George Bush Center for Intelligence

{{Distinguish|text=E Street Complex, the original headquarters and birthplace of the CIA}}{{Short description|CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, U.S.}} {{Use American English|date=November 2018}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2018}} {{Infobox building | name = George Bush Center for Intelligence | native_name = | native_name_lang = | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = File:Aerial view of CIA headquarters, Langley, Virginia 14760v.jpg | image_size = | image_alt =  | image_caption = An aerial view of the George Bush Center for Intelligence | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_alt = | map_caption = | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_label = | pushpin_mark = | pushpin_relief = | former_names = | alternate_names = | etymology = | status = Complete | cancelled = | topped_out = | building_type = | architectural_style = | classification = | location = | address = 1000 Colonial Farm Road, Langley, Virginia | location_city =  | location_country = United States | coordinates = {{coord|38|57|6.12|N|77|8|48.12|W|type:landmark_region:US-VA|display=inline,title}} | altitude = | current_tenants = Central Intelligence Agency | namesake = George H. W. Bush | groundbreaking_date = | construction_start_date = {{Start date and age|October 1957}} | construction_stop_date = | est_completion = | topped_out_date = {{Start date and age|1960}} | completion_date = | opened_date = {{Start date and age|1961|9}} (Original HQ Building) | inauguration_date = {{Start date and age|November 28, 1961}} | relocated_date = | renovation_date = May 1984 – March 1991 (New HQ Building) | closing_date = | demolished_date = | cost = $46 million | ren_cost = | client = | owner = | landlord = | affiliation = | height = | roof = | top_floor = | other_dimensions = | structural_system = | material = | size = | floor_count = Six (New Headquarters Building); Seven (Original Headquarters Building) | floor_area = {{convert|2500000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/irp/cia/product/facttell/building.htm |title=The CIA Headquarters Buildings |publisher=Federation of American Scientists |access-date=July 19, 2017 |archive-date=May 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505014906/https://fas.org/irp/cia/product/facttell/building.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> | elevator_count = | grounds_area = {{Convert|258|acres|hectare|abbr=}} | architect = | architecture_firm = Harrison & Abramovitz | developer = | engineer = | structural_engineer = | services_engineer = | civil_engineer = | other_designers = | quantity_surveyor = | main_contractor = | awards = | designations = | known_for = | ren_architect = Smith, Hinchman and Grylls Associates | ren_firm = | ren_engineer = | ren_str_engineer = | ren_serv_engineer = | ren_civ_engineer = | ren_oth_designers = | ren_qty_surveyor = | ren_contractor = | ren_awards = | number_of_rooms = | parking = | public_transit = | website =  | embed = | embedded = | references = | footnotes = }}

The '''George Bush Center for Intelligence''' is the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), located in the unincorporated community of Langley in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, near Washington, D.C.

The headquarters is a conglomeration of the Original Headquarters Building (OHB) and the New Headquarters Building (NHB) and sits on a total of {{convert|258|acre|km2}} of land.<ref name="CIA VT">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/legacy/headquarters/ |title=Explore CIA Headquarters |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-date=August 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824182402/https://www.cia.gov/legacy/headquarters/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was the world's largest intelligence headquarters from 1959 until 2019, when it was surpassed by Germany's BND headquarters.

==Name== Before its current name, the CIA headquarters was formally unnamed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1998_cr/h980803-cia.htm|title=George H.W. Bush Center for Central Intelligence|location=House of Representatives|date=3 August 1998|publisher=Congressional Record}}</ref> On April 26, 1999,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/04/26/bush.cia/|title=Former President Bush honored at emotional ceremony renaming CIA headquarters|first=Paul|last=Courson|date=26 April 1999|publisher=CNN|access-date=February 11, 2014|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801034735/http://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/04/26/bush.cia/|url-status=live}}</ref> the complex was officially named in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 for George H. W. Bush,<ref name="CIA VT"/> who had served as the Director of Central Intelligence for 357 days (between January 30, 1976, and January 20, 1977) and later as the 41st president of the United States.<ref name="CIA">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/todays-cia/george-bush-center-for-intelligence|title=George Bush Centre for Intelligence|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|date=5 April 2007|access-date=February 11, 2014|archive-date=July 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725013214/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/todays-cia/george-bush-center-for-intelligence|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Colloquially, it is known by the metonym '''Langley'''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Knight|first=Gladys L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kheDBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA484|title=Pop Culture Places: An Encyclopedia of Places in American Popular Culture|date=2014-08-11|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-39883-4|volume=2|pages=484|language=en}}</ref> "The Farm" is not a reference to the center despite its address, but to the CIA training facility at Camp Peary.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bowden|first=Mark|url=https://archive.org/details/roadworkamongtyr00bowd/page/103|title=Road Work: Among Tyrants, Heroes, Rogues, and Beasts|publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press|year=2004|isbn=0-87113-876-X|page=[https://archive.org/details/roadworkamongtyr00bowd/page/103 103]|chapter=The Dark Art of Interrogation|author-link=Mark Bowden|chapter-url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/10/the-dark-art-of-interrogation/2791/|url-access=registration}}</ref>

==History== The Original Headquarters Building was designed by the New York firm Harrison & Abramovitz in the 1950s and contains {{convert|1,400,000|sqft|m2}} of floor space.<ref name="CIA VT"/> The ground was broken for construction on November 3, 1959, with President Dwight D. Eisenhower laying the cornerstone;<ref name="Ghosts">{{cite web|url=http://ghostsofdc.org/2013/10/02/three-things-cias-langley-headquarters/|title=Three Things About the CIA's Langley Headquarters|publisher=Ghosts of DC|date=2 October 2013|access-date=October 2, 2013|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004223454/http://ghostsofdc.org/2013/10/02/three-things-cias-langley-headquarters/|url-status=dead}}</ref> the building was completed in March 1961.<ref name="CIA VT" /><ref name=newhm>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=58BeAAAAIBAJ&pg=6284%2C1457769 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=Idaho |agency=Associated Press (photo) |title=New home for intelligence unit |date=March 9, 1961 |page=7 |access-date=March 3, 2021}}</ref> It included a pneumatic tube system manufactured by Lamson Corporation of Syracuse, New York. Though the system was replaced by email and shut down in 1989, the {{convert|30|mi|-1|spell=in}} of steel tubes remain in the building.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-10-26 |title=The CIA Museum … Artifacts: Pneumatic-Tube Carrier — Central Intelligence Agency |url=https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/pneumatic-tube.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026171344/https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/pneumatic-tube.html |archive-date=2009-10-26 |access-date=2022-09-30 }}</ref> At the request of Allen Dulles, a marble wall in the Old Headquarters Building bears an engraving of the Biblical slogan "And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Quote Carving - CIA |url=https://www.cia.gov/legacy/headquarters/bible-quote-carving/ |access-date=2025-08-16 |website=www.cia.gov}}</ref>

The New Headquarters Building, designed by Smith, Hinchman and Grylls Associates, was completed in March 1991 after the ground was broken for construction on May 24, 1984.<ref name="CIA VT"/><ref name="Ghosts"/> It is a complex that adjoins two six-story office towers and is fully connected via a tunnel to the OHB.<ref name="CIA VT"/>

On January 25, 1993, Mir Qazi, a Pakistani resident of the United States, killed two CIA employees and wounded three others on the road to the CIA headquarters, claiming that it was revenge for the U.S. government's policy in the Middle East, "particularly toward the Palestinian people".<ref name="CNN">{{cite news|title=Pakistani man executed for CIA killings|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/LAW/11/14/cia.killings.execution/index.html|work=CNN|date=November 15, 2002|archive-date=October 11, 2016|access-date=October 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011223658/http://edition.cnn.com/2002/LAW/11/14/cia.killings.execution/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Qazi was sentenced to death for the shooting and executed in 2002.

On May 3, 2021, an armed 31-year-old man from Jasper, Indiana, tried to drive into the center and was shot following a standoff that lasted several hours. He died the following day.<ref name="The Independant">{{cite web|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cia-headquarters-armed-man-shot-b1841598.html|title= Armed intruder who tried to drive into CIA headquarters shot after standoff|work= The Independent|date= May 4, 2021|access-date= May 4, 2021|archive-date= December 25, 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241225231613/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cia-headquarters-armed-man-shot-b1841598.html|url-status= live}}</ref>

==Location and facilities== The center is located at 1000 Colonial Farm Road in McLean, Virginia, and can be reached via George Washington Memorial Parkway.<ref name="FHWA"/> The complex may only be accessed by those with authorization (appropriate credentials) or by appointment; only authorized vehicles may access the private road leading to the complex from George Washington Memorial Parkway.<ref name="Hamilton">Hamilton, John (2007). ''The CIA: Defending the Nation'', ABDO.</ref> [[File:Original Headquarters Building (OHB) - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency (2).jpg|left|thumb|The Original Headquarters Building which was designed in the mid-1950s following the vision of former director of central intelligence Allen Dulles, who dreamed of a place where intelligence officers could work in a college campus-like atmosphere]]

A notable exception to the strict protocols for accessing the center was Russell Weston Jr.'s visit in July 1996. Weston, a paranoid schizophrenic man from Montana, drove cross country from his home to the center, where at the gate he claimed his code-name was "The Moon" and that he had important information for the director of central intelligence (at the time, John M. Deutch).<ref name=lifesaved>{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/01/23/a-living-hell-or-a-life-saved/b92dec56-08ab-43e1-9fd0-83b540c9c9b8/ | title = A Living Hell or a Life Saved? | work = Washingtonpost.com | access-date = December 23, 2020 | date = January 23, 2001 | archive-date = January 26, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210126002734/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/01/23/a-living-hell-or-a-life-saved/b92dec56-08ab-43e1-9fd0-83b540c9c9b8/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Weston was then allowed access to the facility, where he was interviewed for approximately one hour by an anonymous CIA officer and then sent on his way. Two years later, Weston would become the perpetrator of the 1998 United States Capitol shooting, in which two Capitol Police officers were murdered.

The location of the building has led to the name "Langley" being used as a colloquial metonym for the CIA headquarters, despite the presence of other non-CIA-related government buildings in the community of Langley,<ref name="Ghosts"/> such as the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center.<ref name="FHWA">{{cite web|url=https://highways.dot.gov/turner-fairbank-highway-research-center|title=Maps and Directions to the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center|publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration}}</ref> This is similar to how "Foggy Bottom" is colloquially used to identify the headquarters of the United States Department of State, despite the name also being used to refer to the neighborhood of D.C. in which the building is located.<ref>carmine, Alex (2009). ''Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol: The Ultimate Unauthorized and Independent Reading Guide'', Punked Books, p. 37. {{ISBN|978-1-908375-01-8}}</ref><ref>Mowbray, Joel (2003). ''Dangerous Diplomacy: How the State Department Threatens America's Security'', Regnery Publishing, p. 11. {{ISBN|978-0-89526-110-6}}</ref>

The CIA Museum (also known as the National History Collection or National Intelligence Council (NIC) Collection) is located within the center.<ref name="Hamilton"/> The museum holds declassified items such as artifacts associated with the CIA, the Office of Strategic Services and foreign intelligence organizations,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-museum/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612182724/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-museum/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 12, 2007|title=CIA Museum — About CIA|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}</ref> including historical spy gadgets and weapons, and photographs.<ref name="Hamilton"/><ref name="Atlas">{{cite web|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cia-museum|title=CIA Museum|first1=Eric|last1=Martin|first2=Dylan|last2=Grundhauser|first3=Darmon|last3=Richter|publisher=Atlas Obscura}}</ref> As it is located within the CIA compound, it is not accessible by the general public.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/cia-museum.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612191557/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/cia-museum.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 12, 2007|title=CIA Museum — Library|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}</ref> An Enigma machine and Osama bin Laden's AKMS are held in the museum.<ref name="Atlas"/>

There is a Starbucks coffee shop located on the site of the CIA headquarters. It is notably secretive and the baristas are not allowed to ask for customers' names.<ref>Wax-Thibodeaux, Emily. "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-cia-starbucks-even-the-baristas-are-covert/2014/09/27/5a04cd28-43f5-11e4-9a15-137aa0153527_story.html At CIA Starbucks, even the baristas are covert]." ''Washington Post''. September 27, 2014. Retrieved on September 29, 2014.</ref>

''Kryptos'' is a notable encrypted sculpture that sits on the grounds of the CIA's headquarters.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Zetter|first1=Kim|title=Finally, a New Clue to Solve the CIA's Mysterious Kryptos Sculpture|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/11/second-kryptos-clue/|date=November 20, 2014|magazine=Wired|access-date=March 7, 2017|archive-date=April 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417103900/https://www.wired.com/2014/11/second-kryptos-clue/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a nod to American covert intelligence-gathering activities from an earlier era, a statue of Nathan Hale, the captured colonial spy hanged by the British during the American Revolution, stands on the grounds of the CIA headquarters complex.<ref>{{cite news|title=The CIA Campus: A Walk Outside Headquarters — Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/a-walk-outside-headquarters.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090714232247/https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/a-walk-outside-headquarters.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 14, 2009|access-date=October 11, 2016|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}</ref> The CIA headquarters features a bronze statue of Harriet Tubman, whom it calls a model spy. "She exemplifies how we need a diverse cadre of officers to do our mission here at CIA," said a CIA employee on the CIA's podcast, ''The Langley Files''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mentions |url=https://www.thedriftmag.com/mentions/ |access-date=2023-05-04 |website=The Drift |language=en-US |archive-date=May 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504171735/https://www.thedriftmag.com/mentions/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The CIA honors Harriet Tubman as a model spy with a new statue |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/cia-honors-underground-railroad-hero-harriet-tubman-model-spy-new-stat-rcna50159 |access-date=2023-05-04 |website=NBC News |date=October 2022 |language=en |archive-date=May 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504173238/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/cia-honors-underground-railroad-hero-harriet-tubman-model-spy-new-stat-rcna50159 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|United States|Politics|Virginia}} *Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category|George Bush Center for Intelligence}} * [https://www.cia.gov/legacy/headquarters/ Headquarters Virtual Tour]—A virtual tour of the CIA headquarters * [http://ghostsofdc.org/2013/10/02/three-things-cias-langley-headquarters/ Three Things About the CIA's Langley Headquarters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004223454/http://ghostsofdc.org/2013/10/02/three-things-cias-langley-headquarters/ |date=October 4, 2013 }}

Category:1961 establishments in Virginia Category:Buildings and structures in Fairfax County, Virginia Category:Central Intelligence Agency Category:Government buildings completed in 1961 Category:Government buildings completed in 1984 Category:Installations of the Central Intelligence Agency Category:Intelligence agency headquarters in the United States Category:Monuments and memorials to George H. W. Bush Category:Office buildings completed in 1961 Category:Office buildings completed in 1984 Category:Office buildings in Virginia