Undaunted summary

Brennan departed for Cairo on September 15, 1975. He quickly became enthralled by the city’s intoxicating atmosphere, the dramatic backdrop of the pyramids, and the towering Sphinx. As well as the famous sights, he also fell in love with the Egyptian people, who were unfailingly welcoming and kind.

During his time in Cairo, Brennan began to learn Arabic. He also visited Jerusalem and the West Bank, a thrilling but humbling experience. He had to return to America only a few short months later –⁠ but this was not his last experience of the Middle East. In fact, his career would lead him back there soon.

Early on in his tenure at the CIA, Brennan became well acquainted with the sacrifices the agency required. Long hours, extreme secrecy, and an erratic schedule all took their toll.

These challenges affected not only Brennan but also his wife, Kathy. In spring 1982, Brennan was selected to serve a two-year rotation as a political officer at the US embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. For Kathy, there were considerable drawbacks to living in the Middle East’s most socially conservative country –⁠ like the fact that she wouldn’t legally be allowed to drive. Even so, she agreed to accompany John. 

George Tenet was a boisterous, jovial, and wise-cracking individual who served as the CIA’s deputy director and then director between 1995 and 2004. He was nicknamed the “space invader” due to his propensity to get a bit too up-close-and-personal during conversations. Not long after their first meeting, Tenet selected Brennan as his executive assistant. Later, in 1999, Tenet made him chief of staff. It was while in this challenging position that Brennan witnessed one of the greatest tragedies in modern American history.

The date of September 11, 2001, is etched into the collective consciousness of America. It was the day that a plane hijacked by radical Islamist terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center, reducing the towers to rubble and killing thousands. The tragedy also transformed the CIA.

In late January 2008, Brennan was serving as president and CEO of an intelligence analysis firm called The Analysis Corporation. That particular month, he was visiting Dubai for a board meeting when he turned on CNN. It was broadcasting a speech by Barack Obama, who had just won the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary. Obama’s eloquent, inspiring rhetoric articulated a hopeful dream for America’s future.

Brennan had never registered as a Democrat or a Republican, and he’d voted for candidates of both parties over the years. However, after hearing that speech, Brennan decided to get involved with Obama’s campaign.

As Obama’s principal homeland security and counterterrorism advisor, Brennan was suddenly faced with a host of unfamiliar responsibilities. Though he had considerable knowledge of counterterrorism, he had never been on the policy side of discussions. And homeland security was a different ballgame entirely. Early in the administration, Brennan had to step up to help tackle new issues like the H1N1 flu pandemic.

He was also responsible for liaising between Obama and the intelligence community regarding lethal strikes. Because unpiloted military drones were so destructive, the president personally approved any strikes against terrorist targets outside of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama’s first term as president was slowly drawing to a close, and Brennan was beginning to make plans to leave government service. He was fairly confident that Obama would be reelected, so he was in no rush to head out the door. Yet it seemed to him that the beginning of a second term for Obama was a good time to leave. He had spent four years in the White House on top of his previous 25 years at the CIA, and he was ready for a break.

But that wasn’t to be. Two days after Obama was reelected, the FBI announced that the CIA director, David Petraeus, was under active investigation. After the announcement, Petraeus resigned, leaving open the position of CIA director. On January 7, 2013, President Obama nominated Brennan.

The CIA’s RDI program, with its controversial “enhanced interrogation techniques,” had ceased long before Brennan became the agency’s director. Even so, Democrats, including President Obama, continued to criticize it strongly. Obama publicly referred to CIA practices as “torture,” much to Brennan’s chagrin. Additionally, two days after his inauguration in 2009, Obama had signed an executive order to end the program.

Despite Obama’s actions, Democrats weren’t satisfied. In part, they were genuinely outraged over what they saw as human rights violations. But that wasn’t all. They also had partisan concerns in mind and wanted to score political points by dragging the Republican Bush administration through the mud.

Brennan’s first visit to Russia as CIA director was in June 2013. While in Moscow, he had the opportunity to meet Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, or FSB – the successor organization to the KGB. It has a well-deserved reputation for obeying the Kremlin’s every order,⁠ even when it asks them to commit murder and torture.

Bortnikov was affable and relaxed, and he greeted Brennan with a smile. However, Brennan didn’t return the pleasant welcome. At the meeting, Brennan delivered a stern rebuke of the FSB’s transgressions, which included, among other offenses, the physical assault of Americans in Russia. In response, Bortnikov tried to lessen the tension with a grin and an admission that some of his officers may have gotten “carried away,” as he put it, in the course of their duties. This was Bortnikov’s typical demeanor in all their subsequent meetings.

After first learning about Russia’s interference in the election, Brennan began consuming everything he could get his hands on about what the Kremlin had been up to. He and his deputy quickly came to an agreement that the threat was serious –⁠ they needed to brief the president.

The CIA, FBI, and NSA pulled together a joint team to coordinate their intelligence, cross-check information, and develop a comprehensive understanding of the situation. They also discussed whether the USA should hit Russia back with a cyber attack of its own.