What Top Secret Information does the US President have Access To?

Please forgive me if this sounds stupid or naive, but this is a question that I really do not know the answer to.

Before I begin I must state that I am not from the USA, I am originally from the UK, so that may help me in my quest for an answer and not looking too stupid. The question is this.......

If a person is the present President of the USA, what information can he have access to if he requires it? Can the acting president have access to any Top Secret Information in any form, whether it be from NASA, FBI, CIA, Area 51, Military, or indeed anywhere that has top secret information? Or does the president have to have a very good reason in order have access to any documentation if it is only relevant to whatever dilemma the country is in at that particular time.

I wondered whether one of the perks off the job as president allows you to access particular files of knowledge that you would not ordinarily have the option to have access to.

The main reason I am asking this question is due to a strange dream I had last night, where the US president was kidnapped and interrogated by people demanding information about certain top secret files. Unfortunately I woke up so I don't know how the dream was going to continue, maybe I will go back into the dream tonight and see what the president has to say, or indeed not say.

I don't suppose this has any relevance to my question whatsoever, but the dream was interrupted and I awoke because some guy threw himself backwards off a bridge onto rail tracks in front of an oncoming train.

Look forward to your response.....

Cheers

Davethebear

reply to post by davethebear


I don't think they tell him anything.
I think they just blindfold him and spin him around a few times and see if he can still find the Rose Garden.

www.youtube.com...
not as much as you would think.

I'm not 100% sure but I think I've read that the President has total "run of the house" authorization...at least in theory. On paper, the President is much more powerful than most Prime Ministers, and as sole Commander and Chief he is the official top on every millitary and intelligence command chain.

This is in theory. In practice, the CIA and the military have plenty of secrets and I'd be willing to wager a lot is kept from the President's eyes without him knowing.

The last president who really tried to shine light on the underbelly of the CIA was Kennedy. And one day Kennedy went to Dallas and never returned. Just something to think about.

Seriously though, I guess he is briefed daily on matters of importance to the US and the world. I don't think they tell him anything about UFO's though. I don't think he has the clearance! BTW Is your avatar Ham or Enos?

reply to post by davethebear

There are a good number of levels above Top Secret and no, the President does not have access to all of them. Presidents come and go while National Security is a constant. Consider high ranking Senators that have been there forever, or had been, such as Byrd or Inoye or Thurmond. Being on the right committee gives you access to more than the President sees, for example. There are people behind the scenes for many years, with great power and access but are not elected and once in positions of certain knowledge, are entrenched and basically impossible to "fire". Knowledge is Power and a President comes in for the most part with far less knowledge of what's going on than many others, with a few possible exceptions like Bush Senior, formerly in the CIA, and Eisenhower, as a very high ranking military officer. Of course, since the inception of the CIA after world war 2, the creation of the NSA, DARPA, various military intelligence corps, and many other government agencies, protective of their turf, secrecy has become the power game to play. Black budgets, untraceable funding, "lost" money (think all the bags of cash unaccounted for in Iraq and Afghanistan for example), it's not just power in knowledge but also money. The President is in office for a few years. Remember how Carter and Clinton mentioned exposing UFO information and were then told they were not allowed to know everything? Believe it!

Originally posted by jaxnmarko
reply to post by davethebear

 

There are a good number of levels above Top Secret and no, the President does not have access to all of them. Presidents come and go while National Security is a constant. Consider high ranking Senators that have been there forever, or had been, such as Byrd or Inoye or Thurmond. Being on the right committee gives you access to more than the President sees, for example. There are people behind the scenes for many years, with great power and access but are not elected and once in positions of certain knowledge, are entrenched and basically impossible to "fire". Knowledge is Power and a President comes in for the most part with far less knowledge of what's going on than many others, with a few possible exceptions like Bush Senior, formerly in the CIA, and Eisenhower, as a very high ranking military officer. Of course, since the inception of the CIA after world war 2, the creation of the NSA, DARPA, various military intelligence corps, and many other government agencies, protective of their turf, secrecy has become the power game to play. Black budgets, untraceable funding, "lost" money (think all the bags of cash unaccounted for in Iraq and Afghanistan for example), it's not just power in knowledge but also money. The President is in office for a few years. Remember how Carter and Clinton mentioned exposing UFO information and were then told they were not allowed to know everything? Believe it!

Wow, great answer, brill response...thanks for that, I have learned something today as I normally do here on ATS......

Cheers