Abstract
The modern history of the United States (US) is intimately intertwined with intelligence. From the attack on Pearl Harbor through the heady days of the Cold War and the War on Terror, to today’s new era of great power competition, espionage and covert action have been vital, if controversial, instruments of American statecraft. The US is, and has long been, an intelligence state. It should therefore come as some surprise that as of 2025 a complete account of the relationship between intelligence and the state in the American context was arguably yet to be published.