Summary of David Priess's The President's Book of Secrets is a journalistic examination of the history of the President's Daily Brief (PDB), a short, top-secret summary of the most important intelligence delivered to the president of the United States each day. The PDB is a document with some of the tightest access controls in the world.

Prior to Harry Truman's presidency, presidents generally were not the primary intended audience of intelligence analysis and they tended to limit intelligence collection operations even during World War I. The production of analysis for audiences outside the Central Intelligence Agency's predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services, began with Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration during World War II. When Roosevelt died in office, Truman assumed the presidency. Truman struggled to overcome a significant gap in his understanding of national security intelligence and US development of atomic bombs. Truman founded the Central Intelligence Group and hired the first director of central intelligence...