The President's Book of Secrets

The President's Book of Secrets PDF Author: David Priess
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1610395964
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
Every president has had a unique and complicated relationship with the intelligence community. While some have been coolly distant, even adversarial, others have found their intelligence agencies to be among the most valuable instruments of policy and power. Since John F. Kennedy's presidency, this relationship has been distilled into a personalized daily report: a short summary of what the intelligence apparatus considers the most crucial information for the president to know that day about global threats and opportunities. This top-secret document is known as the President's Daily Brief, or, within national security circles, simply "the Book." Presidents have spent anywhere from a few moments (Richard Nixon) to a healthy part of their day (George W. Bush) consumed by its contents; some (Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush) consider it far and away the most important document they saw on a regular basis while commander in chief. The details of most PDBs are highly classified, and will remain so for many years. But the process by which the intelligence community develops and presents the Book is a fascinating look into the operation of power at the highest levels. David Priess, a former intelligence officer and daily briefer, has interviewed every living president and vice president as well as more than one hundred others intimately involved with the production and delivery of the president's book of secrets. He offers an unprecedented window into the decision making of every president from Kennedy to Obama, with many character-rich stories revealed here for the first time.

The President's Book of Secrets

The President's Book of Secrets PDF Author: David Priess
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1610395964
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

Get Book Here

Book Description
Every president has had a unique and complicated relationship with the intelligence community. While some have been coolly distant, even adversarial, others have found their intelligence agencies to be among the most valuable instruments of policy and power. Since John F. Kennedy's presidency, this relationship has been distilled into a personalized daily report: a short summary of what the intelligence apparatus considers the most crucial information for the president to know that day about global threats and opportunities. This top-secret document is known as the President's Daily Brief, or, within national security circles, simply "the Book." Presidents have spent anywhere from a few moments (Richard Nixon) to a healthy part of their day (George W. Bush) consumed by its contents; some (Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush) consider it far and away the most important document they saw on a regular basis while commander in chief. The details of most PDBs are highly classified, and will remain so for many years. But the process by which the intelligence community develops and presents the Book is a fascinating look into the operation of power at the highest levels. David Priess, a former intelligence officer and daily briefer, has interviewed every living president and vice president as well as more than one hundred others intimately involved with the production and delivery of the president's book of secrets. He offers an unprecedented window into the decision making of every president from Kennedy to Obama, with many character-rich stories revealed here for the first time.

In the President's Secret Service

In the President's Secret Service PDF Author: Ronald Kessler
Publisher: Forum Books
ISBN: 030746136X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
After conducting exclusive interviews with more than one hundred current and former Secret Service agents, bestselling author and award-winning reporter Ronald Kessler reveals their secrets for the first time. Never before has a journalist penetrated the wall of secrecy that surrounds the U.S. Secret Service, that elite corps of agents who pledge to take a bullet to protect the president and his family. Kessler portrays the dangers that agents face and how they carry out their missions--from how they are trained to how they spot and assess potential threats. With fly-on-the-wall perspective, he captures the drama and tension that characterize agents’ lives and reveals what they have seen, providing startling, previously untold stories about the presidents, from John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as about their families, Cabinet officers, and White House aides.

Presidents' Secrets

Presidents' Secrets PDF Author: Mary Graham
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300223749
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
Ever since the nation's most important secret meeting--the Constitutional Convention--presidents have struggled to balance open, accountable government with necessary secrecy in military affairs and negotiations. For the first one hundred and twenty years, a culture of open government persisted, but new threats and technology have long since shattered the old bargains. Today, presidents neither protect vital information nor provide the open debate Americans expect.

How to Get Rid of a President

How to Get Rid of a President PDF Author: David Priess
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1541788214
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
A vivid political history of the schemes, plots, maneuvers, and conspiracies that have attempted -- successfully and not -- to remove unwanted presidents To limit executive power, the founding fathers created fixed presidential terms of four years, giving voters regular opportunities to remove their leaders. Even so, Americans have often resorted to more dramatic paths to disempower the chief executive. The American presidency has seen it all, from rejecting a sitting president's renomination bid and undermining their authority in office to the more drastic methods of impeachment, and, most brutal of all, assassination. How to Get Rid of a President showcases the political dark arts in action: a stew of election dramas, national tragedies, and presidential departures mixed with party intrigue, personal betrayal, and backroom shenanigans. This briskly paced, darkly humorous voyage proves that while the pomp and circumstance of presidential elections might draw more attention, the way that presidents are removed teaches us much more about our political order.

Nixon's Darkest Secrets

Nixon's Darkest Secrets PDF Author: Don Fulsom
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1429941367
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
A veteran White House reporter reveals our 37th president was even more sinister and haunted than we knew. Richard Nixon left the White House in 1974 as our most disgraced president, but the American people never knew the full extent of his demons, deceptions, paranoia, prejudices, hatreds, and chicanery. Calling on his work in covering Nixon, scores of interviews with members of Congress, White House staffers, and others close to our nation's thirty-seventh president, and invaluable, newly declassified documents and recordings, veteran journalist Don Fulsom sheds new light on "Tricky Dick." The author's revelations include: - That the future president sabotaged the 1968 peace talks for political gain - By the time Nixon became president in 1969, he had linked to the mob for more than two decades and, as president, had a close connection with New Orleans boss Carlos Marcello, the most powerful Mafioso in the nation - The president had a drinking problem and top aides referred to him as "Our Drunk" - Nixon had a misogynist streak and was abusive toward first lady Pat Nixon - The intimate and possibly homosexual nature of Nixon's relationship with confidante Charles "Bebe" Rebozo, a banker with mob ties - Testimony alleging that the president had ordered the killing of White House reporter Jack Anderson Fulsom's examination of these and other startling aspects of Nixon's personal and political dimensions paint an unflinching portrait of a leader who was once the most powerful man in the world. Nixon's Darkest Secrets provides a chilling final chapter in literature on our most troubled president.

The Presidents Club

The Presidents Club PDF Author: Nancy Gibbs
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439127700
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 658

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Book Description
Examines presidential power within the context of U.S. history and the ongoing relationships presidents and ex-presidents formed with one another.

The First Family Detail

The First Family Detail PDF Author: Ronald Kessler
Publisher: Forum Books
ISBN: 080413961X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Ron Kessler appears to get everything first.”—Slate As in a play, presidents, vice presidents, and presidential candidates perform onstage for the public and the media. What the nation’s leaders are really like and what goes on behind the scenes remain hidden. Secret Service agents have a front-row seat on their private lives and those of their wives and children. Crammed with new headline-making revelations, The First Family Detail by New York Times bestselling author Ronald Kessler tells that eye-opening, uncensored story. The First Family Detail reveals: • Vice President Joe Biden regularly orders the Secret Service to keep his military aide with the nuclear football a mile behind his motorcade, potentially leaving the country unable to retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack. • Secret Service agents discovered that former president Bill Clinton has a blond mistress—code-named Energizer by agents—who lives near the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua, New York. • The Secret Service covered up the fact that President Ronald Reagan’s White House staff overruled the agency to let unscreened spectators get close to Reagan as he left the Washington Hilton, allowing John W. Hinckley Jr. to shoot the president. • Because Hillary Clinton is so nasty to agents, being assigned to her protective detail is considered a form of punishment and the worst assignment in the Secret Service. “Kessler’s such a skilled storyteller, you almost forget this is dead-serious nonfiction.”—Newsweek

Necessary Secrets: National Security, the Media, and the Rule of Law

Necessary Secrets: National Security, the Media, and the Rule of Law PDF Author: Gabriel Schoenfeld
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393339939
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
An intensely controversial scrutiny of American democracy's fundamental tension between the competing imperatives of security and openness.

Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents

Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents PDF Author: Cormac O'Brien
Publisher: Quirk Books
ISBN: 9781931686570
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
What your teachers never told you about the men of the white house.

Protecting the President

Protecting the President PDF Author: Dan Bongino
Publisher: Post Hill Press
ISBN: 1642939668
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Book Description
Being a Secret Service agent is one of the most treacherous jobs in the world and never more so than in today’s highly polarized America. Facing threats from fence jumpers and manifesto writers, and from fanatical terrorists and sophisticated spies, protecting the president is harder than ever. In an age of hyper-partisan politics, emotions are high and crazies are a dime a dozen. On top of that, with international tensions reaching a boiling point, it’s harder than ever to determine friend from foe. Yet the President of the United States is in very real danger if the Secret Service doesn’t change course soon and evolve with the rapidly changing threat environment. Highly motivated “bad guys” are already working on technologically advanced methodologies and are constantly striving to formulate the logistics of an attack on the White House. Eventually terrorist planners will find a way to acquire the technology, weapons, explosives, and know-how to make an attempt on the life of the President. The only question is “What are we going to do about it?” Protecting the President provides not only a rare insider glimpse of what the Secret Service does, but explores the challenges facing the agents today. Chock-full of relevant stories of protecting past presidents, veteran agent Dan Bongino explains how the agency can best protect the president today. This book covers how the Secret Service should • plan for a tactical assault by a terrorist attack team • prepare to respond to a severe medical emergency • train to handle a chemical or biological weapon attack • prepare for an attack using explosives • plan for 9-11 style attacks from the air and fire threats • and much more