The President's Daily Brief: The 1 a.m. Wake-Up Call That Rules D.C.

Speaking truth to power is always a challenge but what happens if you are a young millennial briefing a formidable Cabinet Secretary or even the President of the United States? You’ll need to stand your ground confidently - and develop a liking for early mornings while you’re at it.

The PDB contains some of the US's most sensitive information packaged as a daily summary of high-level intel and analysis on national security issues produced for the President, key Cabinet Members, and advisers.

The CIA's PDB briefers are the go-between, connecting the Intelligence Community to high-level decision-makers. Typically, they carry out a one or two-year ‘tour’' in a high-pressure environment. A day-in-the-life posting on the CIA website breaks down the daily routine in intriguing detail.

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1 a.m. Rise and Shine‍

“From the moment that I wake up at 1 a.m., I check my email to see if my PDB customer - a Cabinet Secretary - had any changes to his schedule overnight that could impact which intelligence products I share with him that day,” the self-described ‘millennial’ writes. “I also check to see if my briefing has been delayed in hopes of squeezing in an hour or two of more sleep.”

The upside to arriving at CIA Langley HQ at 2:30 a.m. is that there is no traffic and always a free parking spot. Then, the whirlwind begins.

“What happens once I enter the office is akin to mastering the content of about 20 graduate-level essays on several unrelated foreign policy issues within three hours, and then distilling everything into a 15-minute briefing for one of the most powerful people in Washington,” the briefer said.

Step one is to comb through all of the reporting flagged by analysts across the intelligence community - that’s 18 different US spy agencies - as well as finished intelligence produced in the last 24 hours.

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‍Power Through: Lunch is for Wimps‍

By 4 a.m., having sifted through all of the reports, it’s time to identify which intelligence ‘products’ to share with the ‘customer’ and rehearse the oral briefing. Because briefers generally have analytic expertise in only one or two geographic regions, they may need help mastering content.

By 5 a.m., the authors of the initial intelligence arrive to ‘pre-brief’ the President’s Daily Brief briefers. “It often feels like a study group cramming for a final exam,” the CIA analyst writes.

At precisely 8 a.m., the oral briefing to the executive begins and feedback on each piece of intelligence is exchanged. Follow-up questions are jotted down to answer at the next briefing.

You're not done yet. Don’t even think about curling up on the sofa for a nap. 

By 9:30 a.m., it’s time to regroup at CIA HQ where PDB briefers share feedback from ‘senior customers’, consolidate it, and share it with relevant offices.

From 11 a.m. onward, briefers work with analysts across the Intelligence Community to answer the questions that arose during the morning briefings.

“After a late lunch, I get to go home to be with my family until evening,” the briefer writes. “Then, it is time to sleep.”