# Are there any government activities so secret that even the president doesn't know about them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-government-activities-so-secret-that-even-the-president-doesnt-know-about-them/582319 "2011-05-18T14:27:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 10
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-government-activities-so-secret-that-even-the-president-doesnt-know-about-them/582319/10 "2011-05-18T16:18:42Z")
It is perfectly clear and incontrovertible that the President is in charge of what goes on in the Executive Branch. The Constitution says so. How the government keeps secrets is a matter that is primarily regulated by a series of Executive Orders. In short, the “need to know” is based on a Presidential order, and as the chief executive, there is no higher authority in government on who can determine need to know. All classification authority derives from the President, so barring a “can God make a burrito so big that He cannot eat it” type of metaphysical question, of course the President is entitled to knowledge of all classified information. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-government-activities-so-secret-that-even-the-president-doesnt-know-about-them/582319)._