Historians are usually uncomfortable with the word ‘unprecedented’ for a few reasons. First, almost every development has historical drivers and antecedents that help explain the timing and manner of its emergence. Indeed, as historians often note, history is contingent on a multitude of interconnected linkages that build on or interact with what has come before. Some linkages are causal, others merely correlate–and discerning the difference is key for analysis and interpretation of the past. In all things, however, history is continuous, not episodic. Although this history of the CIA has been divided up into chapters for convenience and readability, it is worth remembering these points. Second, in our contemporary societal condition of what Christopher Andrew has termed ‘Historical Attention Span Deficit Disorder’, many things are labelled ‘unprecedented’ only because the commenter did not bother to look to the past for reference. As we have tried to show, certain developments and circumstances in the history of the CIA have rhyming forebears. Still, some initially promising historical parallels from a distance become more mirage than oasis upon closer inspection, leading to a judgement that certain developments are actually unprecedented, even in considered historical perspective. Such is, in fact, the relationship between President Donald Trump and the CIA.

On 20 January 2017, Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States and the US intelligence community received a new and very unusual First Customer. There can be little doubt that following a nasty campaign, generally accepted to have been marred by outside intervention, the new president's relationship with the CIA was beset by tension, distrust and even antipathy in some quarters. Many career officials felt it an ominous sign when the President-elect eschewed his daily intelligence briefing, explaining, ‘I don't have to be told–you know, I’m, like, a smart person… . I don't have to be told the same thing and the same words every single day for the next eight years.’ While still the incumbent, President Obama inveighed against this view, making the case that for a president to go without daily analysis from the intelligence community is tantamount to ‘flying blind’.3 Traditionally, certainly, the President’s Daily Brief (PDB) has been a staple for sitting presidents navigating a very dangerous world.