David Barrett, PhD
Professor of Political Science | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Villanova University
- Villanova PA
David Barrett, PhD, is a presidential historian and leading expert on the CIA's relationship with presidents and Congress.
Media
Social
Areas of Expertise
Biography
Education
University of Notre Dame
PhD
University of Essex (England)
MA
University of Notre Dame
BA
Select Media Appearances
Feds Ramp Up Efforts to Put Trump's Face on Money and More
USA Today
2026-08-01
David Barrett is a political science professor at Villanova University and has taught courses on the presidency, from George Washington to today, for more than 30 years... Americans are, he said, "for better or worse, in a unique era where the president has his image all over the place."
CIA MKUltra Files on Alleged Charles Manson Links Set for Declassification
Fox News Digital
2026-07-05
David Barrett, a Villanova University professor, told Fox News Digital that while Tuesday's hearing revisited provocative questions about MKUltra, much of the program's documented history is already well established... "I don't think there's going to be a smoking gun," Barrett said, adding that he expects the files are more likely to be operational records than documents revealing major new information about senior-level decision-making.
U.S. Senate Voting on War Powers Resolution
NBC 10
2026-03-04
The War Powers Resolution dates back to the 70s and the Vietnam War. "Congress decided in 1973 that presidents—not just Nixon, who was then president, but previous presidents—had not sufficiently consulted the Congress about going to war in Vietnam," says Villanova University's David Barrett.
Newly Released MLK Files: What's in Them and What's Left Out?
USA Today
2025-07-22
The newly released records come from the FBI's investigation of the King assassination, records the Central Intelligence Agency deemed related to the assassination and a file from the State Department on the extradition of James Earl Ray, who pleaded guilty in 1969 to murdering King. David Barrett, a historian at Villanova University, said the files will likely contain new, interesting information. But as was the case with the JFK files released in March, the material likely isn't groundbreaking.
Four Key Takeaways From Release of JFK Files
BBC News
2025-03-20
A number of the documents shed light on Kennedy's relationship with the CIA before his death and on intelligence-gathering techniques—giving a window into Cold War operations... The CIA is traditionally opposed to releasing operational or budget information, said David Barrett, a Villanova University professor and expert on the CIA and presidential power.
JFK Files Related to Assassination Released by Trump Administration
CBS News
2025-03-19
The Trump administration on Tuesday evening released tens of thousands of pages of government documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy... David Barrett, a professor of political science at Villanova University who studies the Kennedy presidency, told CBS News that "non-scholars who dive into these documents are going to be baffled as to what most of them have to do with the Kennedy or other assassinations." For scholars like him, however, he said it is "certainly the most useful release of documents that has occurred because of the redactions being removed."
Villanova Professor Talks Debate Strategy as Harris, Trump Prepare to Face Off in Philadelphia
6 ABC
2024-09-09
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are set to face off in Philadelphia for their first presidential debate of the 2024 election on Tuesday night... Ahead of the must-watch event, Action News talked about potential debate strategies with Villanova University political science professor David Barrett.
Presidential Scholar on President Joe Biden Dropping Out of Race, Endorsing VP Kamala Harris
NBC 10
2024-07-22
Presidential historian David Barrett, of Villanova University, joins NBC 10 morning show anchors Erin Coleman and Keith Jones to discuss what could happen at the Democratic National Convention now that President Joe Biden has decided to step aside in his reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. Barrett also answers other questions about Biden's legacy and who could be on the ticket.
Thanks Anyway, Bobby: Kennedy Family Endorses Biden for 2024 Over One of Their Own
WHYY
2024-04-18
The support from the Kennedys is an apparent effort to blunt the impact of Robert Kennedy Jr.'s third-party candidacy... Dr. David Barrett, professor of political science at Villanova University, says that Kennedy's numbers may not last as people pay closer attention to the election.
Adam Schiff Wants "Comity" for the House Intelligence Committee. It Won't Be Easy.
Los Angeles Times
2018-11-14
Democrats and Republicans sit on both panels, but they were envisioned as operating in a nonpartisan fashion. "It seems sort of quaint now," said David Barrett, a Villanova University professor who studies the relationship between Congress and the intelligence community.
Answers About the Secret Memo on the Trump-Russia Inquiry
The New York Times
2018-01-30
When the Intelligence Committees become political, oversight of the intelligence agencies becomes "just about impossible," said David M. Barrett, a professor of political science at Villanova University who has written a book on the CIA and Congress. "Intelligence becomes just another political football."
Unveiled CIA Report Reveals Internal Warfare Over Blame for Bay of Pigs Failure
Miami Herald
2016-11-09
The long-secret Volume V of the Central Intelligence Agency's documentation of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion contains no bombshells, no earth-shaking details of the 1961 assault on the island by a CIA-trained Cuban exile force. Instead, it delves into "the war at the CIA in the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs over who was to blame" for the invasion's failure, according to the professor who filed suit to shake loose the recently released document. "Essentially, it is a critical history of the [CIA] inspector general's critical report, which mainly blamed CIA incompetence for the failure of the Bay of Pigs," said David Barrett, a political science professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
Opinion: NSA Secrets Revealed—in 1960
The Washington Post
2013-06-21
"The young man was employed by the National Security Agency for only a couple of years before feeling shocked at its intrusions into other countries' affairs and even private mail addressed to U.S. citizens. He was also disgusted at the contrast between the idealistic language of the president, serving his second term, and the behavior of the government he headed."
The Truth About the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Philadelphia Inquirer
2012-10-25
Everybody knows what happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis: Kennedy and Khrushchev went eyeball-to-eyeball and the Russians blinked... Except that a national security scholar at Villanova University says that's not all that occurred... In a new book, "Blind Over Cuba," political science professor David Barrett offers a detailed, disquieting analysis of the "photo gap"—a five-week period in which American intelligence flights over western Cuba were suspended.
Select Academic Articles
JFK, FBI and CIA: Playing Hardball Over an Intelligence Leak to The New York Times
Intelligence and National SecurityDavid Barrett
2017
A New Intelligence Director's Diary: President Truman, a Young JFK, Ho Chi Minh's "Beheading" and Other Challenges
Intelligence and National SecurityDavid Barrett
2008
