Privileged and Confidential: The Secret History of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board

“” Privileged and Confidential shines the spotlight for the first time on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. The board is a little-known but influential part of the U.S. intelligence community that, at its best, helps transform and unite the various intelligence community constituents into a more effective tool for presidents. This highly informative and readable book is essential reading for anyone interested in the past or, more important, the future of U.S. intelligence.”–President George H. W. Bush” —

“” Privileged and Confidential is an insightful and interesting read. This book will serve as the cornerstone and benchmark of this history. — Smauel Cooper-Wall” —

“” Privileged and Confidential is a significant contribution to the literature on the U.S. intelligence community and U.S. foreign policy. It will be viewed as the definitive work on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.” — James Wirtz, Dean, Naval Postgraduate School” —

“” Prviledged and Confidential fills a large gap in our understanding about how presidents and their cabinet colleagues acquire information about dangers to U.S. security. The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board has been a significant, if uneven, source of counsel. Finally, we have a study–well written and well researched–that explains its role over the years. This work is an important addition to every library on intelligence studies, and it will find an appreciative audience as well among a broader community of security students, established scholars, and citizens interested in how the United States attempts to protect itself against foreign and domestic threats.”–Loch Johnson, Regents Professor of International Affairs, The University of Georgia” —

Kenneth Michael Absher, a retired senior CIA operations officer, is a fellow with the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University and the author of Mind-Sets and Missiles: A First Hand Account of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Michael C. Desch, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, is the author of Civilian Control of the Military: The Changing Security Environment.

Roman Popadiuk served as the first U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine in 1992-1993. He is a retired member of the career Senior Foreign Service.