The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was a United States covert psychological operations and paramilitary action organization. Created as an independent office in 1948, it was merged with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1951.
OPC was created in 1948 under the United States National Security Council document NSC 10/2. The OPC's directors included representatives of the State and Defense departments and the CIA. Though a unit of the CIA, the OPC Director reported to the State Department.
State Department official George F. Kennan was the key figure behind OPC's creation.
The OPC's executive director was Frank Wisner, a former OSS figure in Romania and later an assistant secretary of state for refugee affairs.
The OPC grew rapidly during the Korean War. In April 1951, US President Harry Truman established the Psychological Strategy Board in order to coordinate all US psychological warfare strategy.
In 1952, the office came under the direct control of the CIA and was merged with its Office of Special Operations to form the Directorate of Plans.
Famous quotes containing the words office and/or policy:
“He [Robert Benchley] and I had an office so tiny that an inch smaller and it would have been adultery.”
—Dorothy Parker (18931967)
“Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting the progress of the arts and the sciences and a flourishing culture in our land.”
—Mao Zedong (18931976)