当乔治H.W。 布什首先寻找了共和党提名为总统，朋友宣布他放弃一个高级中央情报局工作帮助我们现在知道作为布什一和布什41的人。

？他是我们有的最佳的主任， ？ 并且肯定是一位了不起的总统，我的代办处好朋友被坚持。

容易地说; 较不容易地做。 布什是八年在赢取顶面斑点之前在票和四年副总裁在白宫里。

陪审员是布什是否将是额定我们的一位最佳的总统，但是它？说那的s保险柜，如果他？s最佳CIA和它的前辈代办处的21个上司，他一定是非常好的确。

开始作为战略服务第二次世界大战办公室，代办处在公共业务世界由将军、海军上将、联邦法官、一位受尊敬的议员和人负责操行以传说上有名名字，例如亚伦Dulles。

第一次世界大战英雄Gen。 威廉？野生比尔？ Donovan填装了他的OSS与？先生们间谍？ ? 常春藤Leaguers和其他良好教育的人，诱使由在敌对线之后经常派遣他们到聚集智力并且执行破坏活动小说工作的荣耀和重要性。

战后幸福感看了OSS被遣散的和弄错的它的责任被给国务院， 1947年，但很快杜鲁门总统锯和CIA出生。

数十年，代办处和它的工作是超级秘密。 它的资金，以著名？黑词条， ？ 在其他代办处方面预算掩藏了。 没有指挥驾驶人的标志对它的弗吉尼亚总部。

当一位高级美联社作家最后得到了允许参观，简报他设置基本规则的官员： ？这个地点不存在，并且这次采访未曾发生？。

至今，总部？ ？荣誉墙壁？ 有空白在尊敬在公务死的人员的匾之中; 不少名字和死亡日期仍然被认为太敏感以至于不能显露。

当最高级的官员知道并且作证在国会委员会面前时，多数CIA人员和工作广泛和？隐蔽？ ? 使用工作在美国。 使命和在私人部门工作例如进出口企业为盖子。 With the notable exception of Nixon, Presidents have honored federal law forbidding the CIA from doing espionage inside this country. Domestic spying is the FBI?s territory.

Outside the States, I met many whom I knew to be CIA personnel and others whom I believed were on that payroll. I?ve been accused often of having worked for them, and if that were true, I?d acknowledge it proudly, but I never did.

I can say as an outsider that anyone claiming to pigeonhole our intelligence-gatherers is wasting the time of their readers or listeners. Agency personnel come in all adult ages, both sexes and all races and ethnic groups (most people working for the agency are foreign nationals reporting to U.S. ?control officers?).

Most of those whom I?ve known were highly professional researchers and analysts, whose skills I often envied. One predicted the Marxist takeover in Chile a full two years before Allende became president, infuriating our ambassador who was telling the State Department just the opposite.

In fact, independence is one of the agency?s most valuable assets. Its people aren?t infallible ? as they readily admit ? but like our military attaches, they supply perspectives that often are missing from State Department reports.

Some remain among our most valued friends, and I wish that we had stayed in touch with others whom I respected greatly. A very small minority were creepy or comical or sometimes both

Among those, one of my favorites was a short, intense man who couldn?t remember his cover. Asked at diplomatic functions what he did, he would tell one person that he was in the economic section, say to the next that he was a consul and inform a third that he was a political officer.

Another was tall, slender and acted as if he?d seen too many 1930s spy films. He wore a rumpled trench coat with turned-up collar, and instead of walking calmly out of the embassy, he flattened himself against a wall and peered furtively up and down the street until he was satisfied it was safe.

Some from other branches of government, the business community and news media derided agency people as ?spooks,? but that was unfair to the vast majority. Most are genuine pros, and we?re a better and safer country because we have them.