It was the Carter administration which developed rapid digital relays of satellite photos. A major milestone electronic espionage.
Who would have guessed that?
Of course, Nixon and JFK had helped lead up to such a development. And of course Ike had let the way with his spy plane — I think it was called the ‘U2’.
So despite Obama we have reason to hope.
The U2 still logs flight time although the SR-71’s are seemingly all mothballed.