David Priess
David Priess served during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations as an intelligence officer, manager of analysts, and daily intelligence briefer at CIA and as a desk officer at the State Department. After September 11, 2001, he delivered the President’s Daily Brief directly to some of the few senior national officials allowed to see it, including FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General John Ashcroft. Priess wrote The President’s Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America’s Presidents, the inside history of the President’s Daily Brief—which included information from interviews with all of the living former presidents and vice presidents as well as dozens of other national security and intelligence leaders. He obtained his PhD in political science from Duke University and has taught classes at Duke, George Mason University, and the George Washington University. Priess now shares insights on national security, intelligence, and presidential politics frequently o
