--- alias: - USIA - U.S. Information Agency - United States Information Service - U.S. Information Service - USIS - International Communication Agency category: U.S. Government created: 2026-09-24 location: Washington, D.C. relations: - end: 1956-11-15 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1953-08-04 type: head_of with: '[[Theodore C. Streibert]]' - end: 1957-10-27 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1956-11-14 type: head_of with: '[[Arthur Larson]]' - end: 1960-12-01 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1957-11-15 type: head_of with: '[[George V. Allen]]' - end: 1964-01-20 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1961-03-15 type: head_of with: '[[Edward R. Murrow]]' - end: 1965-07-10 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1964-02-27 type: head_of with: '[[Carl Rowan]]' - end: 1968-12-06 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1965-09-01 type: head_of with: '[[Leonard Marks]]' - end: 1973-02-07 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1969-02-07 type: head_of with: '[[Frank Shakespeare]]' - end: 1976-11-30 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1973-02-08 type: head_of with: '[[James Keogh]]' - end: 1980-08-29 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1977-03-23 type: head_of with: '[[John E. Reinhardt]]' - end: 1989-01-20 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1981-06-09 type: head_of with: '[[Charles Z. Wick]]' - end: 1991-03-20 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1989-04-14 type: head_of with: '[[Bruce Gelb]]' - end: 1993-01 fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1991-05-09 type: head_of with: '[[Henry Catto]]' - fn: 2 reverse: true role: director start: 1993-06-03 type: head_of with: '[[Joseph Duffey]]' start: 1953-08-01 summary: Federal agency created by Reorganization Plan No. 8 of 1953 to run the government's overseas information and cultural programs, including the Voice of America, known abroad as the U.S. Information Service. tags: - Organization - Government - USA - Propaganda - PublicDiplomacy - ColdWar - VoiceOfAmerica updated: 2026-09-24 --- The United States Information Agency was created by Reorganization Plan No. 8 of 1953, which President [Dwight D. Eisenhower](/people/dwight-d-eisenhower/) sent to Congress on June 1, 1953, and which took effect on August 1, 1953. Section 1(a) reads: "There is hereby established a new agency which shall be known as the United States Information Agency, hereinafter referred to as the Agency." The Director was to be "appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate" at 17,500 dollars a year, and "The Secretary of State shall advise with the President concerning the appointment and tenure of the Director." Section 1(c) created a Deputy Director at 16,000 dollars.[^1] ### Functions Section 2 of the plan transferred to the Director "the functions vested in the Secretary of State by Title V of the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, as amended," with related functions on the interchange of books and periodicals, aid to libraries, and the information programs in [Germany](/places/germany/) and [Austria](/places/austria/) previously run by the Mutual Security Agency. Section 2(c)(1) kept content with the [State Department](/organizations/state-department/): "The Secretary of State shall direct the policy and control the content of a program, for use abroad, on official United States positions."[^1] The agency was "known overseas as the U.S. Information Service" and was "responsible for the U.S. Government's overseas information and cultural programs, including the Voice of America."[^2] National Security Action Memorandum 124 of January 18, 1962, established the [Special Group (Counterinsurgency)](/organizations/nsc-special-group/), on which representatives of the agency sat with officials of the [Agency for International Development](/organizations/agency-for-international-development/) and [Robert Kennedy](/people/robert-kennedy/).[^3] ### Names Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1977 (91 Stat. 1636) abolished the agency and established in its place the International Communication Agency, effective April 1, 1978. Public Law 97-241 of August 24, 1982 (96 Stat. 291), restored the earlier name.[^2] ### Directors Directors and their dates of service were:[^2] - Theodore C. Streibert, August 4, 1953, to November 15, 1956 - Arthur Larson, November 14, 1956, to October 27, 1957 - George V. Allen, November 15, 1957, to December 1, 1960 - Edward R. Murrow, March 15, 1961, to January 20, 1964 - Carl T. Rowan, February 27, 1964, to July 10, 1965 - Leonard H. Marks, appointed July 22, 1965, entered on duty September 1, 1965, to December 6, 1968 - Frank J. Shakespeare Jr., February 7, 1969, to February 7, 1973 - James Keogh, February 8, 1973, to November 30, 1976 - John E. Reinhardt, from March 23, 1977; retitled Director of the International Communication Agency on March 27, 1978; to August 29, 1980 - Charles Z. Wick, June 9, 1981, to January 20, 1989 - Bruce S. Gelb, April 14, 1989, to March 20, 1991 - Henry E. Catto, May 9, 1991, to January 1993 - Joseph D. Duffey, appointed May 25, 1993, entered on duty June 3, 1993 [Mark W. Everson](/people/mark-w-everson/) began his service in the [Reagan](/people/ronald-reagan/) administration at the agency in 1982, during Wick's directorship.[^4] [^1]: Reorganization Plan No. 8 of 1953, 67 Stat. 642-643, effective August 1, 1953. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-67/pdf/STATUTE-67-Pg642.pdf [^2]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. "Director of the U.S. Information Agency." Archived February 11, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20260211080812/https://1997-2001.state.gov/about_state/history/officers/usia.html [^3]: NSAM No. 124, January 18, 1962. Department of Defense Mandatory Declassification Review release 12-M-3087, "The Special Group (Counterinsurgency) from January 18, 1962, to November 21, 1963." https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/MDR_Releases/FY12/12-M-3087 [^4]: National Archives and Records Administration. Catalog Record ID 3936205. catalog.archives.gov.