During this period Wisner worked closely with Kim Philby, the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) liaison in Washington. Alsop dutifully printed the story, which may or may not have been true.". In 1954 Wisner arranged for the funding the Hollywood production of Animal Farm, the animated allegory based on the book written by George Orwell. "Instead of a dirge, it was exuberant, powerful, exultant," recalled Tom Braden. I myself was no great admirer of the Soviet Union, and I certainly had no expectation of harmonious relations after the war. "Incredible". Even with my curious nature, I myself was unaware, except in the vaguest terms, what political action projects were going forward and how (Frank Wisner was spending Marshall Plan counterpart funds.) He said that the country needed "an agrarian reform which puts an end to the latifundios and the semi-feudal practices, giving the land to thousands of peasants, raising their purchasing power and creating a great internal market favorable to the development of domestic industry.". The only thing theyre proving is the law of gravity, said one CIA officer. When this failed he put pressure on Security Council members to vote against the resolution. The CIA sent Wisner to the Sheppard-Pratt Institute, a psychiatric hospital near Baltimore. This included former members of the Nazi Party such as Gustav Hilger and Hans von Bittenfield. Over the next few weeks riots took place in Poland and East Germany. "Thanks Allen, and thanks to all of you. It was an exhausting, stressful, and almost impossible job. When the war ended, the OSS was shut down and Wisner returned to the soul-draining doldrums of office life. Frank George Wisner II (born July 2, 1938) is an American businessman and former diplomat who had served as acting United States Secretary of State for a few hours following the resignation of the previous acting United States Secretary of State Arnold Kanter at noon on January 20, 1993 until the confirmation by the United States Senate and By Nicholas Thompson. (The CIA posted guards to keep the KGB from seeing who was there.). William (Rip) Robertson was also involved in the campaign against Arbenz. Eisenhower shook hands all around. Frank Wisners new agency was called the Office of Policy Coordination, which should tell you an awful lot about its business. What right do we have to help someone topple his government and throw him out of office?" Mossadegh also abolished Iran's feudal agriculture sector and replaced with a system of collective farming and government land ownership. After the West German counterintelligence chief, Otto John, defected to the Soviet Union in 1954, Wisner fed Alsop a story that the West German spymaster had been kidnapped by the KGB. Hoover also passed to McCarthy details of an affair that Wisner had with Princess Caradja in Romania during the war. 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". "He just has many, many friends in. If it gets near the coast of Guatemala we'll sink the son-of-a-bitch. ' Mrs. Wisner had gone to Chicago to visit with friends for a few days, taking her children with her.. Operation Mockingbird - Spartacus Educational The OPCs mission was to take on the Soviet Union, and right from the start, the Pentagongearing up for World War IIIwanted everything from insurgencies in Western Europe to sabotaging the entire Soviet air force, and it wanted them now. "[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. "Great," he said to Brad, "that was a good briefing." Graham himself recruited others who had worked for military intelligence during the war. Phillips, along with E. Howard Hunt, was responsible for running the CIA's Voice of Liberation radio station. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. I saw Frank three days before he died and he seemed in good spirits. Members of what was later called the Georgetown Ladies' Social Club included Katharine Graham, Mary Pinchot Meyer, Sally Reston, Polly Wisner, Joan Braden, Lorraine Cooper, Evangeline Bruce, Avis Bohlen, Janet Barnes, Tish Alsop, Cynthia Helms, Marietta FitzGerald, Phyllis Nitze and Annie Bissell. By the early 1960s he held right-wing opinions. Vibrant democratic parties, even socialist ones, were preferable to a Communist victory. Wisner also met Arthur Schlesinger, an OSS sergeant serving in Germany. Eisenhower shook hands all around. I myself was no great admirer of the Soviet Union, and I certainly had no expectation of harmonious relations after the war. 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. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. 1944, Wisner was sent to Turkey. Arbenz, on the other hand, had simply been trying to reform his country and had not sought foreign help in this. A month earlier word had spread through the agency that the New York Times was embarking on a first-ever investigation of the CIA. Tracy Barnes was field commander of what became known as Operation Success. This machinery was in the CIA but the agency shared control of it with the State Department and the Pentagon. "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. Edit your search or learn more. Eisenhower shook his head, perhaps thinking of the thousands who had died in France. It compelled a higher degree of intellectual curiosity, accomplishment, and operational savior faire than did espionage ("espionage" referring specifically to the recruitment of foreign intelligence agents). Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, was put in charge of what became known as Operation Ajax. Frances Stonor Saunders, the author of Who Paid the Piper: The CIA and the Cultural Cold War? On January 31, 2011, he was sent to Egypt by President Barack Obama to negotiate a resolution to the popular protests against the regime that had swept the country. Covert action (orchestrating coups, anti-Communist insurgencies, academic conferences, labor unions, political parties, publishing houses, and shipping companies) required considerable manpower, and it drew the intellectual crme de la crme. Wisner, who reside on the George Wedge farm east of town. Khrushchev became increasingly concerned about these developments and on 4th November 1956 he sent the Red Army into Hungary. [18], J. Edgar Hoover and U.S. [20], In 1961, Wisner was ordered to organize CIA activities in British Guiana. Others like Stewart Alsop, Joseph Alsop and James Reston, were recruited from within the Georgetown Set. Now internal subversion communism from within - was an additional cause for direct action. Wisner's other great success was the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz. This resulted in the religious community turning against Mossadegh. [17] Another project he was involved in was with regard to the Belarus Brigade's leaders, a unit incorporated into a German SS division, who were assisted into the United States after the Second world war, due largely to his efforts. "They don't seem to be up to anything. In defiance of federal law, John Loftus asserted, the Office of Policy Coordination helped obtain visas for Nazi collaborators from Belarus who were believed to have facilitated numerous atrocities by the Nazi Germany. In the 1950s and early 1960s the CIA's top leaders - men like Allen Dulles, Frank Wisner, Richard Bissell, Tracy Barnes, and Desmond Fitzgerald - were profoundly devoted to covert action. It was later discovered that one commander accepted $60,000 to surrender his troops. 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". In the 1950s and early 1960s the CIA's top leaders - men like Allen Dulles, Frank Wisner, Richard Bissell, Tracy Barnes, and Desmond Fitzgerald - were profoundly devoted to covert action. 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). During the Hungarian Uprising an estimated 20,000 people were killed. He is the son of CIA official Frank Wisner (1909-1965). By this time Operation Mockingbird had a major influence over 25 newspapers and wire agencies. "Tomorrow morning, gentlemen," Dulles said, "we will go to the White House to brief the President. "Frank Wisner, Jr. was a big catch for Enron Corporation. Market data provided by Factset. This secret operation involved recruiting former German officers and diplomats who could be used in the covert war against the Soviet Union. During the Hungarian Uprising an estimated 20,000 people were killed. Thomas Braden later recalled: "Wisner brought in a whole load of fascists after the war, some really nasty people. Carlos Castillo and his collection of soldiers now crossed the Honduran-Guatemalan border. OSS agents penetrated the Romanian Communist Party and Wisner was able to discover that the Soviets intended to take over all of Eastern Europe. http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKwisner.htm Categories: People Articles with hCards Soon afterwards it was renamed the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC). He was Richard Nixon, the Vice President. Work out a new speech for Brad We went to the White House in the morning. In 1964 he became a rural development officer at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, South Vietnam, for the Agency for International Development. Thats why when you read about something called the Mission Support Activity, your eyes glaze over before you realize that youre reading about the Joint Special Operations Commands special mission unit for intelligence commandos. and a LL.B. 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. 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 . 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. Wisner's friends believed the illness was triggered by the failure of the Hungarian Uprising. Frank Wisner, Jr., had a more steady career in the State Department, was the ambassador in Egypt between 1986 and 1991. . Under this innocuous title, the United States was now fully in the business of covert political operations. Name: Frank Wisner It was later discovered that one commander accepted $60,000 to surrender his troops. Wisner began his intelligence career in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II. He was a good sprinter and hurdler and in 1936 was asked to compete in the Olympic trials. The CIA also provided them with classified information to help them with their work. "Tomorrow morning, gentlemen," Dulles said, "we will go to the White House to brief the President. Frank G. Wisner, an ex-OSS man, was brought in from the State Department to head it, with a cover title of his own invention. "The cable was from Des FitzGerald. Eisenhower's first question was to Hector (Rip Robertson): "How many men did Castillo Armas lose?" Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, was put in charge of what became known as Operation Ajax. It said that Frank had died and gave no reason, but I knew." ", General Ridgeway answered. At Arlington Cemetery, Frank Wisner was buried as a naval commander, his wartime rank. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. It did not take him long to discover that some of them had been active in left-wing politics in the 1930s. 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.". Wisner was obviously too sick to go to Spain. At his funeral the Bethlehem Chapel in the National Cathedral was overflowing with old friends who sang "Fling Out the Banner" as Wisner's family marched down the aisle at the end of the service. His work involved planning a coup in Guyana, a country that had a left-wing government. The military now joined the opposition and Mossadegh was arrested on August 19, 1953. Alsop was happy to comply, though he doubted his columns would have much impact on the Huks. After the war, he headed the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC), one of the OSS successor organizations, from 1948 to 1950. 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 . An indictment of the CIA, through the lives of four spies It compelled a higher degree of intellectual curiosity, accomplishment, and operational savior faire than did espionage ("espionage" referring specifically to the recruitment of foreign intelligence agents). He gained support for this from James Forrestal, the Defense Secretary. Over the next few weeks thousands were arrested on suspicion of communist activity. 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. February 1, 2011. (A separate Office of Special Operations conducted secret actions aimed solely at gathering intelligence.) When he finished Alien Dulles said, "Brad, I've never heard such crap." [13] The OPC initially received services from the CIA but was accountable to the State Department. After Pearl Harbor, he. 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. Members of what was later called the Georgetown Ladies' Social Club included Katharine Graham, Mary Pinchot Meyer, Sally Reston, Polly Wisner, Joan Braden, Lorraine Cooper, Evangeline Bruce, Avis Bohlen, Janet Barnes, Tish Alsop, Cynthia Helms, Marietta FitzGerald, Phyllis Nitze and Annie Bissell. 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.". In 1951 Allen W. Dulles persuaded Cord Meyer to join the CIA. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. From 1971 to 1973, he was first secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, and following that, from 1973 to 1974, he was first secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Dacca, Bangladesh. Wisner's FBI file tells scurrilous tales of his wild life during and after World War II. Contents PDF The Good Shepherd - Central Intelligence Agency "He realized that his life would be circumscribed by increasing cycles of depression. Feit Frank Visner aka Wisner or Vizner was born about 1857 in Cslav, Kutn Hora District, (Central Bohemian District), Bohemia, Austria. Frank Wisner was brilliant, tortured, and a founder of American intelligence. In April 1962 Richard Helms recalled Wisner to Washington. On 18th June, 1954, aircraft dropped leaflets over Guatemala demanding that Arbenz resign immediately or else the county would be bombed. First headed by Allen Dulles, Wisner succeeded Dulles in 1951 when Dulles was named Director of Central Intelligence. It has been estimated that between January and June, 1954, the CIA spent about $20 million on Castillo's army. Castillo's new government was immediately recognised by President Dwight Eisenhower. He orchestrated a massive spy ring, many of whose members were tasked with parachuting into Soviet territory and gathering intelligence. Frank Wisner, Father of American Covert Operations - Mental Floss Henry Breck, a junior CIA officer out of Groton and Harvard, watched his grim-faced elders as they mourned. ", Wisner, who had been involved in creating this propaganda, told friends that he felt the American government had let Hungary down. "Great," he said to Brad, "that was a good briefing." View. Frank Gardiner Wisner - Commander, United States Navy Central While in Germany he served under Allen W. Dulles. Frank George Wisner, II (1938 - d.) - Genealogy He lived in Romania with a beautiful Russian spy. He was prescribed psychoanalysis and shock therapy (electroconvulsive treatment). Arbenz now believed he stood little chance of preventing Castillo gaining power. The growth of the OSS brought conflict with John Edgar Hoover who saw it as a rival to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Frank Wisner was the first American in, and this - you're talking August, September - I guess September of 1944. According to Donald N. Wilber, who was involved in this CIA plot to remove Mossadegh from power, in early August, 1953, Iranian CIA operatives, pretending to be socialists, threatened Muslim leaders with "savage punishment if they opposed Mossadegh," thereby giving the impression that Mossadegh was cracking down on dissent. Cord Meyer and the Assassination of JFK - The Education Forum Faked photographs were distributed that claimed to show the mutilated bodies of opponents of Arbenz. 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. U.S. envoy stirs pride in Mainer, sister says - Press Herald In 1950, the OPC was placed under the Central Intelligence Agency and renamed the Directorate of Plans. 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". Later, several of the people involved in Operation Success, including Richard Bissell and Tracy Barnes, regretted the outcome of the Guatemala Coup. The military now joined the opposition and Mossadegh was arrested on August 19, 1953. Wisner's death saddened but did not shock his colleagues. This machinery was in the CIA but the agency shared control of it with the State Department and the Pentagon. According to Donald N. Wilber, who was involved in this CIA plot to remove Mossadegh from power, in early August, 1953, Iranian CIA operatives, pretending to be socialists, threatened Muslim leaders with "savage punishment if they opposed Mossadegh," thereby giving the impression that Mossadegh was cracking down on dissent. The Guatemalan Foreign Minister, Guillermo Toriello, asked the United Nations for help against the covert activities of the United States. Hulda Wisner (Hermann) 74, of Lodi, died Thursday morning in a local hospital after a short illness. Wisner was educated at the University of Virginia, where he received both a B.A. He worked in the Navy's censor's office until he managed to transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1943. He had upset the US government by nationalizing Iran's oil industry. Henry Cabot Lodge tried to block the Security Council from discussing a resolution to send an investigation team to Guatemala. Wisner Sr. died in 1965 by michael gordon. He could do that, because he was powerful. It was the nearest thing to an expletive I ever heard Dulles use. Vijay Prashad: Yes, the point is a very good one, why Margaret Scobey herself was not in charge of the deliberations. A large number of these prisoners were tortured or killed. In all, some 1,700 American POWs were transported. Wisner remained concerned about the spread of communism and began lobbying for a new intelligence agency. America's First Spy: The Tragic Heroism Of Frank Wisner Continue with Recommended Cookies. If it gets near the coast of Guatemala we'll sink the son-of-a-bitch. ' revel fue - Traduzione in italiano - esempi spagnolo | Reverso Context But the navy is watching a Soviet sub in the area; it could be there to evacuate some of Arbenz's friends, or to supply arms to any resisters.". Wisner recruited Philip Graham (Washington Post) to run the project within the industry. Later, several of the people involved in Operation Success, including Richard Bissell and Tracy Barnes, regretted the outcome of the Guatemala Coup. This was followed by a week of bombing ports, ammunition dumps, military barracks and the international airport. Guillermo Toriello appealed to the United Nations to help protect Guatemalan government. Media in category "Frank Wisner" The following 3 files are in this category, out of 3 total. Frank Wisner was married to Christine de Ganay, the stepmother of Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France from 2007 until 2012. 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. Hoover, claimed that Caradja was a Soviet agent. The President's final handshake was with Alien Dulles. He condemned the Great Purge and accused Stalin of abusing his power. While in Bucharest he became friendly with King Michael of Romania. To confront Soviet aggression, Wisner eventually organized a secret army in Europe. Wisner arrived in England in September, 1959. Other journalists willing to promote the views of the CIA included Stewart Alsop (New York Herald Tribune), 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). He gained support for this from James Forrestal, the Defense Secretary. [11] On September 1, 1948, the office was formally established, although it was renamed to the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) for obfuscation purposes. Eisenhower spoke to his Chief of Naval Operations "Watch that sub. However, he got bored and enlisted in the United States Navy six months before Pearl Harbor. The President strode from the room. This became the espionage and counter-intelligence branch of the Central Intelligence Agency. What was not said, but what was already clear after the events in East Germany the previous year, was that the exercise of American power, even clandestinely through the CIA, would not be undertaken where Soviet power was already established. The UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold was so upset by the actions of the USA that he considered resigning from his post. Almost 30 years after the fall of communism in. However, Wisner was cleared of all suspicions by the CIA Office of Security. The Two Frank Wisners | The New Yorker The rise of the CIA and the decline of America's moral standing Frank George Wisner II (born July 2, 1938) is an American businessman and former diplomat who had served as acting United States Secretary of State for a few hours following the resignation of the previous acting United States Secretary of State Arnold Kanter at noon on January 20, 1993 until the confirmation by the United States Senate and swearing in of Warren Christopher as United States Secretary of State later that day. This secret operation involved recruiting former German officers and diplomats who could be used in the covert war against the Soviet Union. Wisner leaked details of the speech to the New York Times who published it on 2nd June, 1956. Finally Brad (Colonel Albert Haney) rehearsed his speech. Wisner reportedly suffered a mental breakdown after the Soviet Union quashed the Hungarian revolution in 1956, and in 1965 he committed suicide. However, he began to get suspicious in 1951 and he asked William Harvey and James Jesus Angleton to investigate Philby. However, in 1947, he was recruited by Dean Acheson, to work under Charles Saltzman, at the State Department's Office of Occupied Territories. Manage Settings The program lasted through 1971. The Scroll and Key tomb is admired for its Moorish Revival style Scroll and Key, Yale, New Haven, Connecticut You've averted a Soviet beachhead in our hemisphere." Henry Cabot Lodge tried to block the Security Council from discussing a resolution to send an investigation team to Guatemala. After Pearl Harbor, he found himself in the Office of Strategic Services, where he spied behind enemy lines, eventually becoming head of OSS operations in southeastern Europe. Frank Wisner - JFK Assassination Debate - The Education Forum 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. Allen W. Dulles therefore sent him to London to be CIA chief of station in England. All the top officials of the agency, from director on down, were in attendance. Worse yet, the few offices still around with any sort of proficiency in covert action were just too accountable. In 1953 the brothers helped out Edward Lansdale and the CIA in the Philippines: "Wisner actively courted the Alsops, along with a few other newsmen he regarded as suitable outlets. Nixon asked a number of questions, concise and to the point, and demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the Guatemalan political situation. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. It said that Frank had died and gave no reason, but I knew." You've averted a Soviet beachhead in our hemisphere." Hoover, claimed that Caradja was a Soviet agent. How the Cold War Made Georgetown Hot | The New Yorker The Defense Mobilization Support Planning Activity? http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKwisner.htm, Your email address will not be published. [21], In 1962, Wisner retired from the CIA. Powered and implemented byFactSet Digital Solutions. This was followed by a week of bombing ports, ammunition dumps, military barracks and the international airport. So still, there's still another, you know, year left in the war. ANCExplorer Frank Wisner grave.jpg. [5], He works as an international-affairs advisor at the firm of Squire Patton Boggs in Washington, DC.[6]. Its not like other countries were lining up to teach the United States the finer points of espionage, so those first CIA men had to be really smart or slightly crazy. Frank Wisner, Jr. WASHINGTON Once a month or so, a coterie of aging diplomats convenes at the elegant Metropolitan Club of New York. Required fields are marked *. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. The questions from the unknown man next to me were very insistent, furtive. He announced a change in policy and gave orders for the Soviet Union's political prisoners to be released. After leaving the OSS Wisner joined the Wall Street law firm, Carter Ledyard. While the Guatemalan government valued $2.99 per acre, the American government valued it at $75 per acre. "What about the Russians? His army was outnumbered by the Guatemalan Army. David Atlee Phillips was appointed to run the propaganda campaign against Arbenz's government. Eisenhower shook his head, perhaps thinking of the thousands who had died in France. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (Mockingbird wasnt the OPCs only psychological operation, and Wisners office had a great sense of humor. Wisner moved to Washington where he associated with a group of journalists, politicians and government officials that became known as the Georgetown Set. Frank G. Wisner, Sr. did not dabble in small matters. However, Barnes convinced him that it was vital important that the Soviets did not establish a "beachhead in Central America".