Legacy of ashes: the history of the CIA

"In the beginning, we knew nothing" : the CIA under Truman, 1945-1953

"A strange kind of genius" : the CIA under Eisenhower, 1953 to 1961

Lost causes : the CIA under Kennedy and Johnson, 1961 to 1968

"Get rid of the clowns" : the CIA under Nixon and Ford, 1968 to 1977

Victory without joy : the CIA under Carter, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, 1977 to 1993

The reckoning : the CIA under Clinton and George W. Bush, 1993 to 2007.

Intelligence must be global and totalitarian

The logic of force

Fight fire with fire

The most secret thing

A rich blind man

They were suicide missions

A vast field of illusion

We have no plan

CIA's greatest single triumph

Bomb repeat bomb

And then we'll have a storm

We ran it in a different way

Wishful blindness

Ham-handed operations of all kinds

A very strange war

He was lying down and he was lying up

Nobody knew what to do

We had also fooled ourselves

We'd be delighted to trade those missiles

Hey, boss, we did a good job, didn't we?

I thought it was a conspiracy

An ominous drift

More courage than wisdom

The beginning of a long slide downwards

We knew then that we could not win the war

A political H-bomb

Track down the foreign communists

What the hell do those clowns do out there in Langley?

USG wants a military solution

We are going to catch a lot of hell

To change the concept of a secret service

A classic fascist ideal

The CIA would be destroyed

Saigon signing off

Ineffective and scared

He sought to overthrow their system

We were just plain asleep

A free-lance buccaneer

In a dangerous way

He was running a great risk

A con man's con man

To think the unthinkable

What are we going to do when the wall comes down?

We had no facts

Why in the world didn't we know?

We're in trouble

The threat could not be more real

The dark side

A grave mistake

The burial ceremony.

Author's note --

pt. 1. In the beginning, we knew nothing : the CIA under Truman, 1945-1953 --

1. Intelligence must be global and totalitarian --

2. The logic of force --

3. Fight fire with fire --

4. The most secret thing --

5. A rich blind man --

6. They were suicide missions --

7. A vast field of illusion --

2. A strange kind of genius : the CIA under Eisenhower, 1953 to 1961 --

8. We have no plan --

9. CIA's greatest single triumph --

10. Bomb repeat bomb --

11. And then we'll have a storm --

12. We ran it in a different way --

13. Wishful blindness --

14. Ham-handed operations of all kinds --

15. A very strange war --

16. He was lying down and he was lying up --

pt. 3. Lost causes : the CIA under Kennedy and Johnson, 1961 to 1968 --

17. Nobody knew what to do --

18. We had also fooled ourselves --

19. We'd be delighted to trade those missiles --

20. Hey, boss, we did a good job, didn't we? --

21. I thought it was a conspiracy --

22. An ominous drift --

23. More courage than wisdom --

24. The beginning of a long slide downwards --

25. We knew then that we could not win the war --

26. A political H-bomb --

27. Track down the foreign communists --

pt. 4. Get rid of the clowns : the CIA under Nixon and Ford, 1968 to 1977 --

28. What the hell do those clowns do out there in Langley? --

29. USG wants a military solution --

30. We are going to catch a lot of hell --

31. To change the concept of a secret service --

32. A classic fascist ideal --

33. The CIA would be destroyed --

34. Saigon signing off --

35. Ineffective and scared --

pt. 5. Victory without joy : the CIA under Carter, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, 1977 to 1993 --

36. He sought to overthrow their system --

37. We were just plain asleep --

38. A free-lance buccaneer --

39. In a dangerous way --

40. He was running a great risk --

41. A con man's con man --

42. To think the unthinkable --

43. What are we going to do when the wall comes down? --

pt. 6. The reckoning : the CIA under Clinton and George W. Bush, 1993 to 2007 --

44. We had no facts --

45. Why in the world didn't we know? --

46. We're in trouble --

47. The threat could not be more real --

48. The dark side --

49. A grave mistake --

50. The burial ceremony --

Acknowledgments --

Notes --

Index.