Early History
Before the Modern OIG System
Oversight predates the modern OIG system. For much of federal history, Inspector General was mostly a military and administrative title, with no guarantee of independence. Civilian agencies built internal audit and investigation offices the same way: quietly, on the agency head's terms, with no statutory protection if the work became uncomfortable. That older, looser tradition is the backdrop for everything that follows. It explains where the title and the habits came from, but none of it counts toward the modern federal OIG population tracked on this site.
Era notes
