This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wisner Junior was well-known in the CIA and he worked as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Under Secretary of . He condemned the Great Purge and accused Stalin of abusing his power. He served in South Vietnam until 1969, when he returned to the State Department as officer in charge of Tunisian affairs. Theres a general rule in secret operations: If it has a bland name, its important. Henry Cabot Lodge tried to block the Security Council from discussing a resolution to send an investigation team to Guatemala. But Frank was a little excessive, even for me.". Wisner, 72, was U.S. ambassador to Egypt from 1986 to 1991 and developed a close relationship with Mubarak in that time, according to Hazard and news reports. "Tomorrow morning, gentlemen," Dulles said, "we will go to the White House to brief the President. As one of the agents involved in Operation Bloodstone, Harry Rositzke, pointed out, Wisner was willing to use anyone "as long as he was anti-communist". However, Barnes convinced him that it was vital important that the Soviets did not establish a "beachhead in Central America". Graham himself recruited others who had worked for military intelligence during the war. He later claimed that Wisner had become obsessed with the Soviet Union: "He was already mobilizing for the cold war. According to Alex Constantine (Mockingbird: The Subversion Of The Free Press By The CIA), in the 1950s, "some 3,000 salaried and contract CIA employees were eventually engaged in propaganda efforts". This resulted in the religious community turning against Mossadegh. It did not take him long to discover that some of them had been active in left-wing politics in the 1930s. Who made that decision?". Secretary of State John Foster Dulles added that the Guatemala people were living under a "communist type of terrorism". It is doubtful that many of the lawmakers who voted for the 1947 Act could have envisioned the scale on which the CIA would engage in operational activities all over the world. This machinery was in the CIA but the agency shared control of it with the State Department and the Pentagon. However, the CIA Voice of Liberation successfully convinced Arbenz's supporters that two large and heavily armed columns of invaders were moving towards Guatemala City. Castillo now reversed the Arbenz reforms. Media in category "Frank Wisner" The following 3 files are in this category, out of 3 total. Other journalists willing to promote the views of the CIA included Ben Bradlee (Newsweek), James Reston (New York Times), Charles Douglas Jackson (Time Magazine), Walter Pincus (Washington Post), William C. Baggs (Miami News), Herb Gold (Miami News) and Charles Bartlett (Chattanooga Times). (The CIA posted guards to keep the KGB from seeing who was there.). Vibrant democratic parties, even socialist ones, were preferable to a Communist victory. On October 28, before he drove out to his farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, she called the caretaker and asked him to remove the guns from the house. His lineage is impeccable, since his father, Frank Wisner Sr., was a senior CIA official (from 1947 until his suicide in 1965) who was involved in the overthrow of Arbenz of Guatemala (1954) and Mossadeq of Iran (1953). Allen W. Dulles therefore sent him to London to be CIA chief of station in England. A door opened near me. Vijay Prashad: Yes, the point is a very good one, why Margaret Scobey herself was not in charge of the deliberations. Alsop was happy to comply, though he doubted his columns would have much impact on the Huks. Brad finished and the lights went up. On April 4, 1953, Wisner persuaded Allen W. Dulles to approve $1 million to be used "in any way that would bring about the fall of Mossadegh." Hector and I smiled at each other as Brad flushed with pleasure. They also produced three films on Guatemala for showing free in cinemas. Castillo now reversed the Arbenz reforms. Frank Wisner was the first American in, and this - you're talking August, September - I guess September of 1944. February 1, 2011. This information was passed to Joseph McCarthy who started making attacks on members of the OPC. He later claimed that Wisner had become obsessed with the Soviet Union: "He was already mobilizing for the cold war. On June 18, 1948, the United States National Security Council approved NSC 10/2 which created the Office of Special Projects. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided byRefinitiv Lipper. By Nicholas Thompson. That beginning took place for him in Romania, simultaneously dealing with the results of the German war and with the coming reality of Soviet power. This machinery was in the CIA but the agency shared control of it with the State Department and the Pentagon. President Dwight Eisenhower responded by claiming that Guatemala had a "communist dictatorship.. had established an outpost on this continent to the detriment of all the American nations". Mussadegh in Iran was left-wing and had indulged in talks with Russian diplomats about possible alliances and treaties. However, there is evidence that he was recruited several years earlier and had been spying on the liberal organizations he had been a member of in the later 1940s. No longer would the Monroe Doctrine, which was directed against foreign imperial ambitions in the Americas from across the Atlantic or the Pacific, suffice. One of the most important journalists under the control of Operation Mockingbird was Joseph Alsop, whose articles appeared in over 300 different newspapers. He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. In March 1945, Wisner was transferred to Wiesbaden, Germany. With the help of Romanian Intelligence, they manage to obtain tons of records, including SD files, 200 rolls of German film and a large amount of Russian information. [14], According to its secret charter, the OPC's responsibilities include "propaganda, economic warfare, preventive direct action, including sabotage, antisabotage, demolition and evacuation procedures; subversion against hostile states, including assistance to underground resistance groups, guerrillas and refugee liberation groups, and support of indigenous anti-communist elements in threatened countries of the free world. After graduating Wisner worked as a Wall Street lawyer. "Instead of a dirge, it was exuberant, powerful, exultant," recalled Tom Braden. He was so depressed that his wife, Polly, worried that he would try to commit suicide. You've averted a Soviet beachhead in our hemisphere." After Cairo (from June 15, 1944) he spent three months in OSS Istanbul, Turkey, as head of SI (Secret Intelligence) branch. Arbenz now believed he stood little chance of preventing Castillo gaining power. Harvey reported back in June 1951 that he was convinced that Philby was a KGB spy. He persuaded President Harry S. Truman that the OSS in peacetime would be an "American Gestapo". With so many talented officers working in covert action, and with most of the foreigners involved being friendly collaborators and not "recruited" assets, the do could scarcely base promotions on the number of recruitments a case officer made each year. Frank G. Wisner discusses his distinguished career in public service, including working as former undersecretary of defense for policy, undersecretary of state for international security affairs . Britain and France were both initially in favour but eventually buckled under United States pressure and agreed to abstain. "I got a cable in Kuala Lumpur, where I was stationed," said Arthur Jacobs, the "Ozzard of Wiz" who had been Wisner's aide in the early 1950s. The real Angleton, the real Frank Wisner, the real Bill Harvey are stories in their own right. In Hungary the prime minister Imre Nagy removed state control of the mass media and encouraged public discussion on political and economic reform. Nagy also released anti-communists from prison and talked about holding free elections and withdrawing Hungary from the Warsaw Pact. Over the next few weeks thousands were arrested on suspicion of communist activity. This included former members of the Nazi Party such as Gustav Hilger and Hans von Bittenfield. He eventually had a breakdown, was hospitalized, and received an aggressive course of electroshock therapy. The Two Frank Wisners. Hector and I smiled at each other as Brad flushed with pleasure. In the darkness I could see only a silhouette of the person entering the room; when the door closed it was dark again, and I could not make out the features of the man standing next to me. Wisner became head of this new organization and Richard Helms became his chief of operations. However, Barnes convinced him that it was vital important that the Soviets did not establish a "beachhead in Central America". According to Alex Constantine (Mockingbird: The Subversion Of The Free Press By The CIA), in the 1950s, "some 3,000 salaried and contract CIA employees were eventually engaged in propaganda efforts". The Guatemalan Foreign Minister, Guillermo Toriello, asked the United Nations for help against the covert activities of the United States. He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. Wisner remained concerned about the spread of communism and began lobbying for a new intelligence agency. "Incredible". The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was funded by siphoning of funds intended for the Marshall Plan. In July 19, 1954, he created the National Committee of Defense Against Communism and decreed the Preventive Penal Law Against Communism to fight against those who supported Arbenz when he was in power. FrankWisner18791963Frank Wisnerin U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Frank Wisnerwas born on September 14 1879. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKwisner.htm, Your email address will not be published. Wisner added that he felt personally betrayed by this behaviour. President Dwight Eisenhower responded by claiming that Guatemala had a "communist dictatorship.. had established an outpost on this continent to the detriment of all the American nations". According to Deborah Davis (Katharine the Great): "By the early 1950s, Wisner 'owned' respected members of the New York Times, Newsweek, CBS and other communications vehicles.". Wisner was also deeply involved in establishing the Lockheed U-2 spy plane program run by Richard M. Bissell Jr.[1], Wisner suffered a serious breakdown in September 1958. Aid Groups Warn of "Secondary Disaster" as Death Toll from Turkey . Iranians took to the streets against Mohammed Mossadegh. Evan Thomas, the author of The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA (1995), argues that Joseph Alsop and Stewart Alsop worked very closely with Winser. In this position, he was instrumental in supporting pro-American forces that toppled Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran in 1953[citation needed] and Jacobo Arbenz Guzmn in Guatemala in 1954. Over lunch in a glass-enclosed restaurant overlooking Central Park, they engage in verbal thrust and parry over the foreign policy issues of the day. Desmond FitzGerald, a deputy director of the CIA, remembered him as a watchmaker in Detroit on whose shoulders it fell far more than any other man, to build our defenses from the ground up and with all speed., 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Wisner came directly from central casting as the shady OSS spy from World War II. Carlos Castillo and his collection of soldiers now crossed the Honduran-Guatemalan border. Frank G. Wisner Jr. grew up in the long shadow of his secret agent father. The OPC had a staff of 10, so this wasnt likely to happen. Wisner was appointed director of the organization. From 1974 to 1975, he was Director of the Office of Plans and Management in the Bureau of Public Affairs and in late 1975 became Deputy Director of the President's Indo-China Task Force in the Department.[8]. Wisner's friends believed the illness was triggered by the failure of the Hungarian Uprising. [citation needed], Wisner married Mary Ellis 'Polly' Knowles (19122002) and they had four children: Elizabeth Wisner, Graham Wisner, Ellis Wisner, and Frank G. Wisner who entered into diplomatic service. Frank Gardner Wisner was born in Laurel, Mississippi, in 1910. As Evan Thomas reported in The Very Best Men, the OPCs charter gave it responsibility for propaganda, economic warfare; preventative direct action, including sabotage, antisabotage, demolition and evacuation measures; subversion against hostile states, including assistance to underground resistance groups, and support of indigenous anti-Communist elements in threatened countries of the free world. The U.S. government would disclaim any responsibility of the OPCs missions. Thus by overthrowing him, America was in effect making a new decision in the cold war. Frank Wisner, Jr., had a more steady career in the State Department, was the ambassador in Egypt between 1986 and 1991. . The removal of Jacobo Arbenz resulted in several decades of repression. He was a good sprinter and hurdler and in 1936 was asked to compete in the Olympic trials. While in Bucharest he became friendly with King Michael of Romania. It was a warm summer night. Wisner was appointed director of the organization. [10], Wisner died by suicide on October 29, 1965.[22]. With the help of resident Anastasio Somoza, Castillo had formed a rebel army in Nicaragua. As a result Philby was forced to leave the United States. In all, some 1,700 American POWs were transported. His work involved planning a coup in Guyana, a country that had a left-wing government. George Cristian Maior, former head of Romanian intelligence and current Ambassador to the United States, has written a . Wisner and 21 OSS agents landed in Romania,[5] where he became head of OSS Bucharest. This secret operation involved recruiting former German officers and diplomats who could be used in the covert war against the Soviet Union. In 1954 Wisner arranged for the funding the Hollywood production of Animal Farm, the animated allegory based on the book written by George Orwell. Wisner moved to Washington where he associated with a group of journalists, politicians and government officials that became known as the Georgetown Set. So still, there's still another, you know, year left in the war. It has been estimated that between January and June, 1954, the CIA spent about $20 million on Castillo's army. He announced a change in policy and gave orders for the Soviet Union's political prisoners to be released. However, in 1947, he was recruited by Dean Acheson, to work under Charles Saltzman, at the State Department's Office of Occupied Territories. This was followed by a week of bombing ports, ammunition dumps, military barracks and the international airport. In March 1953, 209,842 acres of United Fruit Company's uncultivated land was taken by the government which offered compensation of $525,000. He had been elected as President of Guatemala in March, 1951. He was impressive - not at all the disturbing man he was in the shadows. As soon as the war ended Truman ordered the OSS to be closed down leaving a small intelligence organization, the Strategic Services Unit (SSU) in the War Department. "The cable was from Des FitzGerald. . As Thomas Polgar later pointed out: "Sure, we never said rise up and revolt, but there was a lot of propaganda that led the Hungarians to believe that we would help. Henry Breck, a junior CIA officer out of Groton and Harvard, watched his grim-faced elders as they mourned. According to Phillips he initially questioned the right of the CIA to interfere in Guatemala: In his autobiography Phillips claims he said to Barnes: "But Arbenz became President in a free election. Legal Statement. Husband of Mary (Polly) Knowles a dedicated arts philanthropist and legendary Washington hostess. In 1976, at the beginning of the Carter administration, he served under Cyrus Vance as Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of State. Death 29 Oct 1965 (aged 56) Kent . He retired in 1963, and committed suicide with a shotgun in 1965. Arbenz began to tackle Guatemala's unequal land distribution. His army was outnumbered by the Guatemalan Army. http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKwisner.htm Categories: People Articles with hCards Its worth noting that Wisner was the Christopher Hitchens of his daya relentless charmer and bon vivant who threw all the best parties with the most interesting, powerful, and influential guests. Now internal subversion communism from within - was an additional cause for direct action. "They don't seem to be up to anything. Wisner focused his efforts on psychological warfare, most notably through Operation Mockingbird, wherein the OPC sought to influence foreign mediaand who better to plant propaganda than the press itself? When Truman signed the CIA into existence, the new agency found a similar reception. [11] He went on to become a member of the board for EOG Resources. Wisner was disappointed by the US government's reaction to this news and he was forced to advise the Romanian royal family to go into exile. Franklived in USA. Frank Wisner, the father of American covert operations, was both. Contents If it gets near the coast of Guatemala we'll sink the son-of-a-bitch. ' Wisner began his intelligence career in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II. Jake Esterline was placed in charge of the CIA's Washington task force in the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. Frank Gardiner Wisner (June 23, 1909 October 29, 1965) was one of the founding officers of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and played a major role in CIA operations throughout the 1950s. Arbenz began to tackle Guatemala's unequal land distribution. By this time Operation Mockingbird had a major influence over 25 newspapers and wire agencies. [10], Wisner was recruited in 1947 by Dean Acheson to join the State Department to become the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Occupied Areas. Wisner also met Arthur Schlesinger, an OSS sergeant serving in Germany. Frank Gardiner Wisner - Commander, United States Navy Central Intellignce Agency February 27, 2023 by Michael Robert Patterson Frank Gardner Wisner was born in Laurel, Mississippi, in 1910. Hoover also passed to McCarthy details of an affair that Wisner had with Princess Caradja in Romania during the war. Traduzioni in contesto per "revel fue" in spagnolo-italiano da Reverso Context: Lo que revel fue mucho ms. In April 1962 Richard Helms recalled Wisner to Washington. Market data provided byFactset. Recalled one CIA officer, I would be at a meeting where it was obvious that the decision had been made the night before at a dinner party., Still, the jobs toll on Wisner was becoming apparent. Funded with money from the CIA and MI6, the pro-monarchy forces quickly gained the upper hand. The Guatemalan Foreign Minister, Guillermo Toriello, asked the United Nations for help against the covert activities of the United States. However, Wisner was cleared of all suspicions by the CIA Office of Security. Early life [ edit] Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, was put in charge of what became known as Operation Ajax. According to Phillips he initially questioned the right of the CIA to interfere in Guatemala: In his autobiography Phillips claims he said to Barnes: "But Arbenz became President in a free election. When he finished Alien Dulles said, "Brad, I've never heard such crap." Eisenhower shook his head, perhaps thinking of the thousands who had died in France. It was later discovered that one commander accepted $60,000 to surrender his troops. This included James Truitt, Russell Wiggins, Phil Geyelin, John Hayes and Alan Barth. According to Deborah Davis, Meyer became Mockingbird's "principal operative". Khrushchev's de-Stalinzation policy encouraged people living in Eastern Europe to believe that he was willing to give them more independence from the Soviet Union. [3] He is the son of CIA official Frank Wisner (19091965). "Incredible". While its reductive to say the aftermath drove Wisner mad, its fair to say that it didnt help matters. (The CIA posted guards to keep the KGB from seeing who was there.). For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for Frank Wisner . 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. "I got a cable in Kuala Lumpur, where I was stationed," said Arthur Jacobs, the "Ozzard of Wiz" who had been Wisner's aide in the early 1950s. When he finished Alien Dulles said, "Brad, I've never heard such crap." [4], In 1941, six months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Navy. Their articles appeared in over 300 different newspapers. He had upset the US government by nationalizing Iran's oil industry. He served as third secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Algiers, Algeria. Frank Wisner killed himself with one of his son's shotguns on 29th October, 1965. I myself was no great admirer of the Soviet Union, and I certainly had no expectation of harmonious relations after the war. The questions from the unknown man next to me were very insistent, furtive. In June. Hoover also passed to McCarthy details of an affair that Wisner had with Princess Caradja in Romania during the war. The DPP now accounted for three quarters of the CIA budget and 60% of its personnel. Later, John Loftus, a prosecutor with the Office of Special Investigations at the U.S. Justice Department, accused Wisner of methodically recruiting Nazi war criminals. The man moved away. Toriello accused the United States government of categorizing "as communism every manifestation of nationalism or economic independence, any desire for social progress, any intellectual curiosity, and any interest in progressive liberal reforms.". At Arlington Cemetery, Frank Wisner was buried as a naval commander, his wartime rank. Eisenhower's first question was to Hector (Rip Robertson): "How many men did Castillo Armas lose?" [vague][15] Wisner was unsuccessful in convincing Mubarak to do so. He worked in the Navy's censor's office before managing to get a transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The Scroll and Key tomb is admired for its Moorish Revival style Scroll and Key, Yale, New Haven, Connecticut Wisner managed to get a copy of the speech that Nikita Khrushchev made at the 20th Party Congress in February, 1956, where Khrushchev launched an attack on the rule of Joseph Stalin. Bissell replaced Wisner as Deputy Director of Plans. It was an exhausting, stressful, and almost impossible job. "[15], During the early 1950s, Wisner was the subject of FBI inquiries in connection with his wartime work in Romania, including the claim that he had an affair with Tanda Caradja, daughter of Romanian princess Catherine Caradja during the war; Caradja was alleged in FBI reports to be a Soviet agent. Wisner began having trouble with J. Edgar Hoover. He became Assistant Director of the Office of Policy Coordination. Athan Theoharis, Richard Immerman, Loch Johnson, Kathryn Olmsted, and, Assistant Secretary of State for Occupied Areas, guerrilla warfare in Soviet-occupied Europe, "Our History: Featured Alumni: Wisner, Frank G., 1934", Report on X-2 Activities in Bucharest, 25 April 1945, "Foreign Relations of the United States, 19451950, Emergence of the Intelligence Establishment - Office of the Historian", "National Security Council Directive on Office of Special Projects", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frank_Wisner&oldid=1141757345, United States Navy personnel of World War II, People of the Central Intelligence Agency, People of the Office of Strategic Services, University of Virginia School of Law alumni, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 17:05. Probably the most powerful of the Georgetown insiders was Frank Wisner, chief of covert operations for the C.I.A., and one of the most zealous of the anti-Communist crusaders who turned the agency . The Defense Department preferred to save its dirty tricks for times of war. He had been elected as President of Guatemala in March, 1951. Wisner was transferred to the OSS station in Wiesbaden. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. As a result the resolution was defeated by 5 votes to 4. "What about the Russians? The lights were turned off while Brad used slides during his report. Henry Breck, a junior CIA officer out of Groton and Harvard, watched his grim-faced elders as they mourned. If it gets near the coast of Guatemala we'll sink the son-of-a-bitch. ' After retiring from government service in 1997, Wisner joined the board at a subsidiary of Enron, the former energy company and served on the board of American International Group (AIG).