The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), formally created in 1947, is the principal foreign intelligence and counterintelligence agency of the U.S. government. The CIA is headed by a director and deputy director, only one of whom may be a military officer. The director of central intelligence (DCI) serves as the chief intelligence adviser to the president of the United States. This is a chronologically ordered list of the directors, from the earliest to the most recent.

• Rear Adm. Sidney W. Souers, U.S. Naval Reserve (January 23, 1946–June 10, 1946)
• Lieut. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, U.S. Army (June 10, 1946–May 1, 1947)
• Rear Adm. Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, U.S. Navy (May 1, 1947–October 7, 1950)
• Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, U.S. Army (October 7, 1950–February 9, 1953)
• Allen W. Dulles (February 26, 1953–November 29, 1961)
• John A. McCone (November 29, 1961–April 28, 1965)
• Vice Adm. William F. Raborn, Jr., U.S. Navy (April 28, 1965–June 30, 1966)
• Richard M. Helms (June 30, 1966–February 2, 1973)
• James R. Schlesinger (February 2, 1973–July 2, 1973)
• William E. Colby (September 4, 1973–January 30, 1976)
• George H.W. Bush (January 30, 1976–January 20, 1977)
• Adm. Stansfield Turner, U.S. Navy (March 9, 1977–January 20, 1981)
• William J. Casey (January 28, 1981–January 29, 1987)
• William H. Webster (May 26, 1987–August 31, 1991)
• Robert M. Gates (November 6, 1991–January 20, 1993)
• R. James Woolsey (February 5, 1993–January 10, 1995)
• John M. Deutch (May 10, 1995–December 15, 1996)
• George J. Tenet (July 11, 1997–July 11, 2004)
• Porter J. Goss (September 24, 2004–May 26, 2006)
• Gen. Michael V. Hayden, U.S. Air Force (May 30, 2006–February 13, 2009)
• Leon E. Panetta (February 13, 2009–June 30, 2011)
• Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. Army (September 6, 2011–November 9, 2012)
• John Brennan (March 8, 2013–January 20, 2017)
• Mike Pompeo (January 23, 2017–April 26, 2018)
• Gina Haspel (May 21, 2018–January 19, 2021)
• William J. Burns (March 19, 2021– )