Contingency Fund for Foreign Intercourse

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The Contingency Fund for Foreign Intercourse (sometimes referred to as the Contingent Fund for Foreign Intercourse) was a

United States government "black budget" program established in 1790 to fund covert operations primarily directed against Europe.[1][2]
Three years later, it consumed 12% of the government's budget to help pay the ransoms of American hostages held by Barbary pirates. In 1846, it came under the scrutiny of Congress, but the government refused to provide details of the operation of the fund.

History

An 1846 attempt by Whigs to obtain details of covert operations ordered by John Tyler, pictured, was rebuffed by then-president James Polk.

The Contingency Fund was established at the request of President George Washington in July 1790 with an initial appropriation of $40,000. Within three years this amount had grown to more than a million dollars, consuming roughly twelve percent of the United States federal budget.[3] The terms of the appropriation the President to conceal the nature and purpose of expenditures made from the fund. Information about activities funded by the Contingency Fund are sparse, however, it is known they were generally ad hoc covert operations directed against European states.[1][3]

In 1831 Senator

John Forsyth described the purpose of the fund as one designed to finance the operation of "spies, if the gentleman pleases; for persons sent publicly and secretly to search for important information, political or commercial ... for agents to feel the pulse of foreign governments."[2]

By 1846 the Contingency Fund had come under increasing congressional scrutiny.

James Polk rebuffed, declaring that "in no nation is the application of such funds made public."[4]

In the 1880s the first permanent U.S. government intelligence services were established in the form of the

Military Intelligence Division.[5]

Known operations financed by the Fund

In its first year of existence, 1790, the fund was used to finance a sensitive diplomatic mission by

Barbary States for the release of American hostages and promises of non-interference with American shipping.[6][7]

In 1812

United States declaration of war upon the United Kingdom. Madison also tapped the fund to secretly finance paramilitary forces in Florida as a pressure against Spain.[5][8][9]

According to a public statement made by President John Tyler, Duff Green was paid $1,000 from the fund to finance an operation in the United Kingdom in 1841 that influenced the appointment of the Lord Ashburton as the British negotiator in the Maine-New Brunswick border dispute. The ultimate settlement of that dispute resulted in the net transfer of about 2,000 square miles (5,200 km2) of territory to the United States by the United Kingdom, to the consternation of many in Canada.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0810878907
    .
  2. ^ a b c Warner, John (Summer 1987). "Where Secrecy is Essential". Studies in Intelligence: 45–52.
  3. ^ a b "The Evolution of the U.S. Intelligence Community-An Historical Overview". fas.org. Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  4. ^ Robarge, David (Winter 2010). "Central Intelligence Agency and Public Accountability". Journal of Intelligence History: 112–113.
  5. ^ a b "History of American Intelligence". cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on June 12, 2007. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  6. ISBN 9780195100983
    .
  7. ISBN 978-0802192028
    .
  8. ^ Richard W Leopold, The Growth of American Foreign Policy: A History (1962) p. 63.
  9. ^ Babcock, Kendric (1968). The Rise of American Nationality, 1811–1819. Ardent Media. pp. 63–68.
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