Orleans
- 1927–1930 Member, New Orleans Port Authority
- 1929 (April 29) Appointed lieutenant commander, U.S. Naval Reserve
- 1929–1934 Member, board of directors, Aviation Corporation
- 1930–1933 Vice president, Missouri State Life Insurance Company, St. Louis
- 1932–1940 U.S. Naval Reserve, intelligence officer, inactive status
- 1933–1973 Executive, General American Life Insurance Company
- 1940 (July 22) Called to active duty
- 1944 (July 24) Became assistant director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department
- 1945 (November 8) Designated deputy chief of Naval Intelligence, with the rank of rear admiral
- 1946 (January 23) Appointed Director of Central Intelligence, Central Intelligence Group
- 1946 (July 22) Relieved of active duty
- 1947–1950 Executive secretary, National Security Council
- 1950–1953 Special consultant to the President on military and foreign affairs
References
- Prados, John (2006). Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA. Ivan R. Dee. p. 34. ISBN 9781615780112.
- Young, Ken; Schilling, Warner R. (2019). Super Bomb: Organizational Conflict and the Development of the Hydrogen Bomb. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. pp. 42, 59.
- Bundy, McGeorge (1988). Danger and Survival: Choices About the Bomb in the First Fifty Years. New York: Random House. p. 204.
