For the president's eyes only : secret intelligence and the American presidency from Washington to Bush

From the co-author of KGB; The Inside Story & an acknowledged authority on the subject comes "the most important book ever written about American intelligence."--David Kahn, author of The Codebreakers & Hitler's Spies Abbreviations & Acroanyms Used in the Text Introduction: the president ^ intelligence From George Washington to the 20th century The 1st World War & after: from Woodrow Wilson to Herbert Hoover Franklin D. Roosevelt: the path to Pearl Harbor Roosevelt at war (1941-1945) Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974) Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977) Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) George Bush (1989-1993) Conclusion: intelligence after the Cold War Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography For the President's Eyes Only is the first book to show how the presidency both transformed and was transformed by the workings of U.S. intelligence - frequently a difficult experience for each. In Andrew's judgment only four presidents proved equal to the challenge: Washington and Eisenhower, two former career soldiers; Kennedy (briefly); and Bush. Many others ignored intelligence, mistrusted it, misused it, or were unbelievably naive about it. Among the most naive were Woodrow Wilson and his aides, who, Andrew shows, were fooled by British intelligence operations designed to hasten American entry into World War I. Franklin Roosevelt was similarly taken in at the start of World War II. Andrew explains how code-breaking and signals intelligence (SIGINT), begun during Wilson's presidency, gradually became what George Bush later called "a prime factor" in U.S. foreign policy. Roosevelt, however, lacked Winston Churchill's passion for and understanding of SIGINT; the incompetence of his handling of it contributed to the disaster at Pearl Harbor. Initially FDR was more interested in amateur espionage by his wealthy friends than in the remarkable achievements of American codebreakers. He was, however, later responsible for the creation of the Office of Strategic Services, the first professional U.S. foreign intelligence agency. Despite Harry Truman's later, unconvincing attempts to disclaim all responsibility for "cloak-and-dagger" operations, his administration - which saw the founding of the Central Intelligence Agency, the less-well-known National Security Agency, and a top-secret SIGINT alliance with Great Britain - did more than any other to shape the post-war intelligence community. Ike's most important contribution, Andrew argues, was to sponsor a revolution in imagery intelligence (IMINT) by spy plane and satellite, which changed the history of the Cold War. Kennedy recovered from the early fiasco at the Bay of Pigs, which owed much to his inexperience, to m Contents 7 Abbreviations and Acronyms Used in the Text 9 Introduction: The President and Intelligence 13 1. From George Washington to the Twentieth Century 18 2. The First World War and After: From Woodrow Wilson to Herbert Hoover 42 3. Franklin D. Roosevelt: The Path to Pearl Harbor 87 4. Roosevelt at War (1941-1945) 135 5. Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) 161 6. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) 211 7. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) 269 8. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) 319 9. Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974) 378 10. Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977) 425 11. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) 453 12. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) 485 13. George Bush (1989-1993) 531 Conclusion: Intelligence After the Cold War 565 Notes 573 Abbreviations Used in the Notes 573 Introduction: The President and Intelligence 574 Chapter 1: From George Washington to the Twentieth Century 574 Chapter 2: The First World War and After: 578 Chapter 3: Franklin D. Roosevelt: The Path to Pearl Harbor 585 Chapter 4: Roosevelt at War (1941-1945) 593 Chapter 5: Harry S. TYuman (1945-1953) 596 Chapter 6: Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) 604 Chapter 7: John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) 610 Chapter 8: Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) 618 Chapter 9: Richard M. Nixon: (1969-1974) 625 Chapter 10: Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977) 631 Chapter 11: Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) 635 Chapter 12: Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) 640 Chapter 13: George Bush (1989-1993) 648 Conclusion: Intelligence After the Cold War 653 Bibliography 655 Index 675