The operational branch of the Central Intelligence Agency, known as the Clandestine Service, was formally titled the Deputy Directorate for Plans (DPP) until it was renamed the Directorate of Operations in 1975. The DPP had been run for years by Richard Helms as deputy to Frank Wisner, who was posted to London in 1958. Wisner was succeeded by Dick Bissell, but when he resigned after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the new director of central intelligence (DCI), John McCone, chose Helms to succeed him. A former journalist, Helms had met Adolf Hitler before World War II and was the consummate intelligence professional, becoming DCI in June 1968.
The deputy director for operations is the CIA’s senior spymaster, and since Helms the post has been held by Desmond FitzGerald, Max Hugel, Tom Karamessines, John Stein, Clair George, Tom Twetton, Ed Juchniewicz, Dick Stolz, and Ted Price.