Daniel Klaidman

Keeping the peace between a president and his cabinet takes talent.

Actually, it isn't much of a plan—and that's the problem. But who's to blame—Obama or Congress?

The White House gets an unlikely assist from the Tea Party.

How did an amateur pilot turned artsy bookstore owner end up at the pinnacle of the CIA?

Obama's choice to be head of the FBI has an iffy record on surveillance.

Quietly, Obama may be moving ahead.

James Comey is Obama's pick to run the FBI–our front line in the war on terror. But is he too self-righteous for his own good?

Five years later, Guantánamo remains open. It is the president's biggest failure. Now he tries to close it—again.

Can Obama ever close Guantánamo?

When the invasion began, newsrooms around the world faced awful decisions about whether to put their reporters in harm's way for the truth.

Did a fine general really deserve such public humiliation?

He seen as a hawk who supports torture and drone strikes, but the president's nominee is far more nuanced.

Why Obama wanted an 
improbable fellow traveler at the pentagon.

Covering 9/11, journalists found a renewed sense of mission. By Daniel Klaidman

'Zero Dark Thirty' spotlights America's finest hour in the battle against al Qaeda. But can Obama finish the forever war? The debate over drones—and getting out alive.

David Petraeus subdued Iraq, steered the course for exit in Afghanistan, and is one of the most decorated generals of his generation. So why was he no match for his biographer?

Sure, Obama's lucky. He also relentlessly seizes his chances and makes every one of them count.

They can handle al Qaeda and the Taliban. What worries America's most celebrated fighting force is the lure of Hollywood's siren song.

A lifetime of order, upended by Obamacare. How Chief Justice John Roberts will handle it.

How Mark Bissonnette, the Navy SEAL who wrote about the bin Laden raid in 'No Easy Day,' sneaked past the Pentagon.

The Super Pacs are killing him. Inside Obama's cash crunch.

The Obama campaign touts a commander in chief who never flinches, but the truth is more complex. How the president came to embrace a new way of war.

Forget underpants. Al Qaeda's diabolical new plan.

Obama, Holder, and the treacherous politics of race.

At a time when many Americans think their government is inept, the 'Special Operators' get the job done. Just ask the President, who is doubling down on the Navy SEALs.

Can he keep nukes from Iran, manage Israel, and be reelected?

The rescue of two aid workers in Somalia and the president's bold, new strategy.

Inside the White House debate over how to talk about al Qaeda's Anwar al-Awlaki.

Bob Woodward exposed reams of classified intelligence in his most recent book. But it was Barack Obama's assertion of the obvious that ignited outrage among his national-security critics.

The setting, a legendary Chicago steakhouse, was pure Rosty. I'd imagined him striding through the restaurant, pushing past the favor-seekers and acolytes, stopping to schmooze impressed diners. But it was a much-diminished Dan Rostenkowski who'd recently emerged from 13 months in the federal penitentiary.