This book was inspired by a suggestion from my good friend and literary agent Bill Adler. Ironically, though, the book is nothing like Bill’s original concept. That was for a compendium of true spy stories. With the advent of the events of 9/11, Bill, Hyperion, and I decided that a more substantial look at the state of American intelligence was in order, and that is what this is.
Gretchen Young of Hyperion offered invaluable advice along the way. Jim Wade was a most useful editor as we came down the home stretch.
My close friends and longtime associates in the Navy and the CIA, George Thibault and Charles Battaglia, provided absolutely invaluable advice on the substance of the book and on editing it.
Because the book deals so much in the personalities of presidents and chiefs of intelligence, it was most important for me to be able to view those people through the eyes of others who knew them well. I am intensely grateful to many individuals for granting me the interviews that enabled me to do that. These were:
Former presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in person; George H. W. Bush by correspondence; and Dwight Eisenhower in the person of his son John.
Former Directors of Central Intelligence James Schlesinger, William Webster, Robert Gates, James Woolsey, John Deutch, and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Bobby Inman.
Former Secretary of Defense Harold Brown.
Former Assistants to the President for National Security Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Former members of the OSS Fisher Howe and Ned Putzell.
Former CIA historian J. Kenneth McDonald.
Executive Director of the International Spy Museum and former member of the CIA Peter Earnest.
Experts and writers on intelligence David Kahn and Robert Dallek.
Finally, the support, advice and encouragement of my executive assistant, Pat Moynihan, was both unstinting and essential.
All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are mine and do not reflect the official positions or views of the CIA or any other U.S. government agency. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. government authentication of information or Central Intelligence Agency endorsement of the author’s views. This material has been reviewed by the CIA only to prevent the disclosure of classified information.