Today is Columbus Day. I sure hope you’re spending it in celebration, maybe some rest too. 

Regardless, today we are going to remind ourselves of the incredible story of Douglas Seymour MacKiernan. It’s part of the series I like to do on holidays, to highlight my brothers and sisters at the CIA who have died in line of duty — I want to share their lives and their sacrifice.

And Douglas Seymour MacKiernan, what an example of that. 

For decades no one knew his story. And that’s not surprising, he worked undercover.

But this morning we should talk about him. Because it’s an extraordinary story, not only for the time in which he lived but for us too.

Because the enemy that he faced — Communist China — is the same one that we face today.

So come with me on this journey, one that starts in Mexico City, onward to Massachusetts, then ends on a patch of frozen ground in China, just a few feet shy of what would have been Doug MacKiernan’s freedom.

All that, plus what Doug’s life means for America now, on this special edition of the President’s Daily Brief. We’ll be right back.
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