Executive secrets
Subtitle: covert action and the presidency
By: William J. Daugherty ; foreword by Mark Bowden.
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Lexington
Language: eng
Number of pages: 298
Subjects: United States. Central Intelligence Agency.; Intelligence service -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; Presidents -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; Espionage -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; United States -- Foreign relations -- 1945-1989.; United States -- Foreign relations -- 1989-
Description: "In Executive Secrets, Covert Action and the Presidency, William J. Daugherty, a seventeen-year veteran operations officer with the C.I.A., explains the nature of the intelligence discipline of covert action and presidential decision making processes since World War II. By examining the agency's history in this way, he establishes and clarifies the role of covert action as a necessary tool of presidential statecraft." "Citing congressional investigations, recently declassified documents, and his own experiences in covert action policy and oversight, Daugherty demonstrates that the C.I.A.'s covert programs were initiated by the president. In addition to explaining how covert programs transform presidential foreign policy into reality, he details how each president conducted the approval, oversight, and review processes for covert action and examines specific instances in which U.S. presidents have expressly directed C.I.A. covert action programs to suit their broader policy objectives." "Daugherty's first tour with the C.I.A. was in Iran, where he was one of fifty-two Americans held hostage for 444 days during the Carter administration. Combining inside perspectives with objectivity in judging the true nature and scope of C.I.A. covert actions during the last half century, Daugherty reveals an agency whose essential functions are necessary in a complex and dangerous modern world."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [257]-275) and index.
Table of contents: title: The role of covert action in intelligence and foreign policy; title: The "romances" of covert action; title: Covert action policy and pitfalls; title: The military and peacetime covert action; title: The discipline of covert action; title: Approval and review of covert action programs in the modern era; title: Harry S. Truman; title: Dwight D. Eisenhower; title: John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson; title: Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford; title: Jimmy Carter; title: Ronald W. Reagan; title: George H.W. Bush and William J. Clinton; title: Conclusion.