ABSTRACT
The most important intelligence publication in the world, The President's Daily Brief (PDB), was the fifth daily publication designed for the President of the United States. President Truman began the series with his Daily Summary (1946–1951), and this was replaced by the Current Intelligence Bulletin (1951–1958), Central Intelligence Bulletin (1958–1961), and the President's Intelligence Checklist (1961–1964). The last is notable for its focus on the interests of the president in addition to Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) opinion of what intelligence merited delivery to the president. The Checklist was also different from its predecessors for its inclusiveness—COMINT, for example, had been excluded from previous publications. Finally, the president had a single daily that contained intelligence from all collection systems. CIA from the start limited the Checklist to individuals expressly authorized by President Kennedy. After President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, the new President, Lyndon Johnson, received the Checklist for the first time. The Checklist continued to be delivered to Johnson until late in 1964 when a revamped daily was unveiled. The PDB was warmly received by Johnson. For the next six administrations, the PDB was delivered daily to the White House, and to an evolving number of senior Executive Branch officials. During the transition from the Clinton to the George W. Bush administration, the name was slightly modified to reflect the breadth of material provided each morning. The new name was The President's Daily Briefing. The “book” today is joined by individual reports, analytic papers, memorandums, maps, and any other items deemed appropriate. Soon, much, if not all, of the material for the president's intelligence briefing will be provided to the president electronically on tablet computers.
