THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP95M00249R000801110024-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 7, 2012
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: March 7, 1980
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/12/07: CIA-RDP95M00249R000801110024-5
OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
March 7, 1980
MEMORANDUM FOR THE EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE
DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
SUBJECT: The President's Daily Brief
I appreciate your inviting my views on the daily intelligence
prepared for the President. Nationally and internationally,
the President of the United States is seen as having the best
intelligence network in the world -- the President of the
United States is seen as having a unique, continuing flow of
the most sensitive information on all important subjects --
and, in turn, because of such intelligence he is seen as being
better able to take the best, most carefully considered decisions.
The President's Daily Brief is the principal conveyor of this
information. At the start of each day, it should provide the
President with a unique window on the world, his daily
tour d'horizon. The PDB must be a unique document. It
should be the showpiece, substantively speaking, of U.S.
intelligence - of the breadth, the accuracy and the ability
of CIA to be of valuable service to the nation. Do not forget
that the President's impression of the competence of his
intelligence service must be importantly influenced - either
positively or negatively - by the PDB; he has daily exposure
to this document.
The President wants to turn to the PDB each morning for his
immersion into key developments around the world. He does so
each morning having read the most brilliant unclassified PDB
in the world - The New York Times - having followed the
network broadcasts of the morning and the preceding evening,
having read the White House's digest of national and inter-
national news, and having had occasion already in the day to
talk with members of his staff and of his Cabinet on develop-
ments of importance. The PDB should provide the authoritative
:EiP7'EYES ONLY
CLASSIFIED BY A. DENIS CLIFT
REVIEW ON MARCH 7, 2000
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foundation of information -- alerts, status reports, signifi-
cant intelligence being received from the most sensitive covert
sources, signals being given or possibly being given by foreign
individuals, entities, organizations or governments, activities
of noteworthy foreign leaders. The President wishes to treat
the PDB as the most important document he regularly reads.
The President's favorable disposition toward the PDB, the
documents daily luxury of access to the President and the
document's unique character impose a responsibility of the
highest order on the CIA.
Factors to be considered in shaping the production of a
President's Daily Brief that successfully accomplishes its
mission:
The PDB should be a professional product, clearly
reflecting that the CIA knows what it is doing -- and
that the U.S. intelligence service has the best pos-
sible gauge on what is happening around the world.
If the PDB is to accomplish its objective, much hard
work is going to be required by CIA both on the
collection and the analytical sides of the Agency,
and hard attention is going to have to be given to
refinement of intelligence received and preparation
by a CIA production management team of each day's
brief. Tasking to stations around the world should
have the PDB in mind, although the collector need
not know, probably should not know, that the PDB may
be the "consumer" of his reporting. If the Agency
is working worldwide to produce the information it
requires to provide the President with a professional
daily brief, the Agency is at the same time "humming,"
functioning effectively in a way that serves myriad
U.S. intelligence requirements and objectives.
The PDB is a brief. To do its job effectively it
need not and should not be a clumsy, lengthy document.
One good paragraph for most issues, two-to-three para-
graphs at the outside should be the guide for presenta-
tion. The President should be provided with the key
information. If the President wants more information
on any item, he will ask for it. On certain PDB items,
the Agency might wish to include a parenthetical
"Fuller report available, satellite photographs
available, text of intercept available, etc."
The PDB should systematically cover the world each
day. If there is an Alert, the PDB should open with
that Alert - again, no more than one or two paragraphs.
SECRET/EYES ONLY
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The PDB should each day cover the USSR and Warsaw
Pact nations, and developments within each of the
world's major geographical regions - e.g., North Asia/
PRC, IndoChina/ASEAN/ANZUS, subcontinent/Southwest
Asia, Middle East, Africa, Western Europe/Canada &
Caribbean/Central America/South America. The daily
table of contents should not seem ad hoc, it should
not omit up to 90% of the world excluding oceans two
days out of six. There is too much going on in the
world, information of importance to the President,
for such omissions. The PDB should not become a
bureaucratic slave to format in this process. The
top level of CIA has a major responsibility here.
Every item in the PDB should be there because sub-
stantively it warrants the President's attention.
The rule of thumb should be that the DCI would want
personally to brief the President on each item included
in each PDB -- no filler that the DCI could not justify
if asked by the President.
The top levels of CIA have to keep in mind that they
are dealing with a President who regularly takes
actions keyed to significant international developments,
a President who is in frequent personal, written and
telephonic contact with foreign leaders, a President
who as a matter of central and continuing importance
wishes to shape international events in a way that
best serves U.S. interests. What additionally can
the PDB provide that will be of assistance to the
President, perhaps a single page at the beginning
and in the middle of each week that lists key inter-
national events and meetings, e.g.:
Giscard and Schmidt to meet in Paris,
Zimbabwe officially becomes independent this
Friday,
-- UNHCR arrives in Kampuchea Thursday, etc.
an informal calendar, a memory aid. Perhaps the PDB
can add a brief section once or twice a week letting
the President know what leaders -- friend and foe --
are doing abroad, e.g.:
USSR: Brezhnev spending upcoming week in Yalta,
receiving various Pact leaders.
SECRET/EYES ONLY
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UK: Prime Minister Thatcher enters heavy week
Ti Parliament budget debate, she continues to
grapple with steel strike.
NATO: Luns travelling to Turkey and Greece to
mediate,
etc., etc.
These are leaders the President is dealing with or
taking into account as he shapes and implements policy.
The list should be organized routinely by region and
include 20 or more top foreign leaders.
The PDB should reflect the pride and competence of
the CIA. It should be lean, to the point. It should
include good graphics where they help present the
necessary information -- satellite photography, other
photography, good maps, the reproduction of the front
page of a foreign newspaper if that paper is presenting
major pro- or anti-U.S. coverage of significance -- no
need for anything fancy, no pullouts, coupons or
scented pages, there should be a real intelligence
reason for the inclusion of every written and graphic
element. The PDB cannot be shaped by "what's available"
from the lower levels of the Agency. It must be
"driven" by a 100% top level effort day after day,
week after week. Professional editorial skill of the
highest caliber must be wedded to intelligence collec-
tion, analysis and dissemination of the highest caliber.
Denis Clift
Assistant to the
Vice President for
National Security Affairs
SECRET/EYES ONLY
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/12/07: CIA-RDP95M00249R000801110024-5