Memphis Bill was known to pack a punch.

The government promised a lot, but failed to deliver the goods.

family tree; skill tree

During Congressional hearings on the agency in the mid-1970's, it was revealed that some of the agency's programs to plant false information in the foreign press had resulted in items being published by American news organizations. This phenomenon, known as blowback, was sharply criticized by the committees at the time, and the C.I.A. has since been required to take precautions so that such false information does not affect political debate in this country.