Who are the oddest VIPs to receive the exclusive President’s Daily Brief? When a fan asked former PDB briefer-turned-author David Priess, his surreal list ranged from Vladimir Putin to one guest who wasn’t even human.
The President's Daily Brief, PDB, or simply ‘the Book’, is a classified snapshot of global intelligence delivered by the CIA each day to the President, Cabinet Secretaries, and advisors. Every leader's approach is unique Richard Nixon skimmed his in moments. H. W. Bush savored the book’s insights. Barack Obama wanted his PDB in electronic format.
It’s the most secretive, exclusive intelligence briefing in the world but it's shared far beyond US presidents - too far, some might say. Priess shared some of the Oval Office PDB secrets with his X followers:
PDB Secrets
The PDB has been presented in one form or another since 1946 when President Harry S. Truman received the Presidential Daily Summary. President Lyndon Johnson updated it to the Presidential Daily Brief in 1964. Over the years, the PDB has expanded and changed shape. While traditionally it has been on paper, Barack Obama read the PDB on his iPad. The list of recipients - generally thought to be POTUS and his tight circle - has also morphed in size and shape over the years.
Lyndon Johnson & Bill Moyers
President Lyndon Johnson decided to share the PDB with - among others - his Press Secretary Bill Moyers. “Not that it should've been a surprise,” Priess tweets dryly. “President Johnson, after all, had let this little human *WHO HAD NO SECURITY CLEARANCE* look at the highly sensitive content of the most exclusive publication in the world.”
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Who are the oddest VIPs to receive the exclusive President’s Daily Brief? When a fan asked former PDB briefer-turned-author David Priess, his surreal list ranged from Vladimir Putin to one guest who wasn’t even human.
The President's Daily Brief, PDB, or simply ‘the Book’, is a classified snapshot of global intelligence delivered by the CIA each day to the President, Cabinet Secretaries, and advisors. Every leader's approach is unique Richard Nixon skimmed his in moments. H. W. Bush savored the book’s insights. Barack Obama wanted his PDB in electronic format.
It’s the most secretive, exclusive intelligence briefing in the world but it's shared far beyond US presidents - too far, some might say. Priess shared some of the Oval Office PDB secrets with his X followers:
PDB Secrets
The PDB has been presented in one form or another since 1946 when President Harry S. Truman received the Presidential Daily Summary. President Lyndon Johnson updated it to the Presidential Daily Brief in 1964. Over the years, the PDB has expanded and changed shape. While traditionally it has been on paper, Barack Obama read the PDB on his iPad. The list of recipients - generally thought to be POTUS and his tight circle - has also morphed in size and shape over the years.
Lyndon Johnson & Bill Moyers
President Lyndon Johnson decided to share the PDB with - among others - his Press Secretary Bill Moyers. “Not that it should've been a surprise,” Priess tweets dryly. “President Johnson, after all, had let this little human *WHO HAD NO SECURITY CLEARANCE* look at the highly sensitive content of the most exclusive publication in the world.”
President Ronald Reagan shared his intel with Edwin Meese, the 75th US Attorney General who resigned in 1988 amid accusations of financial impropriety in the Wedtech scandal. “Meese - in theory, not a person serving in a core national security policy position - also received the PDB,” Priess notes.
George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin
Two decades later, President George W. Bush invited a special guest into a well-prepared PDB session: Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader couldn’t resist telling another PDB attendee, CIA Director George Tenet, that Russia has a similar book, Priess recalled. Tenet quickly replied, "Well, we'd love to see it!"
Barack Obama
It seems President Barack Obama liked to spread the word as well. By 2013, Obama was allowing more than 30 people to see the classified PDB, including Ben Rhodes, his former deputy national security advisor for strategic communications and speechwriting. "Not a typical recipient," Priess said.
Donald Trump and Jared Kushner
During Trump's presidency, senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner had access to the PDB - even though officials initially rejected Kushner for top-secret security clearance. They were overruled. A former senior official, referring to the PDB, told the New Yorker: “It got out of control. Everybody thought it was cool. They wanted to be cool."
Gerald Ford and Liberty
And if the examples above aren’t bizarre enough, Priess notes that President Gerald Ford and Liberty, his Golden Retriever, once attended a President's Daily Brief session together. Alas, Liberty was expelled. Her tail wag rattled the president's pipe rack, ensuring she was banned. For one epic moment though, Priess notes, "She achieved immortality."
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