Sue Gordon, Deputy Director of US Intelligence: What America Needs From Its Leaders

Sue Gordon once oversaw 100,000 women and men of the U.S. intelligence community as Deputy Director of National Intelligence, the number two role in American spycraft. She briefed Presidents Reagan, HW Bush, Clinton, W Bush, Obama, and Trump. She managed a $100 billion budget. And in August 2019, she handed Vice President Pence her resignation letter with a handwritten note: "I offer this letter as an act of respect and patriotism, not preference. You should have your team. Godspeed, Sue."Since then, life has come at her hard. Both parents died. Her husband Jim, the love of her life for 43 years, died unexpectedly. She has faced two rounds with cancer, the second one far more deadly than the first.And she says she's the most blessed woman in the world.In this conversation, Sue goes deep on:The U.S. strikes on Iran and what she sees that most Americans don'tWhat the Epstein files actually reveal about how power protects itselfWhy she almost ran for PresidentWhy she quit the CIA with two weeks' notice to be a better momHow the Trump administration publicly excoriated a 40-year career civil servant, and what she chose to do instead of fighting backWhy she thinks America needs to fix a system the Founders never designed for this much speedWhat she wants every woman in a man's world to know, and what she wants the good men to finally do about itThe doorways of grief, and how to move through themThis is Sue Gordon in full: the spy, the mom, the widow, the patient, the patriot. Unfiltered. Funny. Occasionally heartbreaking. Always worth your time.Find her podcast, Understandable Insights here:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/understandable-insights-information-to-intelligence/id1827249845Books and Works Mentioned:A Severe MercyThe Price We PayAn Immense JourneySue's Resignation LetterIf this episode is worthy of your time, please share it and leave a review. It's how we grow.