 In 1942, The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was created out of the United States Government's need for a centralized location for information.OWI was disbanded under the Truman administration, though a small element of the original structure was maintained within the State Department as the Office of International Information and Cultural Affairs (OIC), which was renamed the Office of International Information and Educational Exchange.In 1948, the Smith-Mundt Act sought to "promote a better understanding of the United States in other countries, and to increase mutual understanding."