The role of the CIA is crucial for America's security and for the prospects of world peace. Democracy depends on secret intelligence for its survival, yet the relationship between the two has always been controversial and, at times, mutually harmful. In this history of the CIA based on verifiable documents and on scholarly sources, Jeffreys-Jones examines the agency as an institution operating within a political context. Providing an account of the CIA's shifting relationship with the American public, Congress, and presidents, Jeffreys-Jones's assessment of the CIA and the factors that increase or diminish its efficacy provides a look at an issue of importance to all.