Sidney Souers
Sidney William Souers was an American admiral and intelligence expert.
Rear Admiral Souers was appointed as the first Director of Central Intelligence on January 23, 1946 by President Harry S. Truman, where he would be in charge of the new Central Intelligence Group. Prior to this, as Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, Souers had been one of the architects of the system that came into being with the President's directive. He had written the intelligence chapter of the Eberstadt Report, which advocated a unified intelligence system. Toward the end of 1945, when the competing plans for a national intelligence system were deadlocked, Souers' views had come to the attention of the President, and he seems to have played a role in breaking the impasse.
Souers subsequently became executive secretary of the United States National Security Council. In this role he saw President Truman daily, and was the person Truman talked to most regarding national security issues. It was through Souers that Truman first learned of the possible existence of the hydrogen bomb, and Souers coordinated some of the work being done by different departments during the U.S. government's debate regarding whether to go forward with the development of that weapon.Timeline
