The CIA propaganda campaign included the distribution of 100,000 copies of a pamphlet entitled Chronology of Communism in Guatemala. Wisner was told to create an organization that concentrated on "propaganda, economic warfare; preventive direct action, including sabotage, anti-sabotage, 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". According to Loftus, it was all part of a Cold War scheme to wage guerrilla warfare in Soviet-occupied Europe, in which the Nazi collaborators were to play a key role. . Franklived in USA. By this time Operation Mockingbird had a major influence over 25 newspapers and wire agencies. [4] A White House spokesman said that Wisner had vast experience in the region as well as close relationships with many Egyptians in and out of government. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles added that the Guatemala people were living under a "communist type of terrorism". 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. This included James Truitt, Russell Wiggins, Phil Geyelin, John Hayes and Alan Barth. It had also given America resources and experience (concentrated in private hands) with the world outside the Americas, used effectively by the OSS during World War II American government, however, had stayed in America, lending its influence to business but never trying to overthrow other governments for commercial purposes. Wisner remained concerned about the spread of communism and began lobbying for a new intelligence agency. After leaving the OSS Wisner joined the Wall Street law firm, Carter Ledyard. 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. Vibrant democratic parties, even socialist ones, were preferable to a Communist victory. Wisner was also able to restrict newspapers from reporting about certain events. While in Bucharest he became friendly with King Michael of Romania. . During the war William Donovan as head of the OSS, had built up a team of 16,000 agents working behind enemy lines. Later that year Wisner established Operation Mockingbird, a program to influence the American media. The CIA was also busy bribing Arbenz's military commanders. . He worked in the Navy's censor's office before managing to get a transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Frank Gardiner Wisner was one of the founding officers of the Central Intelligence Agency and played a major role in CIA operations throughout the 1950s. 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.". President Dwight Eisenhower was delighted with this result and asked Wisner to arrange for Kermit Roosevelt to give him a personal briefing on Operation Ajax. 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. A close friend, Avis Bohlen said he "was so depressed about how the world was going he felt we were losing the Cold War.". In August, 1952, the Office of Policy Coordination and the Office of Special Operations (the espionage division) were merged to form the Directorate of Plans (DPP). post-template-default single single-post postid-2835 single-format-standard. 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. 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). It said that Frank had died and gave no reason, but I knew." 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. Mockingbird: The Subversion Of The Free Press By The CIA, DHS Now Spies on Journalists, Keeps Records of Online Activity, Guatemala: The Coup that Radicalised Che Guevara, Smoking Out Fox News Correspondent Mort Kondrackes DIA/PSYOP Roots, Joe Conason on Elizabeth Dilling Glenn Beck's Favorite Nazi, BuzzFeed: Secret CIA Files Say Staffers Committed Sex Crimes Involving Children, Israels Propaganda War Blame the Grand Mufti, Crimes against Humanity in Guatemala: How the CIA and the Pentagon Supported the Military Dictatorship, Islamic Army in Iraq Denies Media Reports that the US Killed 18 Al Qaeda Combatants, Accused Liberian War Criminal Charles Taylor 'Worked with the CIA' (Al Jazeera), The Role of the CIA: Behind the Dalai Lamas Holy Cloak. Market data provided by Factset. The whole arrangement of American power in the world from the nineteenth century was based on commercial concerns and methods of operation his had given America a material empire through the ownership of foreign transport systems, oil fields, estancias, stocks, and shares. The lights were turned off while Brad used slides during his report. It was not successful and still suffering from depression, he was released from hospital in 1958. Wisner was obviously too sick to go to Spain. Eisenhower shook his head, perhaps thinking of the thousands who had died in France. Members are only revealed after their death - a wreath of black magnolias shaped like '7' is laid at the gravesite. Mrs. Wisner had gone to Chicago to visit with friends for a few days, taking her children with her.. A large number of these prisoners were tortured or killed. 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. She was born in Ashley, N.D. She grew up and attended schools in North Dakota. [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. 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. Also involved was Richard Bissell, head of the Directorate for Plans, an organization instructed to conduct covert anti-Communist operations around the world. 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. This was followed by a week of bombing ports, ammunition dumps, military barracks and the international airport. Frank Gardner Wisner was born in Laurel, Mississippi, in 1910. Thomas points out that he "considered his friends Joe and Stewart Alsop to be reliable purveyors of the company line in their columns". [20] After a lengthy recovery, Wisner became chief of the CIA's London Station. 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". Four months later he agreed to retire from the CIA. Wisner expected the United States would help the Hungarians. He was assigned as a vice consul at the American Consulate General in Tangier, Morocco. Funded with money from the CIA and MI6, the pro-monarchy forces quickly gained the upper hand. Wisner began having trouble with J. Edgar Hoover. During his tenure in Lusaka, he played the role of point man for the Constructive Engagement policy of assistant secretary of state for African affairs Chester Crocker. Wisner committed suicide. Wisner and 21 OSS agents landed in Romania,[5] where he became head of OSS Bucharest. He is a member of the Metropolitan Club of Washington DC. Frank Wisner, the father of American covert operations, was both. While its reductive to say the aftermath drove Wisner mad, its fair to say that it didnt help matters. Carlos Castillo and his collection of soldiers now crossed the Honduran-Guatemalan border. Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, was put in charge of what became known as Operation Ajax. The military now joined the opposition and Mossadegh was arrested on August 19, 1953. 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". "Tomorrow morning, gentlemen," Dulles said, "we will go to the White House to brief the President. Admiral. With the help of George Kennan, the Office of Special Projects was created in 1948. 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. OSS agents penetrated the Romanian Communist Party and Wisner was able to discover that the Soviets intended to take over all of Eastern Europe. Death Frank Wisner reportedly committed suicide with one of his son's shotguns on October 29, 1965. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. It was a warm summer night. Work out a new speech for Brad We went to the White House in the morning. Eisenhower's first question was to Hector (Rip Robertson): "How many men did Castillo Armas lose?" The most active element of this special staff came from the CIA's clandestine Air Division which at that time was under the control of Dick Helms. If it gets near the coast of Guatemala we'll sink the son-of-a-bitch. ' 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. He described the OPC as "Wisner's gang of weirdos" and began carrying out investigations into their past. Wisner became head of this new organization and Richard Helms became his chief of operations. ", General Ridgeway answered. Jake Esterline was placed in charge of the CIA's Washington task force in the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. They were defiant and proud, but besieged. Wisner was told to create an organization that concentrated on "propaganda, economic warfare; preventive direct action, including sabotage, anti-sabotage, 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". With the help of resident Anastasio Somoza, Castillo had formed a rebel army in Nicaragua. The nature of Arbenz's government, however, meant that Operation Success launched both the CIA and the United States on a new path. In the cases of Frank Wisner and Philip Graham, it played a role in their suicides. February 1, 2011. Jake Esterline was placed in charge of the CIA's Washington task force in the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. Alsop dutifully printed the story, which may or may not have been true.". 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. On January 4, 1951, the CIA merged the two offices and created a new Plans Division, which has had sole control over secret operations of all types since that date. This was the elite which ran American foreign policy and shaped legislation at home. [5], He works as an international-affairs advisor at the firm of Squire Patton Boggs in Washington, DC.[6]. Two months later he moved on to Romania where his main task was to spy on the activities of the Soviet Union. Another project started by Wisner was called Operation Bloodstone. 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 man moved away. FrankWisner18791963Frank Wisnerin U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Frank Wisnerwas born on September 14 1879. Wisner told Clare Boothe Luce, the American ambassador in Italy: "All these people are getting killed and we weren't doing anything, we were ignoring it. I was vaguely uncomfortable. It was an exhausting, stressful, and almost impossible job. We drank iced tea as we sat around a garden table in Dulles' back yard. He announced a change in policy and gave orders for the Soviet Union's political prisoners to be released. [21], In 1962, Wisner retired from the CIA. His first task was to oversee the return of some 1,350 American airmen who had been shot down in missions against Romanian oilfields. 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. This included George Kennan, Dean Acheson, Richard Bissell, Desmond FitzGerald, Joseph Alsop, Stewart Alsop, Tracy Barnes, Thomas Braden, Philip Graham, David Bruce, Clark Clifford, Walt Rostow, Eugene Rostow, Chip Bohlen, Cord Meyer, James Angleton, William Averill Harriman, John McCloy, Felix Frankfurter, John Sherman Cooper, James Reston, Allen W. Dulles and Paul Nitze. When this failed he put pressure on Security Council members to vote against the resolution. 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. Wisner was born in New York on July 2, 1938. Manage Settings This information was passed to Joseph McCarthy who started making attacks on members of the OPC. Funded with money from the CIA and MI6, the pro-monarchy forces quickly gained the upper hand. The nature of Arbenz's government, however, meant that Operation Success launched both the CIA and the United States on a new path. Wisner began his intelligence career in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II. Arbenz now believed he stood little chance of preventing Castillo gaining power. However, in 1947, he was recruited by Dean Acheson, to work under Charles Saltzman, at the State Department's Office of Occupied Territories. 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. Guillermo Toriello appealed to the United Nations to help protect Guatemalan government. ", Assassination of John F. Kennedy Encyclopedia, In December, 1956, Wisner had a mental breakdown and was diagnosed as suffering from manic depression. He later claimed that Wisner had become obsessed with the Soviet Union: "He was already mobilizing for the cold war. He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. Crocker's efforts contributed to the organization and successful discussions at the February 1984 Lusaka Conference regarding conflicts in Angola and Namibia.[9]. "Incredible". The CIA began providing financial and logistic support for Colonel Carlos Castillo. Perhaps he had made up his mind to kill himself. Wisner grew very fond of Philby and was unaware that he was a Soviet spy betraying all his operations to his masters in Moscow. . Wisner, one of the early members of the Central Intelligence Agency, helped build, and was the . It did not take him long to discover that some of them had been active in left-wing politics in the 1930s. Another historical falsehood is that becoming a leader at CIA hinges on membership in Skull and Bones, the secret society at Yale. Later he became an informal adviser to the royal family. In 1951 Allen W. Dulles persuaded Cord Meyer to join the CIA. The man who sits at the head of the table is Frank G. Wisner, a bald, barrel-chested, martini-drinking (he gave up cigars, friends say) 72-year-old retired ambassador and businessman. "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 CIA posted guards to keep the KGB from seeing who was there.). 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). The UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold was so upset by the actions of the USA that he considered resigning from his post. However, in 1947, he was recruited by Dean Acheson, to work under Charles Saltzman, at the State Department's Office of Occupied Territories. Wisner left Bucharest in the last week of January 1945.[6]. Wisner's death saddened but did not shock his colleagues. "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. Later that year Wisner established Mockingbird, a program to influence the domestic American media. 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.) . The Combat Applications Group does not write database software for infantry supply clerks; it is better known as Delta Force. The State Department didnt want anything to do with these precursors to the CIA, fearing that some blown secret mission might cripple diplomacy. 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. The POWs were returned by a U.S. Air Crew Rescue Unit via the Popeti-Leordeni Airfield. 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". 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.". 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 . The President strode from the room. Wisner remained concerned about the spread of communism and began lobbying for a new intelligence agency. Ernesto Guevara attempted to organize some civil militias but senior army officers blocked the distribution of weapons. Frank Wisner killed himself with one of his son's shotguns on 29th October, 1965. The questions from the unknown man next to me were very insistent, furtive. 1944, Wisner was sent to Turkey. Wisner's FBI file tells scurrilous tales of his wild life during and after World War II. Britain and France were both initially in favour but eventually buckled under United States pressure and agreed to abstain. In March 1953, 209,842 acres of United Fruit Company's uncultivated land was taken by the government which offered compensation of $525,000. . During the Hungarian Uprising an estimated 20,000 people were killed. Wisner was appointed director of the organization. He committed suicide in 1965. In addition, regardless of the principles being professed, when direct action was taken (whether clandestine or not), the interests of American business would be a consideration: if the flag was to follow, it would quite definitely follow trade. As a result Philby was forced to leave the United States. This included former members of the Nazi Party such as Gustav Hilger and Hans von Bittenfield. Five thousand refugees volunteered to be part of a post-nuclear guerrilla force, which was just what it sounds likeFallout: New Stalingrad. However, Barnes convinced him that it was vital important that the Soviets did not establish a "beachhead in Central America". [20], In 1961, Wisner was ordered to organize CIA activities in British Guiana. He had been elected as President of Guatemala in March, 1951. "He just has many, many friends in. He was prescribed psychoanalysis and shock therapy (electroconvulsive treatment). What right do we have to help someone topple his government and throw him out of office?" 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. The CIA was also busy bribing Arbenz's military commanders. In 1976, at the beginning of the Carter administration, he served under Cyrus Vance as Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of State. Under this innocuous title, the United States was now fully in the business of covert political operations. Hoover also passed to McCarthy details of an affair that Wisner had with Princess Caradja in Romania during the war. Hoover, claimed that Caradja was a Soviet agent. OSS agents penetrated the Romanian Communist Party and Wisner was able to discover that the Soviets intended to take over all of Eastern Europe. Dulles decided that Richard Bissell rather than Richard Helms should become the new head of the DPP. Graham himself recruited others who had worked for military intelligence during the war. He was so depressed that his wife, Polly, worried that he would try to commit suicide. To confront Soviet aggression, Wisner eventually organized a secret army in Europe. 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. This was followed by a week of bombing ports, ammunition dumps, military barracks and the international airport. 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. Early life [ edit] The President's final handshake was with Alien Dulles. Frank Wisner, the first chief of the CIA's covert-operations unit, provides a top-down view of the early Cold War, while Michael Burke, a jack-of-all-trades charmer, delivers an agent's . According to Deborah Davis in 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 able to restrict newspapers from reporting about certain events. Thomas Braden later recalled: "Wisner brought in a whole load of fascists after the war, some really nasty people. "[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. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. The State Department immediately disavowed his comments and said Wisner had not been serving as an envoy but as a conduit for certain administration views.[16]. 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. Wisner found one of his boys' shotguns and killed himself on October 29, 1965. 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." He gained support for this from James Forrestal, the Defense Secretary. Media in category "Frank Wisner" The following 3 files are in this category, out of 3 total. 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. 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.". During this period Wisner worked closely with Kim Philby, the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) liaison in Washington. He described the OPC as "Wisner's gang of weirdos" and began carrying out investigations into their past. Wisner grew very fond of Philby and was unaware that he was a Soviet spy betraying all his operations to his masters in Moscow. Faked photographs were distributed that claimed to show the mutilated bodies of opponents of Arbenz. Now internal subversion communism from within - was an additional cause for direct action. Frank Wisner was constantly looked for ways to help convince the public of the dangers of communism. Hoover also passed to McCarthy details of an affair that Wisner had with Princess Caradja in Romania during the war. He was first stationed in Cairo where he spent an uneventful year. All rights reserved. [10], Wisner died by suicide on October 29, 1965.[22]. "The cable was from Des FitzGerald. Frank Wisner died rather suddenly at age 29 years while still living in Tama County, Iowa. . He was Richard Nixon, the Vice President. He gained support for this from James Forrestal, the Defense Secretary. Frankpassed away in July 1963, at age 83. Over the next few weeks riots took place in Poland and East Germany. It was the nearest thing to an expletive I ever heard Dulles use. On his watch, the CIA overthrew the governments of Iran and Guatemalathe only two such successes in the Agencys history. He was diagnosed as manic depressive and received electroshock therapy. Wisner leaked details of the speech to the New York Times who published it on 2nd June, 1956. The Central Intelligence Agency decided that Arbenz had to be removed from power. 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. Wisner's other great success was the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz. Bissell replaced Wisner as Deputy Director of Plans. Finally Brad (Colonel Albert Haney) rehearsed his speech. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided byRefinitiv Lipper. Nixon asked a number of questions, concise and to the point, and demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the Guatemalan political situation. He was prescribed psychoanalysis and shock therapy (electroconvulsive treatment). On 18th June, 1954, aircraft dropped leaflets over Guatemala demanding that Arbenz resign immediately or else the county would be bombed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Through think-tanks to foundations, directorates to membership of gentlemen's clubs, these mandarins were interlocked by their institutional affiliations and by a shared belief in their own superiority.". The lights were turned off while Brad used slides during his report. 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. "Thanks Allen, and thanks to all of you. Most men brought their wives to these gatherings. For months, waves of airborne spies in mission after mission landed, and each was killed straightaway. View. Wisner reportedly suffered a mental breakdown after the Soviet Union quashed the Hungarian revolution in 1956, and in 1965 he committed suicide. He served as third secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Algiers, Algeria. Wisner's other great success was the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz. The real Angleton, the real Frank Wisner, the real Bill Harvey are stories in their own right. However, he began to get suspicious in 1951 and he asked William Harvey and James Jesus Angleton to investigate Philby.

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