Presidents' secrets: the use and abuse of hidden power

Introduction

The constitutional convention: The president's limited power

George Washington: A culture of openness

Woodrow Wilson: A foundation for secret government

Harry Truman: Institutional secrecy

Lyndon Johnson: Stealth attacks on openness

Gerald Ford: A time of reckoning

George W. Bush: A test of the limits

Barack Obama: A twenty-first-century bargain?

Conclusion.