The Year of Intelligence in the United States : Public Opinion, National Security, and the 1975 Church Committee

This book will offer a unique approach to the Year of Intelligence, the sixteen-month period between January 1975 and April 1976 that saw the innermost secrets of various US intelligence agencies laid bare before the world. After allegations of intelligence abuses were made in the press, Congress investigated and revealed numerous cases of unwarranted and unconstitutional activity conducted by a number of intelligence agencies. Chief among the investigations was the Senate enquiry, popularly known as the Church Committee after its chairman, Senator Frank Church of Idaho. This study’s objective is to examine the relationship between national security policy and public opinion using extensive archival evidence, including previously unidentified indicators of public opinion. This monograph makes an important contribution to the historiography of the Church Committee, of public opinion, and of national security policy. The research contributes to the debate on the effectiveness of the Church Committee by challenging the conclusions within the established historiography of the limited impact of the committee’s quest for reform. Furthermore, it widens the very limited scholarship that engages with public opinion’s effect on national security policy. And the project also indicates to policymakers the lessons that can be learnt from the case study, principally, that public opinion is a vital ingredient in the decision making process of successful national security policy. Acknowledgements Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction References Chapter 2: Gerald Ford and the Rockefeller Commission The Year of Intelligence Reaction to the Hersh Article A Blue Riband Commission The Rockefeller Commission at Work The Intelligence Coordinating Group Ford and Public Opinion Ford’s Failure References Chapter 3: The House Investigations and the Ford White House The House Investigations The Nedzi Committee The Pike Committee Pike and the Ford White House The Pike Report Fiasco The Year of Intelligence and the Ford Presidency References Chapter 4: The Creation of the Church Committee The Public and the Church Committee The Failure of Congressional Intelligence Oversight Ensuring a Balanced Enquiry The Chairman’s Challenge The Influence of Public Opinion References Chapter 5: The Church Committee at Work Public Opinion and the Church Committee Investigation The People’s Investigation The Interim Report Maintaining Public Interest The Domestic Revelations The Impact of the Public Hearings References Chapter 6: Criticism of the Church Committee Casting Aspersions at the Church Committee The Efficiency and Safety of the US Intelligence Community Church and the Public A Witch Hunt? A Whitewash? Church and the Presidency Defying the Critics References Chapter 7: The Legacy of the Church Committee A Long-Lasting Effect The Church Report The Public Response to the Church Committee Institutional Impact A Legislative Legacy A Significant Contribution to Oversight Reform References Chapter 8: Conclusion Life After the Committee Public Opinion’s Effect on the Intelligence Community Public Opinion and National Security Policy References Index