text: Funds can be committed only when the Mission's Controller certifies their availability for the stated purpose. "FM" offices assist technical offices in financial analysis and in developing detailed budgets for inputs needed by projects assisted. They evaluate potential recipients' management abilities before financial assistance can be authorized and then review implementers' expenditure reports with great care. This office often has the largest number of staff of any office in the mission.


title: United States Agency for International Development

text: Called the "Executive Office" in USAID (sometimes leading to confusion with the Embassy's Executive Office, which is the office of the Ambassador), "EXO" provides operational support for mission offices, including human resources, information systems management, transportation, property, and procurement services. Increasing integration into Embassies' chancery complexes, and the State Department's recently increased role in providing support services to USAID, is expanding the importance of coordination between USAID's EXO and the Embassy's Management section.


text: While the terms "assistance project" and "development project" might sometimes be used indiscriminately, it helps in understanding USAID's work to make a distinction. (1) Development is what developing countries do. Development projects are projects of local government agencies and NGOs, such as projects to improve public services or business regulations, etc. (2) Assistance is what USAID does. USAID's assistance projects support local development projects.


text: The key to a successful development project is the institutional capacity of local organizations, including the professional ability of their staff members. The key to successful assistance is how well it fits the needs of local development projects, including institutional capacity building and supporting professional education and training for staff.


text: When a local development project's assistance needs have been identified, USAID arranges the agreed assistance through funding agreements with implementing organizations, referred to by USAID staff as "implementing partners." USAID finances several types of implementers using a variety of funding agreements.


text: To illustrate, USAID might assist a development project with inputs provided through several different funding agreements:


text: This funding agreement would take the form of a letter from USAID's Mission Director, countersigned by the recipient agency, explaining the agency's objectives, the amount of USAID's financial commitment, the specific expenditures to be financed by USAID's grant, and other operational aspects of the agreement.


text: USAID's technical office would assign a staff member (U.S. or local) to oversee progress in the agency's implementation. USAID's financial management office would transfer funds to the agency, in tranches as needed. Audit under this kind of government-to-government (G2G) financial assistance is usually performed by the host government's own audit agency.


text: As a government agency is usually specialized in services to the beneficiary population (medical services, for example), its staff may not be equipped to undertake planning and evaluation, construction, acquisition of equipment, or management of training and study tours. The government agency might, therefore, request USAID's assistance in these areas, and USAID could respond by contracting with a firm to supply the services or technical assistance requested.


text: USAID's technical office would collaborate with the government agency in drafting the specifications for what is needed (generally referred to as a "Statement of Work" for the contract) and in conducting market research for available sources and potential bidders. USAID's Contracting Officer would then advertise for bids, manage the selection of a contractor from among the competing bidders, sign the contract, and assign a technical-office staff member as the Contracting Officer's Representative to oversee the performance under the contract. (If the workload permits, this staff member might be the same person who oversees USAID's financial assistance to the government agency.)


text: The contractor supplies technical assistance directly to the government agency, so that in monitoring contractor performance USAID relies substantially on the agency's evaluation of the contractor's work.


text: Non-governmental organizations are, like their government counterparts, usually already engaged in service provision in areas where USAID wants to assist, and they often have unique abilities that complement public programs. Therefore, USAID technical-office staff might set aside a budget and, with the help of the mission's contracting office, publish a solicitation for applications from NGOs for financial assistance to their programs. One or several grants could be made to selected NGOs by the contracting office's "Agreement Officer." Similar to the case of a contract, a USAID technical-office staff member would be assigned as the Agreement Officer's Representative to monitor progress in the NGOs' implementation and to arrange for external evaluations. USAID grants require recipient NGOs to contract for external audits.


text: As some local NGOs may be small and young organizations with no prior experience in receiving awards from USAID, the USAID mission's financial management office reviews grant applicants' administrative systems to ensure that they are capable of managing USG funds. Where necessary, USAID can devote part of the grant to the NGO's internal strengthening to help the NGO qualify for USAID's financing and build the capacity of the organization in the process. Following completion of the NGO's internal strengthening, USAID would disburse financing for the NGO's service project.


text: International NGOs have their own development projects and capabilities. If USAID and its counterparts determine that development objectives can best be met by supporting an NGO project, and if local NGO capacity is not yet sufficient, the relevant USAID technical office will draft a program description and the contracting office will issue as a request for applications to solicit responses from the international NGO community. USAID manages the award and implementation processes in the same way as for local NGOs.


text: Also, international NGOs frequently make unsolicited proposals to USAID, requesting funding for their own planned assistance activities. Where NGOs or business enterprises are dedicating a substantial amount of non-USG resources to their projects, they can receive USAID funding through "Global Development Alliance" grants, provided that the non-USG resources are at least equal in value to USAID's grant.


text: In general, USAID provides financial assistance to support other organizations' programs when those programs correspond to the areas that USAID wants to support, while USAID uses contracts to procure products or services requested by the leaders of local development projects.


text: In addition to the types of projects described above, USAID uses various other assistance mechanisms for different U.S. objectives.


text: Budget agreements with other USG agencies are common in supporting collaboration between the U.S. and other countries on global issues. Large budget-support grants, referred to as "non-project" assistance, may be made to recipient governments to pursue U.S. foreign policy interests.


text: In the exceptional circumstances of Vietnam in the 1960s and Afghanistan and Iraq in the 2000s, the USG had USAID integrate selected staff with U.S. military units for "counterinsurgency" (COIN) operations. The integrated institutions were "CORDS" in Vietnam ("Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support") and "PRTs" in Afghanistan and Iraq ("Provincial Reconstruction Teams").


text: Counterinsurgency operations were undertaken in localities where insurgents were vying with the national government for control. In Vietnam, for example, these were areas where there was what the USG called "Viet Cong infrastructure."


text: USAID's role was to assist the national government in strengthening its local governance and service capabilities, and in providing direct services to local residents.


text: In these areas, the national government could not provide physical security against attacks by insurgent forces. The role of the U.S. military assistance in COIN was, therefore, to combat insurgent military forces and to protect the civilian work of USAID and the national government. The military also contributed substantial resources for assistance projects.


text: The overall purpose of the USG's civilian-military assistance was to give the national government a capable and uncontested local presence.


text: In each of these countries, USAID also administered substantial conventional assistance programs that were not under the U.S. military chain of command.


text: When the USG created USAID in November 1961, it built on a legacy of previous development-assistance agencies and their people, budgets, and operating procedures. USAID's predecessor agency was already substantial, with 6,400 U.S. staff in developing-country field missions in 1961. Except for the peak years of the Vietnam War, 1965–70, that was more U.S. field staff than USAID would have in the future, and triple the number USAID has had in field missions in the years since 2000.


text: Although the size of the development-assistance effort was not new, the 1961 decision to reorganize the USG's main development-assistance agency was a landmark in terms of institutional evolution, representing the culmination of twenty years' experience with different organizational forms and procedures, in changing foreign-policy environments.


text: The new structure created in 1961 "proved to be sturdy and durable." In particular, the USG has maintained since then "the unique American pattern of placing strong resident aid missions in countries that [the U.S. was] helping."


text: The story of how the base for USAID's structure was built is described below, along with an account of changes that have been made since 1961.


text: The realization that early industrializers like the United States could provide technical assistance to other countries' development efforts spread gradually in the late 1800s, leading to a substantial number of visits to other countries by U.S. technical experts, generally with official support by the U.S. Government even when the missions were unofficial. Japan, China, Turkey, and several Latin American countries requested missions on subjects like fiscal management, monetary institutions, election management, mining, schooling, roads, flood control, and urban sanitation. The U.S. Government also initiated missions, particularly to Central America and the Caribbean, when it felt that U.S. interests might be affected by crises like failed elections, debt defaults, or spread of infectious disease.


text: U.S. technical missions in this era were not part of a systematic, USG-supported program. Possibly the closest approximation to what USG development assistance would become was the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture, established by the USG in 1924 using funds provided by China as reparations following the "Boxer" conflict. The Foundation's activities ranged widely and included support for development of a leading Chinese university, Tsinghua University.


text: A notable early example of U.S. Government foreign assistance for disaster relief was its contribution to the 1915 Committee for Relief in Belgium headed by Herbert Hoover, to prevent starvation in Belgium after the German invasion. After World War I in 1919, the USG created the American Relief Administration, also headed by Hoover, which provided food primarily in Eastern Europe.


text: Between the two world wars, U.S. assistance to low-income countries was often a private initiative, including the work of private foundations such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Near East Foundation. The Rockefeller Foundation, for example, assisted the breeding of improved maize and wheat varieties in Latin America and supported public health initiatives in Asia.


text: The coming of World War II stimulated the U.S. Government to create what proved to be permanent, sustained foreign aid programs that evolved into USAID. U.S. development assistance focussed initially on Latin America. Since countries in the region were regularly requesting expert assistance from USG cabinet departments, an Interdepartmental Committee on Cooperation with the American Republics was established in 1938, with the State Department in the chair, to ensure systematic responses.


text: More ambitiously, the U.S. subsequently created an institution that for the first time would take an active role in development assistance programming: the Institute of Inter-American Affairs (IIAA), chartered in March 1942. The Institute was the initiative of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, Nelson Rockefeller, the future Vice President of the United States, whose family financed the Rockefeller Foundation. IIAA's 1,400 employees provided technical assistance across Central and South America for economic stabilization, food supply, health, and sanitation. U.S. benefits included development of sources for raw materials that had been disrupted by the war.


text: IIAA's operational approach set the pattern for subsequent USG technical assistance in developing countries, including ultimately USAID. In each country, a program comprising a group of projects in a given sector—health, food supply, or schools—was planned and implemented jointly by U.S. and local staff working in an office located in the developing country itself. In IIAA's case the offices were called ""servicios"."


text: After the end of the war in 1945, IIAA was transferred to the State Department. Based on positive evaluations from the U.S. Ambassadors in Latin America, the State Department succeeded in getting Congressional authorization to extend IIAA, initially through 1950 and then through 1955. Some existing USG technical-assistance agencies continued work in parallel with IIAA. In particular, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations (OFAR) continued to operate separately until 1954.


text: In January 1949, President Truman, responding to advice from staff who had worked with IIAA, proposed a globalized version of the program as the fourth element of his overall foreign policy — "Point Four." The purpose of the program was to provide technical knowledge to aid the growth of underdeveloped countries around the world. After a lengthy debate, Congress approved Point Four in 1950 and the Technical Cooperation Administration (TCA) was established within the Department of State in September 1950 to administer it. After an initial attempt to operate in the mode of the old Interdepartmental Committee and to merely coordinate programs of other agencies (such as IIAA), TCA adopted an integrated implementation mechanism in November 1951.


text: While USG development assistance was institutionalized on a nearly global scale by TCA, strong currents of change in U.S. foreign economic policy during the 1950s affected how development assistance worked and at times called its continued existence into question. When this process finally resulted in the creation USAID in 1961, USAID continued to use TCA's core mechanism — providing technical assistance led by in-country resident offices — and supplemented it with substantial amounts of financial assistance.


text: Point Four and TCA had been established in the context of several other programs in the large-scale U.S. foreign aid effort of the 1940s. Already during the war, in 1943, the U.S. (jointly with its wartime allies, referred to collectively as "the United Nations") established the "United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration" (UNRRA) for war-affected parts of Europe, China, the Philippines, Korea, and Ethiopia. Immediately after the war, the USG supplied relief in Germany and Japan, funded by appropriations for "Government and Relief in Occupied Areas" (GARIOA).


text: Relief was quickly followed by reconstruction assistance. In 1946, the U.S. created a special financial-assistance program for rehabilitation of war damages in its former possession, the Philippines. In 1948, reconstruction assistance was expanded through the Marshall Plan, implemented by the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), mainly for Western Europe. In the same year, the U.S. and China established the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction, which, starting on the mainland and continuing for two decades in Taiwan, provided sustained development assistance.


text: Also, the Fulbright Program of academic exchanges was established in 1946, globalizing the wartime program of exchange visits between professionals from Latin America and the United States.


text: In contrast to the Marshall Plan, Point Four focussed on technical assistance and provided financial assistance only in limited amounts to support its technical initiatives.


text: In terms of geographic focus, while the Marshall Plan and Point Four mainly operated in different countries, the Marshall Plan also expanded into developing nations. In particular, the Marshall Plan financed activities in:


text: In the countries referred to as being in the general area of China, the Marshall Plan (ECA) operated through Special Technical and Economic Missions (STEMs). The STEMs were set up in 1950 and 1951, and had a "Point Four character" in the sense that they emphasized services by technical experts.


text: The U.S. also participated in post-1945 UN initiatives for technical assistance to developing countries. Through a series of actions in 1948 and 1949, the UN's General Assembly and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) created the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance (EPTA). The U.S. provided 60% of EPTA's financing. By 1955, EPTA adopted a country-led approach where the UN's TA in each country was programmed according to a plan drawn up by the receiving country in consultation with the UN. ECOSOC also created a new Technical Assistance Board, which (similarly to the USG's wartime Interdepartmental Committee) coordinated the TA being provided to low-income countries by various individual UN agencies.


text: Coordination between development assistance and the Marshall Plan was tightened in response to the 1950–51 war in Korea. In October 1951 Congress passed the Mutual Security Act, creating the Mutual Security Agency (MSA), which reported directly to the President and supervised both civilian and military assistance. MSA increased the emphasis on large-scale financial assistance to U.S. allies, which was provided as civilian "economic assistance" but was intended to help the allies to make greater military efforts and was therefore often called "defense support."


text: The Mutual Security Agency absorbed the Marshall Plan (the ECA), which otherwise had been scheduled to end in 1952. The Technical Cooperation Administration remained a semi-autonomous agency in the State Department to administer Point Four, but after 1951 under the supervision of MSA. Under this coordinated approach, the policy was adopted that ECA and TCA would not both operate in the same country ("one country — one agency"). Accordingly, each agency transferred programs to the other and closed down in some countries. For example, in Indonesia and Burma, ECA closed its financial-assistance programs, while TCA initiated technical assistance.


text: In 1953, the administration of Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower took office. The President's party, which had been out of the White House since 1933, took a critical view of the previous administrations' policies, including both the globalizing policies of the 1940s and the New Deal initiatives of the 1930s.


text: An overall goal of the new administration was to administer the government efficiently and cut spending. While TCA's technical assistance to developing countries was a small budget item and was considered a long-term program (although fresh funds were appropriated annually), "economic assistance" (or "defense support") was considered an inherently short-term measure. In place of U.S. economic assistance, the Eisenhower administration proposed that U.S. allies should increasingly finance themselves through their own exports: in other words, through "trade not aid." With respect to financial assistance for developing countries, the policy was maintained that it should be provided primarily by the U.S. Export-Import Bank and by the World Bank, and that it should be available only on commercial terms and primarily to finance private investment.


text: To administer the foreign assistance more efficiently, President Eisenhower integrated management into a single agency, the newly created Foreign Operations Administration (FOA). MSA, TCA (which had been under MSA's direction), and IIAA (which had been part of TCA) were all abolished as of August 1953 and their country offices became "United States Operations Missions" (USOMs) under FOA. The President directed other USG agencies to put their technical assistance in developing countries under FOA's management as well. USDA in particular transferred OFAR's programs to FOA, while reconstituting the Foreign Agricultural Service for the task of building global markets for U.S. farm products.


text: Administrative functions were consolidated as the various agencies came into FOA, and the Mutual Security Act of July 1953 instructed FOA to reduce personnel by at least 10% within 120 days. A large number of TCA's senior professionals were summarily dismissed, and FOA's administrator mounted an effort to compensate for lower USG staffing by drawing on experts from U.S. universities and private voluntary organizations. The ExIm Bank's lending volume in developing countries was also cut dramatically in 1953.


text: While a "trade not aid" strategy required the U.S. to import more goods from its allies, the administration was unable to convince Congress to liberalize import policy. On the contrary, the main foreign commercial measure taken at this time went in the other direction: the U.S. ramped up subsidies for exports of U.S. agricultural products. The 1953 amendment to the Mutual Security Act and the much larger Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, known as "PL-480," allowed the U.S. Government to buy U.S. farm surpluses and sell them in developing countries for inconvertible local currencies. Much of PL-480's foreign-currency revenue was returned to developing countries as a supplement to U.S. development assistance. PL-480 revenues in the first twenty years were sometimes huge and although PL-480 has become smaller it continues to provide resources to USAID for nutrition and disaster relief programs.


text: Several factors arose that favored large-scale economic assistance to developing countries, especially in Asia. South Korea needed massive economic assistance after an armistice was finally signed in July 1953, and U.S. economic assistance to South Vietnam increased after the retreat of France in 1954. On a global scale, the Cold War after the death of Joseph Stalin in March 1953 evolved in the direction of rivalry over influence in low-income countries who were seeking financing for their development initiatives. India was a particular case of a country where the U.S. felt it needed to provide economic assistance to balance the USSR's influence, even though India was not a U.S. military ally. These considerations led to advocacy of expanded economic assistance by several voices within the Eisenhower administration: the FOA Director, former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen; national security advisor Charles Douglas Jackson (who drew on advice from MIT economists Max Millikan and Walt Rostow); and leading officials in the State Department and the National Security Council.


text: In June 1954, the USG raised the ExIm Bank's lending authority from $4.5 billion to $5 billion. Pres. Eisenhower also created in December 1954 a Cabinet-level Council on Foreign Economic Policy, which in March 1955 recommended expanded soft loans for development. In April 1955, Pres. Eisenhower proposed a special economic fund for Asia.


text: To implement Congress's August 1954 decision that technical assistance for developing countries should be put back under the State Department, Pres. Eisenhower abolished FOA in May 1955 and created the new International Cooperation Administration (ICA) in the State Department. This separated development assistance from military assistance.


text: Some voices in the administration continued to point in the opposite direction: for example, Under Secretary of State Herbert Hoover Jr. and the new ICA head, John Hollister, who represented more frugal attitudes. Given the lack of consensus, Pres. Eisenhower and Congress conducted in 1956 several studies to give foreign aid policy a more solid basis. Mainly delivered in early 1957, the reports included an updated version of the essay by Millikan & Rostow that C.D. Jackson had circulated in 1954. The overall view that emerged was that sustained development assistance would have long-term benefits for the U.S. position in the world and, more specifically, that developing countries needed substantial financial assistance in the form of low-interest loans. Developing countries particularly needed softer financing to invest in public health systems, schools, and economic infrastructure, for which "hard," commercial lending was unsuitable. Personnel changes soon reflected this change in the administration's view: Christian Herter succeeded Herbert Hoover Jr. as Under Secretary of State in February 1957, Robert Anderson succeeded George Humphrey as Treasury Secretary in July 1957, and James H. Smith Jr. replaced John Hollister as ICA Director in September 1957.


text: Pres. Eisenhower summarized the conclusions in his May 21, 1957 message to Congress: "This past year ... Congressional Committees, the Executive Branch and distinguished private citizens have just examined these programs anew. ... I recommend the following legislative actions: ... economic development assistance should be provided primarily through loans, continuingly, and related closely to technical assistance. ... I recommend a clear separation of military and defense support assistance on the one hand, from economic development assistance on the other. ... I recommend that longterm [sic] development assistance be provided from a Development Loan Fund. ... Such loans should not compete with or replace such existing sources of credit as private investors, the International Bank [the World Bank], or the Export-Import Bank. ... I believe the Fund should be established and administered in the International Cooperation Administration. ... The technical cooperation program is one of the most valuable elements of our entire mutual security effort. It also should be continued on a long-term basis and must be closely related to the work of the Fund."


text: As a result, the Development Loan Fund was established in August 1957. The DLF largely financed infrastructure (such as railroads, highways, and power plants), factories, and agriculture with loans whose terms were relatively "soft" in the sense of charging interest rates lower than commercial levels and being repayable in local currency rather than U.S. dollars. Some projects were financed by a combination of a DLF soft loan and a harder World Bank loan. Operationally, the DLF became administratively self-contained by 1959 after contracting for administrative support from ICA for its first two years. Also, the Export-Import Bank's lending limit was raised in 1958 from $5 billion to $7 billion, and the administration advocated in January 1959 an expanded "food for peace" program.


text: The overall trend in USG development-assistance activity in the 1950s is indicated by the change in the number of U.S. staff in field missions, which during Pres. Eisenhower's years in office from 1953 to 1961 rose from 2,839 to 6,387.


text: As the U.S. expanded its development-assistance efforts in the course of the 1950s, other industrial countries were recovering economically from World War II and were increasingly able to engage in development assistance. The U.S. supported their involvement through several multilateral initiatives.


text: While the U.S. supported expanded World Bank facilities, it did not support the proposal for a Special UN Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED). The UN did create a "Special Fund" in 1957, but it was limited to designing projects for the UN's technical assistance program, EPTA, and could not finance public works.


text: The U.S. also adopted a regional initiative with Latin America. Through most of the 1950s, the U.S. concentrated on technical assistance in the region. Financial assistance sources were limited to the Eximbank and the World Bank, with the U.S. opposing proposals for a regional development bank. Events in 1958 — notably a riot during Vice President Nixon's visit to Caracas, Venezuela in May 1958 — resulted in a reversal of the U.S. position in August 1958. With U.S. support, the Organization of American States created in April 1959 the Inter-American Development Bank, most of whose capital was contributed by the borrowing countries.


text: To further engage other wealthy countries in development assistance, the USG supported the creation of the Aid India Consortium in August 1958. This was the first of several informal groupings of donors focussing on particular countries.


text: The USG also encouraged Western Europe and Japan to increase their development assistance by building on the European Marshall Plan organization, the Organization of European Economic Cooperation (OEEC). The OEEC had been created in 1948 by recipients of Marshall Plan aid, at the USG's request, to decide on allocation of that aid within Europe, and by the late 1950s it had fulfilled its original mandate. In January 1960, Pres. Eisenhower and Under Secretary of State C. Douglas Dillon got agreement from OEEC members to create a Development Assistance Group composed of the OEEC members who were the main sources of development assistance, along with non-members who were major donors — U.S., Canada, and Japan. In 1961, the OEEC itself was restructured to become the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which established a Development Assistance Committee (DAC) as a restructured DAG that was brought under the OECD. This effort resulted in informal agreements to increase budgets for development assistance. Several participating countries also established new agencies to manage development assistance.


text: At the end of the 1950s, the momentum in favor of development assistance—as represented by PL-480, new mechanisms for financial assistance, larger U.S. budgets and staffing, and multilateral initiatives—picked up support from Senator John F. Kennedy, who was preparing to be a candidate for the presidency. In 1957, JFK proposed, in bipartisan collaboration with Sen. John Sherman Cooper (a former U.S. Ambassador to India), a major expansion of U.S. economic support for India. As a candidate in 1960, he supported the emphasis on humanitarian goals for PL-480 set by Sen. Hubert Humphrey's "Food for Peace" Act of 1959 and supported the idea of a Peace Corps that was under development thanks to the initiatives of Sen. Humphrey, Rep. Reuss, and Sen. Neuberger.


text: After his inauguration as president on January 20, 1961, JFK created the Peace Corps by Executive Order on March 1, 1961. On March 22, he sent a special message to Congress on foreign aid, asserting that the 1960s should be a "Decade of Development" and proposing to unify U.S. development assistance administration into a single agency. He sent a proposed "Act for International Development" to Congress in May and the resulting "Foreign Assistance Act" was approved in September, repealing the Mutual Security Act. In November, Pres. Kennedy signed the act and issued an Executive Order tasking the Secretary of State to create, within the State Department, the "Agency for International Development" (or A.I.D.: subsequently re-branded as USAID), as the successor to both ICA and the Development Loan Fund.


text: With these actions, the U.S. created a permanent agency working with administrative autonomy under the policy guidance of the State Department to implement, through resident field missions, a global program of both technical and financial development assistance for low-income countries. This structure has continued to date.


text: Taking this momentum onto the world stage via an address to the UN General Assembly in September 1961, Pres. Kennedy called for a "United Nations Decade of Development." This initiative was endorsed by a General Assembly resolution in December, establishing the concepts of development and development assistance as global priorities.


text: In the late 1960s, foreign aid became one of the focal points in Legislative-Executive differences over the Vietnam War. In September 1970, President Nixon proposed abolishing USAID and replacing it with three new institutions: one for development loans, one for technical assistance and research, and one for trade, investment and financial policy. USAID's field missions would have been eliminated in the new institutional setup. Consistent with this approach, in early 1971 President Nixon transferred the administration of private investment programs from USAID to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), which had been established by foreign aid legislation at the end of 1969.


text: Congress did not act on the President's proposal for replacing USAID but rather amended the Foreign Assistance Act to direct that USAID emphasize "Basic Human Needs": food and nutrition; population planning and health; and education and human resources development. Specifically, USAID's budget would be reformed to account for expenditures for each of these Basic Human Needs, a system referred to as "functional accounts." (Previously, budgets had been divided between categories such as "development loans, technical assistance, Alliance for Progress [for Latin America], loans and grants, and population.") The new system was based on a proposal developed by a bipartisan group of House members and staff working with USAID management and outside advisors. President Nixon signed the New Directions Act into law (PL 93-189) in December 1973.


text: Also in 1973, the "Percy Amendment" of the Foreign Assistance Act required U.S. development assistance to integrate women into its programs, leading to USAID's creation of its Women in Development (WID) office in 1974. The Helms Amendment of 1973 banned use of U.S. Government funds for abortion as a method of family planning, which effectively required USAID to eliminate all support for abortion.


text: A further amendment of the Foreign Assistance Act in 1974 prohibited assistance for police, thus ending USAID's involvement in Public Safety programs in Latin America, which in the 1960s were, along with the Vietnam War, part of the U.S. Government's anti-Communist strategy.


text: The reforms also ended the practice of the 1960s and 1970s in which many USAID officers in Latin America and Southeast Asia had worked in joint offices led by State Department diplomats or in units with U.S. military personnel.


text: The Basic Human Needs reforms largely cut off USAID's assistance to higher education. A large part of that assistance had gone to agricultural universities in hungry developing countries, as illustrated by a 1974 book by a University of Illinois professor, Hadley Read, describing USAID-supported U.S. land-grant universities' work in building India's agricultural universities. Read's book inspired an Illinois Member of Congress concerned with famine prevention, Paul Findley, to draft a bill authorizing more support for programs like the ones Read described. In a legislative process involving USAID staff, the association of state universities and land-grant colleges (NASULGC), and Sen. Hubert Humphrey, Rep. Findley's bill ultimately became Title XII of the Foreign Assistance Act, via an amendment to the FAA passed in 1975. Title XII created the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD), with seven members representing U.S. universities and agricultural technology institutions who advise USAID on Title XII implementation.


text: The impact of all these actions of the early 1970s on the overall scale of U.S. development assistance is indicated by the change in the number of U.S. staff in field missions. In 1969, the year when Pres. Nixon took office, the number was already decreasing from its Vietnam War high of 8,717 and had reached 7,701. By 1976, near the end of the Nixon-Agnew and Ford-Rockefeller administrations, it was 2,007.


text: Foreign aid has always operated within the framework of U.S. foreign policy and the organizational linkages between the Department of State and USAID have been reviewed on many occasions.


text: In 1978, legislation drafted at the request of Senator Hubert Humphrey was introduced to create a Cabinet-level International Development Cooperation Agency (IDCA), whose intended role was to supervise USAID in place of the State Department. Established by executive order in September 1979, it did not in practice make USAID independent.


text: In 1995, legislation to abolish USAID was introduced by Senator Jesse Helms, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who aimed to replace USAID with a grant-making foundation. Although the House of Representatives passed a bill abolishing USAID, the measure did not become law. To gain Congressional cooperation for his foreign affairs agenda, President Bill Clinton adopted in 1997 a State Department proposal to integrate more foreign affairs agencies into the Department. The "Foreign Affairs Agencies Consolidation Act of 1998" (Division G of PL 105-277) abolished IDCA, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the United States Information Agency, which formerly maintained American libraries overseas. Although the law authorized the President to abolish USAID, President Clinton did not exercise this option.


text: In 2003, President Bush established PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, putting USAID's HIV/AIDS programs under the direction of the State Department's new Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator.


text: In 2004, the Bush Administration created the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) as a new foreign aid agency to provide financial assistance to a limited number of countries selected for good performance in socioeconomic development. The MCC also finances some USAID-administered development assistance projects.


text: In January 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice created the Office of the Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance ('F') within the State Department. Under a Director with the rank of Deputy Secretary, F's purpose was to ensure that foreign assistance would be used as much as possible to meet foreign policy objectives. F integrated foreign assistance planning and resource management across State and USAID, directing all USAID offices' budgets according to a detailed "Standardized Program Structure" comprising hundreds of "Program Sub-Elements." USAID accordingly closed its Washington office that had been responsible for development policy and budgeting.


text: On September 22, 2010, President Barack Obama signed a Presidential Policy Determination (PPD) on Global Development. (Although the Administration considered the PPD too sensitive for release to the public, it was finally released in February 2014 as required by a U.S. court order. The Administration had initially provided a fact sheet to describe the policy.) The PPD promised to elevate the role of development assistance within U.S. policy and rebuild "USAID as the U.S. Government's lead development agency." It also established an Interagency Policy Committee on Global Development led by the National Security Staff and added to U.S. development efforts an emphasis on innovation. To implement the PPD's instruction that "USAID will develop robust policy, planning, and evaluation capabilities," USAID re-created in mid-2010 a development planning office, the Bureau of Policy, Planning, and Learning.


text: On November 23, 2010, USAID announced the creation of a new Bureau for Food Security to lead the implementation of President Obama's Feed the Future Initiative, which had formerly been managed by the State Department.


text: On December 21, 2010, Secretary of State Clinton released the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR). Modeled after the military's Quadrennial Defense Review, the QDDR of 2010 reaffirmed the plan to re-build USAID's Foreign Service staffing while also emphasizing the increased role that staff from the State Department and domestic agencies would play in implementing U.S. assistance. In addition, it laid out a program for a future transfer of health sector assistance back from the State Department to USAID. The follow-on QDDR released in April 2015 reaffirmed the Administration's policies.


text: The cost of supplying USAID's assistance includes the agency's "Operating Expenses," $1.35 billion in fiscal year 2012, and "Bilateral Economic Assistance" program costs, $20.83 billion in fiscal year 2012 (the vast bulk of which was administered by USAID).


text: Up-to-date details of the budget for USAID's assistance and other aspects of the USG's foreign assistance are available from USAID's budget webpage. This page contains a link to the Congressional Budget Justification, which shows the U.S. Government's Foreign Operations budget (the "150 Account") for all International Affairs programs and operations for civilian agencies, including USAID. This page also has a link to a "Where Does the Money Go?" table, which shows the recipients of USAID's financial assistance (foreign governments as well as NGOs), the totals that were spent for various countries, and the sources (U.S. government agencies, universities, and private companies) from which USAID procured the goods and services that it provided as technical assistance.


text: U.S. assistance budget totals are shown along with other countries' total assistance budgets in tables in a webpage of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.


text: At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, most of the world's governments adopted a program for action under the auspices of the United Nations Agenda 21, which included an Official Development Assistance (ODA) aid target of 0.7% of gross national product (GNP) for rich nations, specified as roughly 22 members of the OECD and known as the Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Most countries do not adhere to this target, as the OECD's table indicates that the DAC average ODA in 2011 was 0.31% of GNP. The U.S. figure for 2011 was 0.20% of GNP, which still left the U.S. as the largest single source of ODA among individual countries. According to the OECD, 2020 official development assistance from the United States increased 4.7% to USD 35.5 billion.


text: Following the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, USAID helped provide safer housing for almost 200,000 displaced Haitians; supported vaccinations for more than 1 million people; cleared more than 1.3 million cubic meters of the approximately 10 million cubic meters of rubble generated; helped more than 10,000 farmers double the yields of staples like corn, beans, and sorghum; and provided short-term employment to more than 350,000 Haitians, injecting more than $19 million into the local economy. USAID has provided nearly $42 million to help combat cholera, helping to decrease the number of cases requiring hospitalization and reduce the case fatality rate.


text: With American entry into Afghanistan in 2001, USAID worked with the Department of State and Department of Defense to coordinate reconstruction efforts.


text: The interactions between USAID and other U.S. Government agencies in the period of planning the Iraq operation of 2003 are described by the Office of the


text: Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction in its book, "Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience".


text: Subsequently, USAID played a major role in the USG's reconstruction and development effort in Iraq. , USAID had invested approximately $6.6 billion on programs designed to stabilize communities; foster economic and agricultural growth; and build the capacity of the national, local, and provincial governments to represent and respond to the needs of the Iraqi people.


text: In June 2003, C-SPAN followed USAID administrator Andrew Natsios as he toured Iraq. The special program C-SPAN produced aired over four nights.


text: USAID has periodically supported the Lebanese American University and the American University of Beirut financially, with major contributions to the Lebanese American University's Campaign for Excellence.


text: A USAID subcontractor was arrested in Cuba in 2009 for distributing satellite equipment to provide Cubans with internet access. The subcontractor was released during Obama’s second presidential term as part of the measures to improve relations between the two countries.


text: USAID has been used as a mechanism for "hastening transition," i.e. regime change in Cuba. Between 2009 and 2012, USAID ran a multimillion-dollar program, disguised as humanitarian aid and aimed at inciting rebellion in Cuba. The program consisted of two operations: one to establish an anti-regime social network called ZunZuneo, and the other to attract potential dissidents contacted by undercover operatives posing as tourists and aid workers.


text: USAID engineered a subversive program using social media aimed at fueling political unrest in Cuba to overthrow the Cuban government. On 3 April 2014 the Associated Press published an investigative report that revealed USAID was behind the creation of a social networking text messaging service aimed at creating political dissent and triggering an uprising against the Cuban government. The name of the messaging network was ZunZuneo, a Cuban slang term for a hummingbird's tweet and a play on 'Twitter'. According to the AP's report, the plan was to build an audience by initially presenting non-controversial content like sports, music and weather. Once a critical mass of users was reached the US government operators would change the content to spark political dissent and mobilize the users into organized political gatherings called 'smart mobs' that would trigger an uprising against the Cuban government.


text: The messaging service was launched in 2010 and gained 40,000 followers at its peak. Extensive efforts were made to conceal the USAID involvement in the program, using offshore bank accounts, front companies and servers based overseas. According to a memo from the one of the project's contractors, Mobile Accord:


text: "This is absolutely crucial for the long-term success of the service and to ensure the success of the Mission."


text: ZunZuneo's subscribers were never aware that it was created by the US government or that USAID was gathering their private data to gain useful demographics that would gauge their levels of dissent and help USAID 'maximize our possibilities to extend our reach.'


text: USAID officials realized they needed an exit strategy to conceal their involvement in the program, at one point seeking funding from Jack Dorsey, the Twitter co-founder, as part of a plan for it to go independent. The service was abruptly closed down around mid-2012, which USAID said was due to the program running out of money.


text: The ZunZuneo operation was part of a program that included a second operation which started in October 2009 and was financed jointly with ZunZuneo. In the second operation USAid sent Venezuelan, Costa Rican and Peruvian youngsters to Cuba to recruit Cubans into anti-regime political activities. The operatives posed as traveling aid workers and tourists. In one of the covert operations, the workers formed a HIV prevention workshop, which leaked memos called "the perfect excuse" for the programme’s political goals. "The Guardian" said the operation could undermine US efforts to work toward improving health globally.


text: The operation was also criticized for putting the undercover operatives themselves at risk. The covert operatives were given limited training about evading Cuban authorities suspicious of their actions. After Alan Gross, a development specialist and USAID subcontractor was arrested in Cuba, the US government warned USAID about the safety of covert operatives. Regardless of safety concerns, USAID refused to end the operation.


text: In light of the AP's report, Rajiv Shah, the head of USAID, was scheduled to testify before the Senate Appropriations State Department and Foreign Operations Subcommittee on 8 April 2014.


text: In 2008, the coca growers union affiliated with Bolivian President Evo Morales ejected the 100 employees and contractors from USAID working in the Chapare region, citing frustration with U.S. efforts to persuade them to switch to growing unviable alternatives. From 1998 to 2003, Bolivian farmers could receive USAID funding for help planting other crops only if they eliminated all their coca, according to the Andean Information Network. Other rules, such as the requirement that participating communities declare themselves "terrorist-free zones" as required by U.S. law irritated people, said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the organization. "Eradicate all your coca and then you grow an orange tree that will get fruit in eight years but you don't have anything to eat in the meantime? A bad idea," she said. "The thing about kicking out USAID, I don't think it's an anti-American sentiment overall but rather a rejection of bad programs".


text: President Evo Morales expelled USAID from Bolivia on May 1, 2013, for allegedly seeking to undermine his government following ten years of operations within the country. President Morales explained that the expulsion was because USAID's objectives in Bolivia were to advance American interests, not to advance the interests of the Bolivian people. More specifically, President Morales noted the American "counter-narcotic" programs that harms the interests of Bolivian coca farmers who get caught in the middle of American operations.


text: Following the 2019 Bolivian political crisis that saw Jeanine Áñez's assumption of power, Ms. Áñez invited USAID to return to Bolivia to provide "technical aid to the electoral process in Bolivia."


text: On September 19, 2011, USAID and the Ad Council launched the "Famine, War, and Drought" (FWD) campaign to raise awareness about that year's severe drought in East Africa. Through TV and internet ads as well as social media initiatives, FWD encouraged Americans to spread awareness about the crisis, support the humanitarian organizations that were conducting relief operations, and consult the Feed the Future global initiative for broader solutions. Celebrities Geena Davis, Uma Thurman, Josh Hartnett and Chanel Iman took part in the campaign via a series of Public Service Announcements. Corporations like Cargill, General Mills, PepsiCo. and General Mills also signed on to support FWD.


text: USAID and U.S. foreign economic assistance in general have been the subject of debate, controversy, and criticism continuously since the 1950s.


text: USAID frequently contracts with private firms or individuals for specialist services lasting from a few weeks to several years. It has long been asked whether USAID should more often assign such tasks to career U.S. Government employees instead. USG staff directly performed technical assistance in the earliest days of the program in the 1940s. It soon became necessary for the USG's technical experts to plan and manage larger assistance programs than they could perform by themselves. The global expansion of TA in the early 1950s reinforced the need to draw on outside experts, which was also accelerated by Congress's requirement of major reductions of USG staffing in 1953. By 1955, observers commented on a perceived shift toward re use of shorter-term contracts (rather than using employees with career-length contracts).


text: USAID states that "U.S. foreign assistance has always had the twofold purpose of furthering America's foreign policy interests in expanding democracy and free markets while improving the lives of the citizens of the developing world." Non-government organization watch groups have noted that as much as 40% of aid to Afghanistan has found its way back to donor countries through awarding contracts at inflated costs.


text: Although USAID officially selects contractors on a competitive and objective basis, watch dog groups, politicians, foreign governments and corporations have occasionally accused the agency of allowing its bidding process to be unduly influenced by the political and financial interests of its current Presidential administration. Under the Bush administration, for instance, it emerged that all five implementing partners selected to bid on a $600 million Iraq reconstruction contract enjoyed close ties to the administration.


text: Some critics, such as journalist and author Benjamin Dangl and Eva Golinger of the Venezuelan government, who both focus on the cases of Bolivia and Venezuela, say that the US government gives aid to reward political and military partners rather than to advance genuine social or humanitarian causes abroad. William Blum has said that in the 1960s and early 1970s USAID has maintained "a close working relationship with the CIA, and Agency officers often operated abroad under USAID cover." The 1960s-era Office of Public Safety, a now-disbanded division of USAID, has been mentioned as an example of this, having served as a front for training foreign police in counterinsurgency methods (including torture techniques).


text: "Folha de S.Paulo", Brazil's largest newspaper, accused USAID of trying to influence political reform in Brazil in a way that would have purposely benefited right-wing parties. USAID spent $95,000 US in 2005 on a seminar in the Brazilian Congress to promote a reform aimed at pushing for legislation punishing party infidelity. According to USAID papers acquired by Folha under the Freedom of Information Act, the seminar was planned to coincide with the eve of talks in that country's Congress on a broad political reform. The papers read that although the "pattern of weak party discipline is found across the political spectrum, it is somewhat less true of parties on the liberal left, such as the [ruling] Worker's Party." The papers also expressed a concern about the "'indigenization' of the conference so that it is not viewed as providing a U.S. perspective." The event's main sponsor was the International Republican Institute.


text: In the summer of 2012, ALBA countries (Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda) called on its members to expel USAID from their countries.


text: Several studies suggest that foreign aid is used as a political weapon for the U.S. to elicit desired actions from other nations. A state's membership of the U.N. Security Council can give a considerable raise of U.S. assistance.


text: In 1990 when the Yemeni Ambassador to the United Nations, Abdullah Saleh al-Ashtal, voted against a resolution for a U.S.-led coalition to use force against Iraq, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Thomas Pickering walked to the seat of the Yemeni Ambassador and retorted: "That was the most expensive No vote you ever cast". Immediately, USAID ceased operations and funding in Yemen.


text: USAID requires NGOs to sign a document renouncing terrorism, as a condition of funding. Issam Abdul Rahman, media coordinator for the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations' Network, a body representing 135 NGOs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said his organization "takes issue with politically conditioned funding." Also, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, listed as a terrorist organization by the US Department of State, said that the USAID condition was nothing more than an attempt "to impose political solutions prepared in the kitchens of Western intelligence agencies to weaken the rights and principles of Palestinians, especially the right of return."


text: In 2003, Congress passed a law providing U.S. government funds to private groups to help fight AIDS and other diseases all over the world through USAID grants. One of the conditions imposed by the law on grant recipients was a requirement to have "a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking". In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in "Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc." that the requirement violated the First Amendment's prohibition against compelled speech.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The 2017 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2017 season. The 113th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the American League (AL) champion Houston Astros. The series was played between October 24 and November 1.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The Astros defeated the Dodgers, four games to three, to win their first World Series in franchise history, also becoming the first team from Texas to do so. They became the second team in postseason history to win two Game 7s in one postseason, after the 1985 Kansas City Royals. It was the first time since 2001–2002 when two consecutive World Series went to seven games. Both teams set a World Series record with a combined total of 25 home runs throughout the entire series, including a team record 15 home runs by the Astros, and 10 homeruns by the Dodgers, and hit a combined total of eight home runs in Game 2 to set the single game World Series mark. Houston outfielder George Springer was named the World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) after hitting five home runs in the series to tie a World Series record with Reggie Jackson in 1977 and Chase Utley in 2009.


title: 2017 World Series

text: This was the first World Series in which home-field advantage was decided by the regular season record of the two pennant winners. From 1903 to 2002, home-field advantage had been determined by coin flips and by alternating between the AL and NL. From 2003 to 2016, it was determined by results from that season's All-Star Game, when it was awarded to the team from the winning league. The Dodgers earned home-field advantage over the Astros. The series was played in a 2–3–2 format, with the Dodgers hosting Games 1, 2, 6, and 7; and the Astros hosting Games 3, 4, and 5.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The Astros' victory became controversial when MLB determined in 2019 that they had been illegally using technology to steal signs from opposing teams during their championship season, in addition to during the following season. As a result, the Astros were fined $5 million and docked several top draft picks, while Astros manager A. J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were suspended for one year; both were subsequently fired. However, Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred opted against punishing any of the players involved or revoking the Astros' World Series title.


title: 2017 World Series

text: This was the first World Series matchup, and second postseason meeting overall, between the Astros and Dodgers. Los Angeles defeated Houston in five games in the 1981 National League Division Series, en route to first their World Series championship since 1965. The teams also met in the 1980 National League West tie-breaker game, won by the Astros at Dodger Stadium. This was the first Fall Classic since , and the eighth overall, in which both participants had 100 or more wins during the regular season.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The Dodgers held a 91–36 record through August 25 and ended the season with a 104–58 record. They won their fifth consecutive National League West title and home field advantage throughout the playoffs as the overall #1 seed. In the postseason, the Dodgers swept the 4th-seeded Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series and then defeated the number 3 seed and defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs in the previous year's rematch of the National League Championship Series in five games, leading to the fourth time since 2000 that two teams played each other in consecutive League Championship Series. This was the first appearance in the Fall Classic for the Dodgers since 1988, the tenth since the franchise moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, and the 19th overall.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Entering the 2017 World Series, the Dodgers bullpen had thrown 23 consecutive scoreless innings, a postseason record for a bullpen. Additionally, by outscoring the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs by a combined 48–19 margin, the Dodgers entered the World Series with the third-best run differential of any pennant winner since the playoff structure was expanded in 1995.


title: 2017 World Series

text: All-Star shortstop Corey Seager, who was out for the entire National League Championship Series with a back injury, was included on the Dodgers' World Series roster. Manager Dave Roberts became first manager of Asian heritage ever in the World Series, as well as the fourth African-American manager. The Dodgers had their second consecutive Rookie of the Year, Cody Bellinger, who hit 39 home runs in 2017. Clayton Kershaw finished second in Cy Young award voting, and closer Kenley Jansen finished fifth. The Dodgers had six NL All-Stars in Bellinger, Seager, Justin Turner, Kershaw, Alex Wood, and Jansen.


title: 2017 World Series

text: With a 101–61 regular season record, the team won its first American League West title, their first division title since 2001, and the #2 seed in the AL. In the American League Division Series, they defeated the 3rd-seeded Boston Red Sox in four games and then defeated the 4th-seeded New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) in seven games. This was their second World Series appearance, first since 2005, when they were swept in four games by the Chicago White Sox and first appearance as a member of the American League (which the team joined in 2013), as they became the first team in history to make it to the World Series as members of both National and American Leagues.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The city of Houston in August 2017 suffered record flooding from Hurricane Harvey. The team began to wear patches which had the logo of the team with the word "Strong" on the bottom of the patch, as well as promoting the hashtag "Houston Strong". Manager A. J. Hinch has stated in an interview that the team wasn't just playing for a title, but to help boost moral support for the city.


title: 2017 World Series

text: On August 31, just seconds before the midnight deadline, the Astros traded for Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander. Following the trade, including the regular season and postseason to this point, Verlander had posted a 9–0 win–loss record with a 1.23 earned run average. He was named the ALCS MVP.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The temperature at the start of the game was , which made this the hottest World Series game ever recorded. Clayton Kershaw started Game 1 for the Dodgers, while Dallas Keuchel started for the Astros.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Chris Taylor hit a home run for the Dodgers on Keuchel's first pitch of the game. It was the third home run to leadoff a game in Dodgers postseason history (following Davey Lopes in 1978 World Series and Carl Crawford in 2013 NLDS). Alex Bregman hit a tying home run for the Astros in the fourth inning. In the sixth inning, Justin Turner hit a go-ahead two-run home run for the Dodgers. Turner tied Duke Snider for most career runs batted in (RBIs) in Dodgers postseason history with 26.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Kershaw struck out 11 in seven innings pitched with no walks and only three hits allowed while Keuchel allowed three runs on six hits in innings. Brandon Morrow pitched a scoreless eighth and Kenley Jansen earned the save.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The starting pitchers for Game 2 were Rich Hill for the Dodgers and Justin Verlander for the Astros. The Astros scored first when Bregman drove in Josh Reddick with a hit in the third inning. Hill struck out seven in four innings but was replaced by Kenta Maeda in the fifth. Joc Pederson tied the game with a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, and the Dodgers took the lead when Corey Seager hit a two-run home run after Taylor walked in the bottom of the sixth inning. Verlander allowed two hits, both home runs, in his six innings pitched. Carlos Correa drove in the Astros' second run of the game on a single in the eighth, ending the Dodgers bullpen's streak of 28 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason. Marwin González hit a home run off Jansen in the ninth to tie the game. This was only Jansen's second blown save all season and snapped his streak of converting his first 12 postseason save opportunities, a major league record.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The game went into extra innings. José Altuve and Correa hit back-to-back home runs off Josh Fields in the tenth inning to put the Astros in the lead. Yuli Gurriel doubled after the home run, but Fields was replaced by Tony Cingrani and Gurriel was stranded. In the bottom of the inning, Yasiel Puig hit a solo home run off of Ken Giles and Enrique Hernández drove in Logan Forsythe, who had walked and advanced on a wild pitch, to tie the game, with the latter being the Dodgers' first run that was not driven in by a home run. In the next inning, pinch-hitter Cameron Maybin singled and stole second. George Springer hit a two-run home run for the Astros off of Brandon McCarthy to retake the lead. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Charlie Culberson homered off of Chris Devenski, who later struck out Puig to end the game. This was the first ever World Series game in which a team hit home runs in the ninth, tenth and eleventh inning. The teams set a new record for combined home runs in a single World Series game with eight and this was the first time in MLB history, regular season or postseason, that five home runs were hit in extra innings. The Astros won their first World Series game in franchise history as they had been swept in their previous appearance in 2005.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The starting pitchers for Game 3 were Yu Darvish for the Dodgers and Lance McCullers Jr. for the Astros. The Astros scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning on a home run by Yuli Gurriel and RBIs by González, Brian McCann, and Bregman. Darvish left the game after innings, which was the shortest outing of his career. The Dodgers scored one run in the top of the third inning as Seager grounded into a double play after McCullers loaded the bases with three consecutive walks. The Astros added another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Evan Gattis and the Dodgers added two in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Puig and a wild pitch. McCullers wound up pitching 5 innings and allowed three runs on four hits. Brad Peacock replaced McCullers, completing the final innings with no hits allowed and four strikeouts to earn his first major league save. It was the longest hitless World Series relief outing since Ron Taylor's four innings in Game 4 of the 1964 Series, and tied Ken Clay for the longest hitless postseason save, first accomplished in the 1978 ALCS.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Gurriel made a racially insensitive gesture in the dugout after his home run. He stretched the sides of his eyes and mouthing the Spanish word "chinito", which translates to "little Chinese Boy"; Darvish is from Japan. Gurriel apologized, and said that anyone from Asia is called a "chino" in Cuba, although he acknowledged knowing that the term was offensive in Japan from having played there. As a result, Rob Manfred, the Commissioner of Baseball, suspended Gurriel for the first five games of the 2018 MLB season without pay, but allowed him to continue playing in the World Series.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The starting pitchers for Game 4 were Alex Wood for the Dodgers and Charlie Morton for the Astros. Springer homered off Wood in the bottom of the sixth for the first run of the ballgame. It was the only hit Wood allowed in innings pitched in the game. Forsythe drove in Cody Bellinger to tie the game in the top of the seventh. Morton struck out seven and only allowed three hits and one run in 6 innings.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Bellinger then drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the top of the ninth off of Giles and the Dodgers added four more runs on a sacrifice fly by Austin Barnes and a three-run homer by Pederson. Bregman hit a home run off of Jansen in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Dodgers won the game to even up the series. The Astros had two hits in the game; both were home runs. This was the first game in World Series history where both starting pitchers allowed four or fewer baserunners.


title: 2017 World Series

text: After Game 4, both teams' pitching coaches, Rick Honeycutt for the Dodgers and Brent Strom for the Astros, commented on how the baseball being used for the World Series is slicker than the baseball used during the regular season. Pitchers on both teams noted that this difference has made it more difficult for them to throw their sliders.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Two years after this game, when MLB sanctioned the Astros for sign stealing during the 2017 season, Alex Wood said he and Austin Barnes changed signs every ten pitches because the Dodgers had suspected the Astros of sign stealing. Wood later said that the team tried to get Clayton Kershaw, Game 5 starter, to follow the same method, but Kershaw did not think it was necessary and did not want to disrupt his routine.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Kershaw and Keuchel started Game 5, in a rematch of the opening game of the series. Forsythe singled in two runs off of Keuchel in the first inning to put the Dodgers up early. A third run scored on a throwing error by Gurriel. Barnes singled in the fourth to score Forsythe. Keuchel pitched innings for the Astros, allowing five hits and four runs (three earned). The Astros scored their first run with an RBI double by Correa in the bottom of the fourth inning, followed by a three-run home run by Gurriel to tie the game. Bellinger hit a three-run home run off of Collin McHugh in the top of the fifth to put the Dodgers back on top only for Altuve to hit his own three-run home run in the bottom of the inning off Maeda to tie it back up. Kershaw pitched innings and allowed six runs on four hits and three walks.


title: 2017 World Series

text: A triple by Bellinger on a line drive that Springer missed on a dive in the seventh inning off of Peacock scored Hernández from first base. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Springer hit a home run off the first pitch he saw off of Morrow, who was pitching for the third consecutive day, to tie the game. Bregman scored on a double by Altuve to put the Astros ahead for the first time in the game, and then Correa hit a two-run home run to extend the lead. Seager doubled in a run in the top of the eighth inning, but McCann hit a home run in the bottom of the inning. That was the 21st home run of the series, tying the record set in the 2002 World Series. Puig broke the record with a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning. Down to their last strike, Chris Taylor drove in Barnes to tie the game with a single.


title: 2017 World Series

text: In the tenth inning, McCann was hit by a pitch to put him on base with two outs. Subsequently, Springer walked on five pitches to move McCann to second base. McCann was then replaced by pinch runner Derek Fisher.


title: 2017 World Series

text: On the next pitch, Bregman hit a walk-off single, scoring Fisher with the winning run. The Astros became only the second team to come back twice from three runs down in a World Series game, the other was the Toronto Blue Jays in the 15–14 win during Game 4 of the 1993 World Series. The six game-tying home runs in the series to this point is the most for any World Series on record. This World Series set a new record for most players to hit a home run (14 to date in the World Series). With the teams combining to score 25 runs throughout the game, this was the highest scoring World Series game since the Florida Marlins defeated the Cleveland Indians 14–11 in Game 3 of the 1997 World Series. Game 5 lasted five hours and seventeen minutes, making it the second-longest World Series game in history by time. It has been frequently cited as one of the greatest World Series games of all time.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by former President George W. Bush, accompanied by his father, George H. W. Bush.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Game 6 featured the same starting pitchers as the second game: Verlander and Hill. Springer hit a home run off of Hill in the top of the third for the first run of the night. It was Springer's fourth homer of the series, tied for third all-time in a single series and joining Gene Tenace, in 1972, as the only players with four game-tying or go-ahead home runs in a World Series. Springer also joined Hank Bauer in the 1958 World Series and Barry Bonds in the 2002 World Series with four home runs in a series. The Astros loaded the bases in the fifth inning, but did not score. Hill pitched innings, struck out five and allowed four hits and one run.


title: 2017 World Series

text: In the sixth inning, Taylor tied the game with an RBI double and Seager hit a sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers the lead. Verlander pitched six innings with nine strikeouts and only three hits allowed. Pederson hit a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning and Jansen pitched two scoreless innings for the save, forcing a winner-take-all game seven. Pederson tied a World Series record with his fifth consecutive game with an extra base hit. Andre Ethier, who appeared in the game as a pinch hitter, set a new Dodgers franchise record with his 50th career postseason game.


title: 2017 World Series

text: This was the first World Series Game 7 to be played at Dodger Stadium (and the first postseason Game 7 of any postseason series at the stadium since the 1988 NLCS, and the Dodgers' first World Series Game 7 since 1965 against the Minnesota Twins). It was also the first time since the 1931 World Series that a Game 7 occurred in a Series with both teams having won at least 100 games during the season. Besides, this was the first time since the 2001 World Series and 2002 World Series that back-to-back Fall Classics had a Game 7.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The starting pitchers for this game were the same as in the third game: McCullers and Darvish. Springer doubled to open the game and scored the first run on an error by Bellinger, which allowed Bregman to reach second base. Bregman stole third base and scored on an Altuve groundout. McCann scored the next inning on a groundout hit by the pitcher McCullers. Springer hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the series, tying Reggie Jackson and Chase Utley for most home runs in a single World Series and setting a new record with 29 total bases in any postseason series. As in Game 3, Darvish lasted only innings (tying the shortest outing of his career) and became the third pitcher with two starts of less than two innings in a World Series, and the first since Art Ditmar in the World Series. Morrow relieved Darvish and in the process became only the second pitcher to pitch in all seven games of a single World Series, joining Darold Knowles in the World Series. McCullers lasted only 2 innings himself; he allowed three hits and hit a World Series record four batters. This was the first Game 7 in World Series history where neither starting pitcher got past the third inning.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The Dodgers failed to score a run and left eight men on base through five innings. Andre Ethier hit a pinch-hit RBI single that scored Pederson in the sixth inning for the Dodgers' only run. They only had one hit in 13 chances with runners in scoring position in the game. Kershaw pitched four scoreless innings of relief in the game, and in the process, he broke Orel Hershiser's Dodgers postseason record with his 33rd strikeout. Morton pitched four innings of relief to earn the win, as Corey Seager grounded out to José Altuve, who threw to Yuli Gurriel to end the game, with the Astros winning their first championship in franchise history, and ending their 56-year drought. Springer won the World Series MVP Award. With the Astros' win, for the first time since 2002, when the Angels beat the Giants in seven games, a franchise won its first World Series title. It was also the first time since 1972 that an American League team won a World Series Game 7 on the road.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The Astros were the first team to beat the three wealthiest teams in the sport - Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers - in a single postseason.


title: 2017 World Series

text: After Game 7, the trophy presentation, usually taking place in the locker room whenever the visiting team clinches the series, took place on the losing team's field for the first time ever before a small crowd of mostly Astros fans that remained as most Dodgers fans left the stadium. Correa proposed to his girlfriend, 2016 Miss Texas USA winner Daniella Rodríguez, on live television during a postgame interview conducted by Rosenthal. She accepted.


title: 2017 World Series

text: More than a month later, a "Sports Illustrated" article revealed that the Astros had figured out how Darvish was tipping his pitches: "Darvish holds the ball at his side when he gets the sign from the catcher. Whether he re-grips or not as he brings the ball into his glove was the tip-off whether he was going to throw a slider/cutter or a fastball." This unnamed Astros player said the Astros had known about this going into Game 3 which they also won, but that they had an even better game plan for Game 7. After this revelation, 14-year veteran Chase Utley watched the film and later reported to Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman that Darvish was not giving off any pitch-tipping cues.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Fox broadcast the series in the United States, with Joe Buck serving as the play-by-play announcer, along with John Smoltz as color commentator and Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci as field reporters. For Fox Deportes, Rolando Nichols provided play-by-play while Carlos Álvarez and Edgar Gonzalez provided color commentary.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Kevin Burkhardt hosted the pregame shows, joined by analysts Keith Hernandez, David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, and Frank Thomas. Outside the United States, MLB International televised the series, with Matt Vasgersian on play-by-play and Buck Martinez doing color commentary.


title: 2017 World Series

text: In September 2017, American Spirit Media removed the signals of their Fox affiliates from DirecTV and U-verse systems. As a result, some DirecTV subscribers in portions of the Southeastern United States (as well as those in the Toledo market) were unable to watch the World Series. This dispute would eventually be resolved in January 2018.


title: 2017 World Series

text: According to Nielsen ratings, this series was the third highest rated since 2005, trailing only the 2009 World Series and the 2016 World Series. For the second straight year, a World Series game, Game 5, beat out "NBC Sunday Night Football" in ratings.


title: 2017 World Series

text: ESPN Radio broadcast the series nationally in English, with Dan Shulman providing the play-by-play and Aaron Boone serving as color analyst. Tim Kurkjian and Buster Olney served as reporters for the network, while Marc Kestecher hosted the pre-game and post-game coverage along with analyst Chris Singleton. The ESPN Radio coverage was carried on affiliated stations throughout the United States and Canada, as well as online at ESPN.com and via the ESPN mobile app. Spanish-language coverage was provided by ESPN Deportes Radio, with Eduardo Ortega, Renato Bermúdez, José Francisco Rivera, and Orlando Hernández announcing.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Locally, both teams' flagship radio stations broadcast the series with their regular announcers. Sportstalk 790 aired the English-language broadcast for the Houston area, with Robert Ford and Steve Sparks calling the games. In Los Angeles, AM 570 LA Sports aired the English-language broadcast, with Charley Steiner and Rick Monday announcing. In Spanish, Univision America 1020 carried the broadcast, with Jaime Jarrín and Jorge Jarrín on the call. In Korean, Radio Korea 1540 aired the series, with Richard Choi and Chong Ho Yim in the booth.


title: 2017 World Series

text: For the first time, MLB sold presenting sponsorships to all of its postseason series; the internet television service YouTube TV is the first-ever presenting sponsor of the World Series. The series is officially known as the "2017 World Series Presented by YouTube TV". This sponsorship includes logo branding in-stadium and on official digital properties, as well as commercial inventory during Fox's telecasts of the games.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Overall, the 2017 postseason was one of the most thrilling postseasons in recent memory. It was the first time in the wildcard era (1995–present) to feature winner-take-all games in each round. It reignited an old National League West rivalry (Astros-Dodgers) and sparked a new American League one (Astros-Yankees), as well.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Since 2017, the Astros and Dodgers have consistently boasted the teams with the most regular season wins in their respective leagues, often by a wide margin. Every postseason from 2017 onwards has featured both teams, with the Astros winning 52 postseason games since 2017 and the Dodgers winning 40. Furthermore, every World Series since 2017 has also featured either the Astros or Dodgers, with the Astros making four appearances and the Dodgers three. The Astros have since won the 2022 World Series, while the Dodgers won in 2020. There have been quite a few chances at a much anticipated re-match between the two clubs in the World Series, especially in the wake of the sign stealing scandal, but as of 2022 this has not occurred.


title: 2017 World Series

text: In 2020, ESPN writer Sam Miller ranked the series the 23rd best World Series of all-time (and the fifth best since 2000), noting the prowess of both teams and the intensity of all seven games, but noting the sign stealing scandal has tainted the series, comparing it to the 1919 World Series.


title: 2017 World Series

text: This was Houston's first professional sports championship since the Houston Dynamo won the MLS Cup in 2007, and the first in one of the traditional "Big Four" American sports leagues since the Houston Rockets won back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The Astros earned $30,420,155.57 from postseason pool money to split among team personnel; each share was worth $438,901.57. The Dodgers received $20,280,103.72, with shares of $259,722.14 The sportsbooks in Nevada lost $11.4 million in November 2017, a record for baseball-related betting.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The city of Houston held a parade for the Astros on November 3, 2017, which Mayor Sylvester Turner proclaimed was "Houston Astros' Day". Schools in Houston were closed for the day. An estimated 750,000 to one million attended the parade. Springer and Altuve appeared on the cover of "Sports Illustrated" November 13, 2017, issue, with Altuve holding the Commissioner's Trophy and Springer holding a copy of a "Sports Illustrated" from 2014 that predicted the Astros would win the 2017 World Series. The Astros' win has been seen as a morale boost for the city of Houston, which 9 weeks earlier had suffered tremendous damage due to Hurricane Harvey. According to Manny Fernandez and Paul Debenedetto of the "New York Times", "Every city wants a World Series victory. Houston, post-Harvey, needed one."


title: 2017 World Series

text: The 2017 postseason saw the beginning of American League dominance for the Astros. Starting in 2017, the Astros have made it to the American League Championship Series six consecutive times; this set the record for most consecutive ALCS appearances, and second-most LCS appearances after the 1991-1999 Atlanta Braves. Of these, the Astros have won four out of six pennants, losing in 2018 against the Boston Red Sox and 2020 against the Tampa Bay Rays, while winning in 2017, 2019, and 2022 against the New York Yankees and 2021 against the Red Sox. They would further lose the 2019 World Series against the Washington Nationals and the 2021 World Series against the Atlanta Braves before winning their second World Series in 2022 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Five players - Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yuli Gurriel, Lance McCullers, Jr. and Justin Verlander - were on both championship teams.


title: 2017 World Series

text: After the season, Yu Darvish became a free agent for the first time in his career, and he chose not to re-sign with the Dodgers, as there was much fan ire against him for his disappointing World Series outings that many felt had cost the Dodgers the title. Darvish signed with the Cubs and continued to struggle with performance and injury in 2018 and early in the season in 2019, before returning to his pre-2017 World Series form for the second half of 2019. He was traded to the San Diego Padres, a division rival of the Dodgers, prior to the 2020 season.


title: 2017 World Series

text: The Dodgers would return to the World Series in 2018, where they lost to the Boston Red Sox in five games. After losing in the 2019 NLDS against the Washington Nationals, the Dodgers would finally win their seventh championship in 2020 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Though they remain one of baseball's most dominant teams, the Dodgers have not returned to the World Series since then, losing the 2021 NLCS to the Atlanta Braves and the 2022 NLDS to the San Diego Padres.


title: 2017 World Series

text: Before the 2019 World Series, several Dodgers reached out to Washington Nationals second baseman Brian Dozier and pitcher Daniel Hudson, who had been with Los Angeles the previous year, to warn them that Houston was elaborately stealing signs.


title: 2017 World Series

text: After the 2019 season, former Houston pitcher Mike Fiers alleged that the 2017 Astros used technology to illicitly steal their opponents' signs and relay it to their hitters. This was later confirmed through numerous citizen sleuths, and it showed the Astros used this method throughout the 2017 season, and part of the 2018 season. MLB and the Astros opened an investigation into this sign stealing allegation. MLB found the Astros used technology to cheat during their 2017 season and suspended Hinch and Astros' general manager Jeff Luhnow for one season; the Astros fired Luhnow and Hinch the same day. Alex Cora, who was the Astros bench coach in 2017 and the Red Sox manager from 2018 to 2019, parted ways with the Red Sox after the scandal broke. Carlos Beltran who was hired by the New York Mets who was also part of the 2017 Astros was also fired for his involvement in the cheating scandal before getting the chance to manage the team. Cora would eventually be re-hired back for the season in Boston, while Hinch was named the Tigers manager a few days after the conclusion of their season long suspensions. Besides Beltran, no other Astros players were punished. On November 8, 2020, ex-Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow sued the Astros, alleging that Astros owner Jim Crane and Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred negotiated penalties for the sign-stealing scandal that enabled the team to paint Luhnow as “the scapegoat for the organization and fire its general manager in order to save more than $22 million in guaranteed salary.”


title: 2017 World Series

text: Long time baseball writer Buster Olney said "front-office staffers around baseball cannot remember a circumstance of such widespread and loud player-to-player condemnation." Angry comments from players increased when spring training began in February. Many players criticized the Astros, especially after their press conference at the beginning of camp. Many of the condemnations came from members of the Dodgers, who the Astros defeated in the 2017 World Series, and the Yankees, who the Astros defeated in the ALCS in both 2017 and 2019. The Dodgers were the only team to release a statement the week the report was released, only to say that they had been ordered by MLB not to comment on the punishments or "any wrongdoing during the 2017 World Series."


title: 2017 World Series

text: On July 29, 2020, Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly was issued an eight-game suspension after throwing at Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros and inciting the benches to clear after a strikeout of Correa. This was the first meeting between the Astros and Dodgers since MLB handed down penalties to the Astros for sign-stealing. Kelly's pouty face mocking of Correa complaining about the near hit by pitch became an internet meme. Ironically, Kelly himself was a member of the 2018 Boston Red Sox, which themselves were implicated in a cheating scandal.


title: Classified information in the United States

text: The United States government classification system is established under , the latest in a long series of executive orders on the topic beginning in 1951. Issued by President Barack Obama in 2009, Executive Order 13526 replaced earlier executive orders on the topic and modified the regulations codified to 32 C.F.R. 2001. It lays out the system of classification, declassification, and handling of national security information generated by the U.S. government and its employees and contractors, as well as information received from other governments.


text: The desired degree of secrecy about such information is known as its sensitivity. Sensitivity is based upon a calculation of the damage to national security that the release of the information would cause. The United States has three levels of classification: Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret. Each level of classification indicates an increasing degree of sensitivity. Thus, if one holds a Top Secret security clearance, one is allowed to handle information up to the level of Top Secret, including Secret and Confidential information. If one holds a Secret clearance, one may not then handle Top Secret information, but may handle Secret and Confidential classified information.


text: The United States does not have a British-style Official Secrets Act. Instead, several laws protect classified information, including the Espionage Act of 1917, the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.


text: A 2013 report to Congress noted that the relevant laws have been mostly used to prosecute foreign agents, or those passing classified information to them, and that leaks to the press have rarely been prosecuted. The legislative and executive branches of government, including US presidents, have frequently leaked classified information to journalists. Congress has repeatedly resisted or failed to pass a law that generally outlaws disclosing classified information. Most espionage law criminalizes only national defense information; only a jury can decide if a given document meets that criterion, and judges have repeatedly said that being "classified" does not necessarily make information become related to the "national defense". Furthermore, by law, information may not be classified merely because it would be embarrassing or to cover illegal activity; information may be classified only to protect national security objectives.


text: The United States over the past decades under the Obama and Clinton administrations has released classified information to foreign governments for diplomatic goodwill, known as declassification diplomacy. Examples include information on Augusto Pinochet to the government of Chile. In October 2015, US Secretary of State John Kerry provided Michelle Bachelet, Chile's president, with a pen drive containing hundreds of newly declassified documents.


text: In the U.S., information is called "classified" if it has been assigned one of the three levels: Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret. Information that is not so labeled is called "Unclassified information". The term "declassified" is used for information that has had its classification removed, and "downgraded" refers to information that has been assigned a lower classification level but is still classified. Many documents are automatically downgraded and then declassified after some number of years. The U.S. government uses the term Controlled Unclassified Information to refer to information that is not Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret, but whose dissemination is still restricted.


text: Reasons for such restrictions can include export controls, privacy regulations, court orders, and ongoing criminal investigations, as well as national security. Information that was never classified is sometimes referred to as "open source" by those who work in classified activities. "Public Safety Sensitive" (PSS) refers to information that is similar to Law Enforcement Sensitive but could be shared between the various public safety disciplines (Law Enforcement, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services). Peter Louis Galison, a historian and Director in the History of Science Dept. at Harvard University, claims that the U.S. Government produces more classified information than unclassified information.


text: The United States government classifies sensitive information according to the degree which the unauthorized disclosure would damage national security. The three primary levels of classification (from least to greatest) are Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret.


text: However, even Top Secret clearance does not allow one to access all information at, or below, Top Secret level. Access requires the clearance necessary for the sensitivity of the information, as well as a legitimate need to obtain the information. For example, all US military pilots are required to obtain at least a Secret clearance, but they may only access documents directly related to their orders.


text: To ensure that only those with a legitimate need to know can access information, classified information may have additional categorizations/markings and access controls that could prevent even someone with a sufficient level of clearance from seeing it. Examples of this include: Special Access Program (SAP), Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI), Restricted Data (RD), and Alternative or Compensatory Control Measures (ACCM).


text: The classification system is governed by Executive Order rather than by law. An exception is information on nuclear weapons, materials and power, where levels of protection are specified in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, "see restricted data." Typically each president will issue a new executive order, either tightening classification or loosening it. The Clinton administration made a major change in the classification system by issuing an executive order that for the first time required all classified documents to be declassified after 25 years unless they were reviewed by the agency that created the information and determined to require continuing classification. Executive Order 13292, issued by President George W. Bush in 2003 relaxed some declassification requirements.


text: This is the lowest classification level of information obtained by the government. It is defined as information that would "damage" national security if publicly disclosed, again, without the proper authorization.


text: This is the second-highest classification. Information is classified Secret when its unauthorized disclosure would cause "serious damage" to national security. Most information that is classified is held at the secret sensitivity.


text: "Examples of serious damage include disruption of foreign relations significantly affecting the national security; significant impairment of a program or policy directly related to the national security; revelation of significant military plans or intelligence operations: compromise of significant military plans or intelligence operations; and compromise of significant scientific or technological developments relating to national security."


text: The highest security classification. "Top Secret shall be applied to information, the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause 'exceptionally grave damage' to the National Security that the original classification authority is able to identify or describe." As of 2019, around 1.25 million individuals have Top Secret clearance.


text: "Examples of exceptionally grave damage include armed hostilities against the United States or its allies; disruption of foreign relations vitally affecting the national security; the compromise of vital national defense plans or complex cryptology and communications intelligence systems; the revelation of sensitive intelligence operations, and the disclosure of scientific or technological developments vital to national security."


text: Top Secret is the highest level of classification. However some information is further categorized/marked by adding a code word so that only those who have been cleared for each code word can see it. A document marked SECRET (CODE WORD) could be viewed only by a person with a secret or top secret clearance and that specific code word clearance.


text: Executive Order 13526, which forms the legal basis for the U.S. classification system, states that "information may be classified at one of the following three levels", with Top Secret as the highest level (). However, this executive order provides for special access programs that further restricted access to a small number of individuals and permit additional security measures ().


text: These practices can be compared with (and may have inspired) the concepts multilevel security and role-based access control. U.S. law also has special provisions protecting information related to cryptography (18 USC 798), nuclear weapons and atomic energy ("see" Controls on atomic-energy information) and the identity of covert intelligence agents ("see" Intelligence Identities Protection Act).