CIA Releases Collection of Presidential Briefing Documents from 1961 to 1969

Today at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library at the University of Texas, the CIA released a trove of presidential briefs that were delivered to both Presidents John F. Kennedy and LBJ from 1961 to 1969. The collection includes over 2,500 documents exclusively prepared for the president each day. The Wall Street Journal carries a round-up of what's included in the documents, noting that they contain information on the Cuban missile crisis, the formation of the Berlin Wall, and the build up of American forces in Vietnam.

The CIA released also released the following statement:

The CIA’s Historical Review Program on 16 September 2015 released a collection of presidential briefing products written during the Kennedy and Johnson presidential administrations. This large-scale release of The President’s Intelligence Checklists (PICLs) [an acronym pronounced “pickles”] and The President’s Daily Briefs (PDBs) includes almost 2,500 documents exclusively written for the president each day except Sunday. They summarized the day-to-day intelligence and analysis on current and future national security issues. President Kennedy received the first PICL -- a seven-page 8 ½- by 8-inch booklet -- on Saturday, 17 June 1961 at his country home near Middleburg, Virginia. The PICL was replaced by the PDB on 1 December 1964, during the Johnson administration. In addition to the PDBs and PICLs, the collection includes The President’s Intelligence Review and its replacement, Highlights of the Week, as well as ad hoc supplemental products and annexes that featured topics of presidential interest. The CIA originators of the PICL, and later the PDB, strove to craft a daily current product that was true to sensitive source reporting and yet was easily readable by the president and his advisors.