Editing Sidney Souers

{{Short description|American admiral and intelligence expert}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Sidney Souers
| image               = Sidney W. Souers.jpg
| office              = 1st [[Director of Central Intelligence]]
| president           = [[Harry S. Truman]]
| deputy              = [[Kingman Douglass]]
| term_start          = January 23, 1946
| term_end            = June 10, 1946
| predecessor         = ''Position established''
| successor           = [[Hoyt Vandenberg]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1892|3|30}}
| birth_place         = [[Dayton, Ohio]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1973|1|14|1892|3|30}}
| death_place         = [[St. Louis]], Missouri, U.S.
| education           = [[Purdue University|Purdue University, West Lafayette]]<br />[[Miami University]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}
| branch              = {{navy|USA}}
| serviceyears        = 1929&ndash;1940 (reserve duty)<br>1940&ndash;1946 (active duty)
| rank                = [[File:USN-USMC_O8_insignia.svg|25px]] [[Rear Admiral]]
| battles             = [[World War II]]
| allegiance          = {{flag|United States|1912}}
| awards              = [[Distinguished Service Medal]]
| office2             = 1st Executive Secretary of the [[U.S. National Security Council]]
| president2          = Harry S. Truman
| termstart2          = July 26, 1947
| termend2            = December 21, 1949
| predecessor2        = ''Position established''
| successor2          = [[James Lay]]
| commands            = [[Naval Station Great Lakes|Sixth Naval District]]<br/>[[Office of Naval Intelligence]]<br/>[[Central Intelligence Group]]
}}
'''Sidney William Souers''' (March 30, 1892 – January 14, 1973) was an American military intelligence officer who was the first person to hold the office of [[Director of Central Intelligence]], being head of the [[Central Intelligence Group]] (CIG), the direct predecessor to the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA), and of the [[National Intelligence Authority]] (NIA), the direct predecessor to the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] (NSC).

From 1947 to 1949, Souers also served as Executive Secretary of the [[U.S. National Security Council]], and was a close and trusted advisor of President [[Harry S. Truman]].

== Early life and education ==
Sidney Souers was born in [[Dayton, Ohio]]. He attended [[Purdue University]] and eventually [[Miami University]], graduating from the latter in 1914 with a [[Bachelor of Arts]]. During his time at Miami, Souers was a member of the Kappa chapter of [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Admiral Sidney W. Souers Distinguished Alumni Award-Past Winners |url=https://www.miamialum.org/s/916/22/Interior.aspx?pgid=2621&gid=1 |access-date=2023-11-30 |website=www.miamialum.org |language=en}}</ref>

After completing his education, Souers was initially attracted to a business career. He was a founder and first president of the First Joint Stock Land Bank of Dayton, and also served as a high ranking business executive in [[New Orleans]] and later [[St. Louis]] for a number of notable companies, including [[Piggly Wiggly]] stores and [[Metropolitan Life Insurance]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 Mar 1925 |title=NEW ORLEANS MAN TO HEAD PIGGLY STORES |pages=15 |work=Memphis Commercial Appeal}}</ref> He was among the co-founders of [[American Airlines]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |title=SIDNEY W. SOUERS, INTELLIGENCE AIDE; First Secretary of National Security Council Is Dead |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1973/01/16/99110743.html?pageNumber=42 |access-date=2023-11-30}}</ref>

== Career ==

=== Navy career ===
Souers was called to active duty with the [[United States Navy]] on July 22, 1940, after serving eleven years in the naval reserves as an [[intelligence officer]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Adair |first=Bianca |title=The Silent Warrior: Rear Admiral Sidney Souers and the Emergence of CIA's Covert Action Authority |url=https://www.cia.gov/static/0d93c336f342773507612f629bb652cc/Article-Rear-Admiral-Sidney-Souers-and-the-Emergence-of-CIAs-Covert-Action-Authority.pdf |journal=}}</ref> Initially commissioned as a [[lieutenant commander]], Souers was promoted to full [[commander]] in February 1942 when he was assigned to command the Sixth Naval District, headquartered at [[Naval Station Great Lakes]] in Chicago.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 Dec 1940 |title=SIDNEY W. SOUERS RESIGNS |pages=15 |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=13 Feb 1942 |title=Sidney Souers in Navy Intelligence Post |pages=17 |work=[[St. Louis Star and Times]]}}</ref> In May 1943, after [[U-352|a German U-boat]] was sunk by the [[U.S. Coast Guard]] off the South Carolina coast, Souers, along with [[Royal Navy]] commander [[Patrick W. Stone]], was tasked with the interrogation of the submarine's crew.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 May 1943 |title=Sub Crewmen Sink Teeth in Chicken and Captor Gets Medal |pages=2 |work=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]}}</ref> 

Souers was appointed assistant director of the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] on July 24, 1944. He was promoted to [[rear admiral]] and deputy chief of Naval Intelligence on November 8, 1945.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 Oct 1945 |title=Truman Makes Promotions in Naval Reserve |pages=1&ndash;2 |work=[[Nashville Banner]]}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> He was eventually relieved of active duty on July 22, 1946, after exactly six years of naval service.<ref name=":2" />

=== Director of Central Intelligence ===
Sidney Souers was appointed member of a joint committee of [[United States Department of State|State]], [[United States Department of War|War]] and [[United States Department of the Navy|Navy]] department employees in December 1944, chaired by [[Ferdinand Eberstadt (policy advisor)|Ferdinand Eberstadt]] and tasked with creating what would become known as the [[Eberstadt Report]]. In the report, Souers argued for the creation of a new central intelligence organization after the war that was to be under civilian as opposed to military control. By late 1945, Souers' proposal had come to the attention of president [[Harry S. Truman]], who personally ordered Souers to send a memo to [[Secretary of the Navy]] [[James Forrestal]] on the president's approval of the proposition.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2020/august/how-admiral-souers-shaped-national-security-system |title=How Admiral Souers Shaped the National Security System |author=Briem, Christopher |publisher=United States Naval Institute |date=August 2020 |access-date=September 13, 2024 }}</ref>

[[File:President Truman in the Cabinet Room of the White House with the National Security Council. L to R around table... - NARA - 199860.tif|left|thumb|Souers (third from left) meeting with President Truman at a White House meeting of the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]], August 19, 1948]]
On January 22, 1946, the [[National Intelligence Authority]] was officially established, with president Truman appointing Souers as director of its [[Central Intelligence Group]] (CIG). Souers agreed to serve as interim director until a permanent director could be appointed. Souers was initially tasked with giving [[President's Daily Brief|daily intelligence briefings]] to president Truman on current developments in intelligence and national security.<ref name=":3" /> Despite being the inaugural holder of the office of Director of Central Intelligence, Souers was insistent on returning to his civilian business career, and was reluctantly relieved of his duties by president Truman on June 7, 1946 following the nomination of [[Hoyt Vandenberg]] as CIG director.<ref>{{Cite news |title=TRUMAN ELEVATES GEN. VANDENBERG |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1946/06/08/93126067.html?pageNumber=21 |access-date=2023-11-30}}</ref>

=== Later career ===
Souers was soon called back to Washington when president Truman appointed him to serve as Executive Secretary of the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] following its creation on July 26, 1947. In this capacity as a non-voting member, he met with the president daily as a personal informant on national security issues and planning. He was the first to brief Truman on the possible existence of a [[thermonuclear weapon]], and remained a key figure in its development, being a major proponent of the establishment of an intelligence division within the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]].<ref name=":2" /> In March 1949, following the retirement of [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]] Fleet Admiral [[William D. Leahy]], Souers was selected to temporarily fill Leahy's duties until the appointment of General of the Army [[Omar Bradley]] as Chairman on August 15.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Coordinator of Security; Sidney Souers brings wide training to the task of advising the President on national defense. |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1949/04/24/93542702.html?pageNumber=250 |access-date=2023-11-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Brandt |first=Raymond |date=3 Dec 1948 |title=SIDNEY SOUERS MAY BECOME TRUMAN'S MILITARY ADVISOR |pages=2 |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]}}</ref> Souers resigned from his position as Executive Secretary on December 21, 1949, though remained Truman's chief consultant on national security until the end of his presidency in 1953.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Greene |first=Jerry |date=22 Dec 1949 |title=Truman Picks Security Aide |pages=84 |work=[[New York Daily News]]}}</ref>

Souers was awarded the [[Distinguished service medal|Distinguished Service Medal]] by president Truman on December 2, 1952, for "keen foresight and tireless efforts toward fulfillment of a strong and effective security program".<ref>{{Cite news |title=Surprised Admiral Gets A Medal From Truman |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1952/12/02/84373536.html?pageNumber=11 |access-date=2023-11-30}}</ref>

== Death and legacy ==
Souers died at his home in [[St. Louis]] on January 15, 1973, aged 80.<ref name=":1" /> Following his death, Miami University created the Admiral Sidney Souers Distinguished Alumni Award in 1977 at the bequest of his widow, Sylvia Nettle.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.trumanlibrary.org/profile/viewpro.php?pid=199 Biography at Truman Presidential Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204043802/http://www.trumanlibrary.org/profile/viewpro.php?pid=199 |date=2012-02-04 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070613233715/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/directors-and-deputy-directors-of-central-intelligence/sours.html Biography at the Central Intelligence Agency]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Souers, Sidney}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1973 deaths]]
[[Category:Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency]]
[[Category:Miami University alumni]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Dayton, Ohio]]
[[Category:United States Navy admirals]]