What was wild Bill Donovan's World War 2 org?

Answer 1

The OSS, Office of Strategic Services, which was the forerunner of the CIA. Roosevelt liked to set up rivalries and see what would result and he did so in this case, not clearly defining between the FBI and the OSS who was responsible for what. What worked out was that the FBI was responsible for counterintelligence within the borders of the US, which was something they had already been doing, trying to catch enemy spies operating in the US. The OSS (and later the CIA) was responsible for counterintelligence outside the US, and for doing our own spying. This division meant that many times the right hand did not know what the left was doing. After the CIA engaged in some abusive activities in the 60s and 70s Congress passed laws clearly prohibiting the CIA from operating within the US. So the right hand STILL does not know what the left is doing. Needless to say, this often causes extremely serious problems with very real consequences. Its a little gift from Franklin that just KEEPS on giving.