The Presidents Daily Brief

Michael S. Berger INTL 303 Professor Cooke 03/15/2014

THE PRESIDENTS DAILY BRIEF: The President’s Most Important Document, How it’s Built, Who Reads It, Who Cares!

Michael S. Berger

The Presidents Daily Brief: The Presidents Most Important Document, How it’s Built, Who Reads It, Who Cares!

Michael S. Berger INTL 303 Professor Cooke 03/15/2014

INTRODUCTION: The President of the United States of America, the world’s most powerful man. Knowledge is power, and Power is knowledge, and our countries Commander in Chief has both, but how does he get it? One of the ways the President stays informed about events that take place globally is through the Presidents Daily Brief (PDB). The very first PDB was presented on February 15, 1946 to then President Harry S. Truman. Truman wrote in his memoirs that “Here, at last, a coordinated method had been worked out, and a practical way had been found for keeping the President informed as to what was known and what was going on…” The PDB is characterized as “the most highly sensitized classified document in the government.” as stated by former White House Press Secretary. Presidents Daily Briefing, the most important culmination of National Intelligence the President receives on a daily basis.

THE PDB, HOW IT’S BUILT, AND WHO BUILDS IT: The Daily Brief is compiled every day, with a briefing provided to the President and a few select senior members of his cabinet every day except Sundays. The briefing is produced and compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency, and is the responsibility of the Director of National Intelligence. It is a combination of fused intelligence from the CIA, DIA, NSA, and NGA. The process normally begins 24 hours prior to the actual information being briefed to the President. It starts the morning prior with a meeting at the CIA with the staff who will be putting the briefing together. They discuss the subjects to be addressed in the PDB, which normally contain the hot topics of the day, or...