The Brookings Institution

The Brookings Institution, whose predecessor was founded in 1918 by Robert Brookings, was probably the first think tank in the USA.

On its website the organisation traces its origins "to 1916, when a group of leading reformers founded the Institute for Government Research (IGR), the first private organization devoted to analyzing public policy issues at the national level. In 1922 and 1924, one of IGR's backers, Robert Somers Brookings (1850-1932), established two supporting sister organizations: the Institute of Economics and a graduate school bearing his name. In 1927, the three groups merged to form the Brookings Institution, honoring the businessman from St. Louis whose leadership shaped the earlier organizations."

Of the 200 "most prominent" think tanks in the U.S., the Brookings Institution's studies are the most widely cited by the media.

Along with the more conservative American Enterprise Institute and Heritage Foundation, Brookings is generally considered one of the three most influential policy institutes in the U.S.

Nelson Strobridge "Strobe" Talbott, a Rhodes Scholar, is president of the Brookings Institute. He William Jefferson Clinton's roommate at Oxford University. He is believed to be a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Talbott was Deputy Secretary of State in 1994.

He is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and is a former Aid Coordinator for the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Sources:
Sourcewatch
Wikipedia

Related:
Brookings -The Establishment's Think Tank
Why AIPAC Took Over Brookings