Intel warning

Intelligence chief: National security is more complex than it appears on the campaign trail

The winner of the November presidential election will likely sound a bit more restrained on national security upon stepping into the Oval Office, the nation’s intelligence chief said Monday.

“I am struck with how simple things are on the campaign trail and how the very same issues are hard in the confines of the situation room,” said James R. Clapper, head of the nation’s intelligence community, referring to the nerve center in the West Wing of the White House.

He noted that the job of president “has a tempering effect on anyone.”

“There are far more complexities, policy implications, legal implications, than it would appear on the campaign trail,” Clapper said at a morning briefing with dozens of journalists at a Washington hotel sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

The unusually divisive campaign has brought out some radical postures on national security issues, particularly on the Republican side.