Getting To Know the President: Intelligence Briefings of Presidential Candidates, 1952-2004

This second edition of Getting To Know the President by John Helgerson makes a singular contribution to the literature of intelligence by describing this important process of information sharing between the Intelligence Community (IC) and the Chief Executive, the President of the United States, starting as a presidential candidate. Since 1952, the CIA, and now the Intelligence Community as a whole, has provided presidential candidates and presidents-elect with intelligence briefings during their campaigns and transitions. These briefings have helped presidents be as well informed as possible on international developments from the day they take office.

First published in 1996 and now revised and updated to include accounts of intelligence support to candidates and presidents-elect in the three elections between then and 2004, Helgerson’s study provides unique insights into the mechanics and content of the briefings, the interaction of the participants, and the briefings’ effect on the relationships presidents have had with their intelligence services. His observations on how and what to brief during the campaign and transition periods are essential reading for members of the community charged with that responsibility in the future and seeking to learn from the best practices of their predecessors.

Related products:

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Table of Contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Foreword to First Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CHAPTER 1: Truman and Eisenhower: Launching the Process . . . . . . . . . . 7
Strained Relations Complicate the Arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Preelection Briefings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Support to the President-Elect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The New President as an Intelligence Consumer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Briefing Governor Stevenson in 1952 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The Challenger Briefed Again in 1956 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

CHAPTER 2: Into Politics with Kennedy and Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
The Presidential Debates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Preelection Briefings: What Really Was Discussed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The Missile Gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Postelection Briefing on Cuba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Other Covert Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
The Mystery Briefing of Late November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Kennedy Visits the CIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Origins of the President’s Intelligence Checklist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Transition to President Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Evolution to the President’s Daily Brief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

CHAPTER 3: Nixon and Ford - Uneven Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Supporting Nixon’s Team in New York City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
The Key Player: Henry Kissinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Nixon Remains Aloof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
A Closer Relationship With Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Discussing Operations and Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Political Problems Undermine the Briefing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

CHAPTER 4: In-Depth Discussions with Carter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Extended Preelection Briefings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Operational and Political Issues Arise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Carter’s Use of the President’s Daily Brief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

CHAPTER 5: Reagan and Bush - A Study in Contrasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Postelection Briefings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
A Higher Level of Daily Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
After the Inauguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
The Transition to President Bush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

CHAPTER 6: Briefing Governor Clinton in Little Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
The DCI Visits Little Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Establishing a “Permanent” Presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Substance of Discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Other Opportunities To Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Great Support Made It Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
What Was Accomplished . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

CHAPTER 7: George W. Bush: Demanding Consumer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
The Presidential Debates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Postelection Briefings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Vice President-elect Cheney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Covert Action Briefing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Strong Supporting Cast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Impact of Austin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
President Bush as a Customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Intelligence and Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Kerry and Edwards Briefed in 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

CHAPTER 8: Concluding Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Patterns of Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
What the Presidents Recommend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Keeping Out of Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
The Arrangements Make a Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Material That Was Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193  

The observations in this book on how and what to brief during the campaign and transition periods are essential reading for members of the Intelligence Community charged with that responsibility in the future.