Executive Secrets

Covert Action & the Presidency

William J. Daugherty

• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780813123349
• eBook ISBN: 9780813137834
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

"Clears up some common misconceptions of the CIA . . . an insider's perspective on how covert action really works, or fails" ( Savannah Morning News).
 
Covert action has been used as an instrument of statecraft by America's leaders since its earliest days. Some presidents have used it wisely, contributing to our success and security. Others have used it poorly, not understanding its limitations and weaknesses, with disastrous results. Surrounded by secrecy as it is, it's not surprising that covert action can provoke confusion, ambivalence, and strong feelings among the citizens of a democracy.
 
Executive Secrets shines a light on the development and execution of foreign policy and the role covert action has played—forging a deeper and more nuanced understanding of both its value and its drawbacks in the ongoing project of keeping the United States safe from its adversaries and respected by its allies.
 
"A most informative study of covert action. . . . A valuable work that will be treasured by scholars and professionals in the field. Highly recommended." — Choice
 
"Daugherty has done us all a tremendous service by attempting to rescue the Agency from the myths, both well-meaning and malevolent, that shape our understanding of it. . . . This book ought to dispel some of the fog that obscures our understanding of the C.I.A. and that prompts the gigantic mood swings in our attitude toward intelligence gathering and covert actions." —Mark Bowden, from the foreword
A History Book Club Selection

INDEX

Acheson, Dean, 115, 127

Afghanistan: and Carter, 188–89

current operations in, 84

and Reagan, 38–39, 71, 189, 195, 205–7

Soviet invasion of, 120, 184, 188, 191

U.S. Congress backing for covert action in, 206

Africa, 51, 52, 95, 154, 156, 198

Angola, 93, 179–80, 209–10

and Eisenhower, 145–46

Ethiopia, 191

and Reagan, 209–10

terrorist acts in against U.S., 219

AIDS virus, Soviet disinformation about, xvii, 77–78, 198, 225n5

Allende, Salvador, 43, 44, 165, 171–73. See also Chile

Alliance for Progress, 156. See also Chile

Al-Qaeda, xix, 219

Angola: different tribes in, 179

and Ford, 93, 178–80

opposition to covert action in, 180

and Reagan, 209–10

anti-Sandinista rebels. See “Contras”

Approval and Review of Special Activities (NSDD-286), 101, 196, 240n20

Arbenz, Jacobo, 127, 133, 138–40

Argentina, and Nicaragua, 203–4, 253n30

Aspin, Les, 102–3

assassination plans: for Allende, 43, 44, 173

for Castro, 146–47, 148, 155–56, 245n4, 247n38, 248n12

under Eisenhower, 132, 145–48, 246–47n34, 247n38

forbidden under Ford administration, 43, 178, 208

under Kennedy, 147–48, 155–56, 233n40, 248n12

for Lumumba, 43, 145–46, 148, 245n4, 246–47n34

myths of CIA carrying out, xvi, 42–45, 78, 157–58, 173, 198, 233nn37, 40

under Nixon, 173

in South Vietnam coup, 43–44, 233n40

for Trujillo, 147, 148, 157–58

ZRRIFLE unit, 147–48

Atlantic Monthly, 76

atomic bomb, 114

Aum Shinrikyo, 86–87

Australian Broadcasting Company, 73

Baker, James, 203

Basic National Security Policy (NSC-162/2), 132–33

Basic Principles of Relations, 174

Batista, Fulgencio, 146

Bay of Pigs operation, 49, 99

aftermath of, 148, 152, 159

beginnings of plan, 146

as complete disaster, 14...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword by Mark Bowden
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• One The Role of Covert Action in Intelligence and Foreign Policy
• Two The “Romances” of Covert Action
• Three Covert Action Policy and Pitfalls
• Four The Military and Peacetime Covert Action
• Five The Discipline of Covert Action
• Six Approval and Review of Covert Action Programs in the Modern Era
• Seven Harry S Truman
• Eight Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Nine John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
• Ten Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford
• Eleven Jimmy Carter
• Twelve Ronald W. Reagan
• Thirteen George H.W. Bush and William J. Clinton
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index