This is one in a series of articles highlighting Breaking Gov’s best stories of the past year. As we reflected on our 2011 coverage of innovation, technology and management amongst the federal agencies and workforce, this was among the stories that stood out as delivering key insight into the top issues facing today’s government community.

While many publications paid tribute to 9/11 this year, none explored the resulting creation of the Department of Homeland Security — and the largest U.S. government reorganization in half a century — better than Dan Verton. Dan succeeded in tracking down and interviewing three men who were instrumental in the birth and evolution of DHS: the nation’s first Secretary of Homeland Security; the deputy for counterterrorism on the National Security Council, and the CIA’s deputy director of intelligence. Keep reading →