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For the President's Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush. By Christopher Andrew. New York: Harper Collins, 1995. ISBN 0-06-017037-9. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xxii, 660. $30.00.
Having previously written authoritative books on the history of intelligence agencies in Great Britain and the Soviet Union, it is only natural that Christopher Andrew should now turn his attention to U.S. intelligence. Andrew shows how intelligence has been used (and not used) by the presidency, and how dependent its use is on the President's own personality and preferences. Such a personal, practical focus makes Andrew's work actionpacked and more interesting than the plethora of other scholarly books which simply examine the structures and mandates of intelligence agencies.
Andrew moves chronologically through the line of presidents, but apart from Washington and Wilson, there is not too much to report before Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to...