Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency

In "Executive Secrets", William J. Daugherty, a retired senior officer in the Central Intelligence Agency, combines unique inside perspectives with sober objectivity in judging the true nature and scope of C.I.A. covert actions during the last half century. Daugherty cites congressional investigations, declassified documents, and his own experiences in covert action policy and oversight to convincingly demonstrate how the C.I.A.'s covert programs have been conducted at the request of the president since the agency was founded in 1947.