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This article is part of the December 2024 special edition of the journal Studies in Intelligence, marking the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA), which created the position of Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to oversee the US Intelligence Community. The issue includes a mix of perspectives from leaders who were instrumental in crafting and implementing IRTPA, particularly during the formative years of the ODNI.

Dr. Thomas Fingar, a Shorenstein APARC Fellow in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, served as the first deputy director of national intelligence for analysis and, concurrently, chair of the National Intelligence Council (2005–8).

Focusing on IRTPA's early implementation, Fingar describes the challenges he faced after the act’s passage to make it work, recounting wrestling with the law’s structural, operational, and administrative ambiguities as he implemented initiatives in areas ranging from collection and analysis to information sharing and budget formulation and execution.