Strategic Services, Office of (OSS), was a secret United States government agency responsible for foreign intelligence during World War II (1939-1945). William J. Donovan headed the office under the direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was organized in 1942 to gather and analyze information, and conduct psychological and guerrilla warfare. It was dissolved at the end of the war in 1945, and its functions were divided between the Department of State and the War Department. In 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was formed to coordinate the activities of all intelligence agencies (see Central Intelligence Agency ).
