What was the CIA supposed to do/be as opposed to what it became (at that time) ?
[What was the CIA supposed to do/be as opposed to what it became (at that time) ?]
Truman intended the CIA to limit its mission to foreign intelligence gathering and counterespionage. He didn’t intend the agency to expand its operational scope to creating private armies, fomenting bloody coups and assassinating heads of state.
From what he says, it sounds like he intended the CIA simply to be an intelligence gathering and analysis agency, not an agency that engaged in espionage operations and tried to shape government policy.