In late 1975, President Ford made some personnel moves, shaking up the administration. For example, Henry Kissinger stayed on as the Secretary of State, but was no longer the President’s National Security Advisor – that job was given to Brent Scowcroft. Donald Rumsfeld replaced James Schlesinger as the Director of Defense. Richard “Dick” Cheney became the Chief of Staff. And President Ford also asked for George H.W. Bush to take on the position as the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). 

At the time of this request, Bush was stationed in China as the U.S. Liaison – a job he thoroughly enjoyed. He wrote Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on November 2, 1975, stating:

Here are my heartfelt views. … I do not have politics out of my system entirely and I see this as the total end of any political future. … My Dad inculcated into his sons a set of values that have served me well in my own short public life. One of these values quite simply is that one should serve his country and his President. And so if this is what the President wants me to do the answer is a firm “YES¹.”

Bush would be taking over the leadership of the CIA at a tumultuous time. The Agency had been the subject of intelligence hearings in the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as a Presidential Commission. President Nixon reached out to Bush upon the announcement, writing “What you have been through before will look like a cakewalk compared to what you will now be confronted with².”

George Bush was sworn in as Director of the CIA on January 30, 1976. 

He served in the position for less than a year, but made a lasting impact on the Agency in that short amount of time. As he left the role, Bush reflected on his accomplishments:

We (the CIA) are still slugged at times with unfair criticism, but the sensationalism is giving way now to legitimate inquiry: the adversary relationship with Congress has given way to thorough and constructive oversight; the frantic search for reorganization and dismantlement has given way to a legitimate search for ways to improve things³.

In 1999, the headquarters compound in Langley was renamed the George Bush Center for Intelligence, and, in 2016, the Agency announced a newly-created award, the George H.W. Bush Intelligence Officer Award. In announcing the Award, then-CIA Director John Brennan stated: 

Your legacy resonates deeply, even to this day. From your name on the signs marking CIA headquarters, to your advocacy for CIA’s value in an increasingly complex world, to your vision of this Agency as one unit and one family, your tenure left a deep impression. This is your CIA in more than just name⁴.

As we now know, George Bush’s political career did not suffer from his appointment to the CIA. He became Vice President in 1981 and President in 1989, making him the only “producer (as DCI) and consumer (as President) of intelligence in a single career⁵.” In his farewell to the employees of the Agency in 1977, Bush said: 

It’s time to go now, and yet it seems as if I have just begun. First, I want to say Thank You to all. I have never been associated with any institution that gives its leadership more cooperation and more support. I wish I could thank each of you personally. …I am leaving the CIA now, but I take with me many happy memories. Even the tough, unsolved problems don’t seem so awesome; for they are overshadowed by our successes and by the fact that we do provide the best foreign intelligence in the world. I am leaving, but I am not forgetting⁶.”

Author: Brooke Clement

1. Bush, George. All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings, 1999, pages 233-234. ↩︎
2. Bush, George. All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings, 1999, page 242. ↩︎
3. Bush, George. All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings, 1999, page 266. ↩︎
4. Bush as Director of Central Intelligence – CIA ↩︎
5. Bush as Director of Central Intelligence – CIA ↩︎
6. Bush, George. All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings, 1999, pages 266-267. ↩︎