Presidents and the CIA is John Kiriakou’s framing of how different U.S. presidents have related to the agency — some commanding it, others, in his view, led around by it.[1]
George H.W. Bush, who had served as CIA director for only 11 months before becoming president, maintained what Kiriakou calls an ongoing love affair with the agency: he would visit CIA headquarters simply to walk the halls, and staff would spontaneously break into applause at word that “President Bush is walking the halls.”[1] Kiriakou says Richard Nixon likewise had a close relationship with the CIA — one that Kiriakou identifies as one of the factors that brought down his presidency.[2]