Research Catalog

Title

Dorwart's history of the Office of Naval Intelligence, 1865-1945 / Jeffery M. Dorwart.

Author

Dorwart, Jeffery M., 1944-

Publication

Annapolis, Maryland : Naval Institute Press, [2019]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xiv, 400 pages; 24 cm

Summary

This refreshingly impartial history of the Office of Naval Intelligence is important both because ONI was the first official American intelligence agency and because very little has been written on the history of U.S. intelligence in the days before the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency. Jeffery Dorwart outlines the role of ONI in the development of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century naval, political, and diplomatic policies. He reveals that one of the primary motivations for establishing the agency was the burning conviction of a group of young and enthusiastic men that if the U.S. Navy was to meet the challenge of potential enemies, it had to be thoroughly informed about foreign navies. Not only does Dr. Dorwart show the impact of these vigorous personalities on their era--men such as Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Wainwright, John G. Walker, and William S. Sims--but he makes them come alive with remarkable clarity. More than forty years before the scandal of "Watergate" shocked the world, an equally illegal entry of private property for political purposes was carried out by a government agent under instructions from the White House. Several years later, a fellow agent formed a top-secret spy ring for the personal use of the president of the United States. Meanwhile, others working for the same organization broke into safes, eaves­dropped, vandalized private property, and consorted with unsavory characters in the pursuit of domestic pacifists and radicals. Still others interfered in the internal affairs of Latin American nations, dabbled in Asian politics, and accompanied Fascist Black Shirts into Africa. These were U.S. naval and marine officers who became attached to ONI between 1919 and 1945. In a scholarly style that mixes history with biography, this book documents the inner dynamics of ONI and its interaction with other segments of the navy and the government. While Dr. Dorwart relates its successes, he does not ignore the failures, limitations, and extra-legal tendencies of this vitally important but flawed organization.

Subject

• United States. Office of Naval Intelligence > History
• United States. Office of Naval Intelligence
• HISTORY / Military / Naval

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Part I The Birth of America's First Intelligence Agency, 1865-1918 p. 7 -- Chapter 1 Roots of Naval Intelligence p. 9 -- Chapter 2 An Intelligence Office p. 17 -- Chapter 3 The New Navy p. 25 -- Chapter 4 The First Attachés p. 33 -- Chapter 5 An Undesirable Billet p. 40 -- Chapter 6 The Widening Intelligence Field p. 47 -- Chapter 7 Planning for War p. 55 -- Chapter 8 War with Spain p. 62 -- Chapter 9 Potential Enemy Germany p. 69 -- Chapter 10 Potential Enemy Japan p. 76 -- Chapter 11 Naval Intelligence in Transition p. 82 -- Chapter 12 The Preparedness Movement p. 90 -- Chapter 13 An Intelligence Elite p. 99 -- Chapter 14 Domestic Surveillance p. 105 -- Chapter 15 The European War p. 113 -- Chapter 16 An International Network p. 121 -- Part II The Interwar Years, 1919-1938 p. 131 -- Chapter 17 Intelligence Dilemma p. 133 -- Chapter 18 Bolshevik Menace p. 139 -- Chapter 19 False Information p. 148 -- Chapter 20 The Mysterious Islands p. 157 -- Chapter 21 Surreptitious Entry p. 163 -- Chapter 22 Danger Signals p. 170 -- Chapter 23 New Deal for Naval Intelligence p. 180 -- Chapter 24 In Pursuit of Domestic Enemies p. 191 -- Chapter 25 Strategic Stirrings p. 205 -- Chapter 26 Hemisphere Security p. 218 -- Part III Neutrality and War, 1939-1945 p. 227 -- Chapter 27 Domestic Security p. 229 -- Chapter 28 Neutral Observers p. 239 -- Chapter 29 ALUSNA London p. 250 -- Chapter 30 Internal Struggles p. 258 -- Chapter 31 Roosevelt's Spy p. 271 -- Chapter 32 Failure of Intelligence Doctrine p. 280 -- Chapter 33 On the Defensive p. 289 -- Chapter 34 The Man Who Wanted to be DNI p. 300 -- Chapter 35 Global Agents p. 311 -- Chapter 36 Defining the Naval Interest p. 319.

ISBN

• 9781682473917
• 1682473910
• 9781591146193 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2019003387

OCLC

• on1083676064
• 1083676064
• SCSB-9841777

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library