Facts and fears hard truths from a life in intelligence
"The former Director of National Intelligence's candid and compelling account of the intelligence community's successes--and failures--in facing some of the greatest threats to America. When he stepped down in January 2017 as the fourth United States director of national intelligence,...
| Main Authors: | Clapper, James R. 1941- (Author), Brown, Trey (Speechwriter) (Author) |
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| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York, New York :
Viking,
[2018]
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: |
"The former Director of National Intelligence's candid and compelling account of the intelligence community's successes--and failures--in facing some of the greatest threats to America. When he stepped down in January 2017 as the fourth United States director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper had been President Obama's senior intelligence adviser for six and a half years, longer than his three predecessors combined. He led the U.S. intelligence community through a period that included the raid on Osama bin Laden, the Benghazi attack, the leaks of Edward Snowden, and Russia's influence operation during the 2016 U.S. election campaign. In [this book], Clapper traces his career through the growing threat of cyberattacks, his relationships with presidents and Congress, and the truth about Russia's role in the presidential election. He describes, in the wake of Snowden and WikiLeaks, his efforts to make intelligence more transparent and to push back against the suspicion that Americans' private lives are subject to surveillance. Finally, it was living through Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and seeing how the foundations of American democracy were--and continue to be--undermined by a foreign power that led him to break with his instincts honed through more than five decades in the intelligence profession to share his inside experience. Clapper considers such controversial questions as, Is intelligence ethical? Is it moral to intercept communications or to photograph closed societies from orbit? What are the limits of what we should be allowed to do? What protections should we give to the private citizens of the world, not to mention our fellow Americans? Are there times when intelligence officers can lose credibility as unbiased reporters of hard truths by inserting themselves into policy decisions? Facts and Fears offers a privileged look inside the U.S. intelligence community and, with the frankness and professionalism for which James Clapper is known, addresses some of the most difficult challenges in our nation's history."--Dust jacket. |
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| Item Description: |
Includes index. |
| Physical Description: |
424 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| ISBN: |
9780525558644 0525558640 |
| Author Notes: |
James Robert Clapper Jr. is a retired lieutenant general in the U.S. Air Force. He has held several positions within the United States Intelligence Community such as: serving as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1992-1995 and director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency from 2001-2006. On June 5, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Clapper to replace Dennis C. Blair as United States Director of National Intelligence. Clapper was unanimously confirmed by the Senate for the position on August 5, 2010. Clapper was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1941. He graduated from Nurnberg American High School in West Germany. He then went on to earn a bachelor of science degree in political science from the University of Maryland in 1963 and a master of science degree in political science from St. Mary's University, Texas in 1970. He later attended Air Command and Staff College in 1975 and then to Harvard Defense Policy Seminar at Harvard University in 1990. He started writing about his military experiences and in 2018 his book Facts and Fears made the bestseller list. (Bowker Author Biography) |