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The Year of Intelligence in the United States

Public Opinion, National Security, and the 1975 Church Committee

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  • © 2021

Overview

Authors:
  1. Dafydd Townley

    1. Department of History, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, UK

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  • Extends scholarly inquiry into the role of the public and journalism in shaping government policy and oversight

  • Draws on previously untapped archives

  • Challenges existing scholarship surrounding the impact of the intelligence revelations

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Introduction

    • Dafydd Townley
    Pages 1-23

  3. Gerald Ford and the Rockefeller Commission

    • Dafydd Townley
    Pages 25-77

  4. The House Investigations and the Ford White House

    • Dafydd Townley
    Pages 79-122

  5. The Creation of the Church Committee

    • Dafydd Townley
    Pages 123-163

  6. The Church Committee at Work

    • Dafydd Townley
    Pages 165-208

  7. Criticism of the Church Committee

    • Dafydd Townley
    Pages 209-254

  8. The Legacy of the Church Committee

    • Dafydd Townley
    Pages 255-301

  9. Conclusion

    • Dafydd Townley
    Pages 303-319

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 321-329
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Keywords

About this book

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.  

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of History, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, UK

    Dafydd Townley

About the author

Dafydd Townley is Teaching Fellow in US History at the University of Reading, UK.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Year of Intelligence in the United States

  • Book Subtitle: Public Opinion, National Security, and the 1975 Church Committee

  • Authors: Dafydd Townley

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67646-9

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-67645-2Published: 09 April 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-67648-3Published: 10 April 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-67646-9Published: 08 April 2021

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 329

  • Number of Illustrations: 6 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: US History, Political History, US Politics, International Security Studies

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