The President's Daily Brief PDB

After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961, President John Kennedy wanted a concise daily summary of intelligence, and the CIA began producing the President's Intelligence Checklist on June 17, 1961. It became the President's Daily Brief in December 1964 under Lyndon Johnson. Since 2005 the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has been responsible for the brief, drawing on analysts from the CIA and other intelligence agencies, with the CIA still doing much of the work.

The PDB is tailored to each President's interests and style. Some presidents read it on paper each morning, others receive it in person from intelligence briefers who answer questions, and since 2014 it has been delivered on secure tablets. It covers threats, foreign developments, and assessments of world leaders, and it is among the most closely held documents in the government, shared with the Vice President, the National Security Advisor, and a small number of other senior officials. Presidents-elect begin receiving it after the election.

Few PDBs have been released, but the brief of August 6, 2001, titled in part Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US, was declassified in 2004 during the 9/11 Commission's inquiry and became a focus of debate over intelligence warnings before the attacks. Former presidents have traditionally been offered intelligence briefings as a courtesy, but that access was revoked by the sitting President in 2021 and again in 2025. Supporters say the PDB gives the President the best available intelligence every day, while critics have questioned whether its secrecy and brevity encourage oversimplified judgments.