Frank Wisner was brilliant, tortured, and a founder of American intelligence. 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. During the Hungarian Uprising an estimated 20,000 people were killed. He suffered a breakdown in 1958, and retired from the Agency in 1962. After Cairo (from June 15, 1944) he spent three months in OSS Istanbul, Turkey, as head of SI (Secret Intelligence) branch. 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". Frank Justin Wisnerwas born on month day1879, at birth place. Hector and I smiled at each other as Brad flushed with pleasure. Wisner became head of this new organization and Richard Helms became his chief of operations. The real Angleton, the real Frank Wisner, the real Bill Harvey are stories in their own right. 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 was prescribed psychoanalysis and shock therapy (electroconvulsive treatment). He persuaded President Harry S. Truman that the OSS in peacetime would be an "American Gestapo". Wisner leaked details of the speech to the New York Times who published it on 2nd June, 1956. Perhaps he had made up his mind to kill himself. Wisners office would be attached to the CIA only on paper, and strictly for funding and quarters. Over the next few weeks thousands were arrested on suspicion of communist activity. This resulted in the religious community turning against Mossadegh. He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. "Great," he said to Brad, "that was a good briefing." In June. These organizations were run by people with well-known right-wing views such as William Paley (CBS), Henry Luce (Time Magazine and Life Magazine), Arthur Hays Sulzberger (New York Times), Alfred Friendly (managing editor of the Washington Post), Jerry O'Leary (Washington Star), Hal Hendrix (Miami News), Barry Bingham Sr., (Louisville Courier-Journal), James Copley (Copley News Services) and Joseph Harrison (Christian Science Monitor). Death Frank Wisner reportedly committed suicide with one of his son's shotguns on October 29, 1965. The CIA sent Wisner to the Sheppard-Pratt Institute, a psychiatric hospital near Baltimore. He was so depressed that his wife, Polly, worried that he would try to commit suicide. Unlike most members of the Georgetown Crowd, Meyer now abandoned his liberal views. Eisenhower's first question was to Hector (Rip Robertson): "How many men did Castillo Armas lose?" ", General Ridgeway answered. He was assigned as a vice consul at the American Consulate General in Tangier, Morocco. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided byRefinitiv Lipper. They plan for apocalyptic scenarios and continuity of government. This became the espionage and counter-intelligence branch of the Central Intelligence Agency. Ernesto Guevara attempted to organize some civil militias but senior army officers blocked the distribution of weapons. When the Central Intelligence Agency was established in 1947, its founding officers had to figure out how to build a global network of spies, run secret missions, overthrow governments, and recruit agents. 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. CIA, "Letter of . 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 U.S. and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994 - George Washington University 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. Wisner was appointed director of the organization. On August 29, 1944, Lt. Comdr. Frank Wisner, the father of American covert operations, was both. I saw Frank three days before he died and he seemed in good spirits. 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. Any reaction? This machinery was in the CIA but the agency shared control of it with the State Department and the Pentagon. The company wanted $16 million for the land. The CIA was feeling particularly embattled that October. Record information. Wisner's FBI file tells scurrilous tales of his wild life during and after World War II. Feit Frank Visner aka Wisner or Vizner was born about 1857 in Cslav, Kutn Hora District, (Central Bohemian District), Bohemia, Austria. Date of death: 29 October 1965: Manner of death: suicide; Place of burial: Arlington National Cemetery (385229.114N 77414.088W, Section 6, grave 9395-C, 1965) Pseudonym: . Wisner became head of this new organization and Richard Helms became his chief of operations. Thomas points out that he "considered his friends Joe and Stewart Alsop to be reliable purveyors of the company line in their columns". DR: In a sense, The Good Shepherd and a LL.B. Wisner's other great success was the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz. 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. 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. 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. The President's final handshake was with Alien Dulles. [3] He is the son of CIA official Frank Wisner (19091965). Who made that decision?". On June 18, 1948, the United States National Security Council approved NSC 10/2 which created the Office of Special Projects. In 1964 he became a rural development officer at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, South Vietnam, for the Agency for International Development. To give some idea of how aggressively Wisner worked to build his spy network and subvert the Soviet Union, when the OPC was finally and officially absorbed into the CIA as the Directorate of Plans, it dwarfed the rest of the Agency, and consumed 75 percent of the CIA budget. In 1950, the OPC was placed under the Central Intelligence Agency and renamed the Directorate of Plans. While the Guatemalan government valued $2.99 per acre, the American government valued it at $75 per acre. William (Rip) Robertson was also involved in the campaign against Arbenz. 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.) Also involved was Richard Bissell, head of the Directorate for Plans, an organization instructed to conduct covert anti-Communist operations around the world. Some of this money was used to bribe journalists and publishers. After the war, he headed the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC), one of the OSS successor organizations, from 1948 to 1950. Khrushchev became increasingly concerned about these developments and on 4th November 1956 he sent the Red Army into Hungary. 1944, Wisner was sent to Turkey. One of the most important journalists under the control of Operation Mockingbird was Joseph Alsop, whose articles appeared in over 300 different newspapers. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. [11] He went on to become a member of the board for EOG Resources. 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. Over the next few weeks riots took place in Poland and East Germany. [10], Wisner died by suicide on October 29, 1965.[22]. Frank Wisner, Father of American Covert Operations - Mental Floss The Combat Applications Group does not write database software for infantry supply clerks; it is better known as Delta Force. Wisner added that he felt personally betrayed by this behaviour. Wisner arrived in England in September, 1959. (Mockingbird wasnt the OPCs only psychological operation, and Wisners office had a great sense of humor. The military now joined the opposition and Mossadegh was arrested on August 19, 1953. He worked in the Navy's censor's office before managing to get a transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). When the project collapsed, however, the Belarusians quickly settled in and obtained US citizenship and intelligence agencies protected them from exposure for decades. It was a warm summer night. A large number of these prisoners were tortured or killed. [2] After graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1934,[3] Wisner began working as a Wall Street lawyer for Carter, Ledyard & Milburn. Finally Brad (Colonel Albert Haney) rehearsed his speech. Eisenhower turned to his Chief of the Joint Chiefs. Also involved was Richard Bissell, head of the Directorate for Plans, an organization instructed to conduct covert anti-Communist operations around the world. 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. 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." Eisenhower shook hands all around. 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. Dulles decided that Richard Bissell rather than Richard Helms should become the new head of the DPP. Wisner grew very fond of Philby and was unaware that he was a Soviet spy betraying all his operations to his masters in Moscow. Carlos Castillo and his collection of soldiers now crossed the Honduran-Guatemalan border. In 1976, at the beginning of the Carter administration, he served under Cyrus Vance as Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of State. In 1948 Frank Wisner was appointed director of the Office of Special Projects. The nature of Arbenz's government, however, meant that Operation Success launched both the CIA and the United States on a new path. Frank Gardiner Wisner (1909 - 1965) - Genealogy - Geni Family Tree Aid Groups Warn of "Secondary Disaster" as Death Toll from Turkey . 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. [vague][15] Wisner was unsuccessful in convincing Mubarak to do so. PDF The Good Shepherd - Central Intelligence Agency Wisner was transferred to the OSS station in Wiesbaden. He was Richard Nixon, the Vice President. 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". While the Guatemalan government valued $2.99 per acre, the American government valued it at $75 per acre. [13] The OPC initially received services from the CIA but was accountable to the State Department. He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. 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. Wisner was born in New York on July 2, 1938. David Atlee Phillips was appointed to run the propaganda campaign against Arbenz's government. Wisner began his intelligence career in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II. He persuaded President Harry S. Truman that the OSS in peacetime would be an "American Gestapo". Brad finished and the lights went up. 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. It said that Frank had died and gave no reason, but I knew." He is the son of CIA official Frank Wisner (1909-1965). 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). However, he began to get suspicious in 1951 and he asked William Harvey and James Jesus Angleton to investigate Philby. Samuel Zemurray, United Fruit Company's largest shareholder, with the help of Tommy Corcoran, organized an anti-Arbenz campaign in the American media. Castillo now reversed the Arbenz reforms. Husband of Mary (Polly) Knowles a dedicated arts philanthropist and legendary Washington hostess. The Scroll and Key tomb is admired for its Moorish Revival style Scroll and Key, Yale, New Haven, Connecticut Wisner also met Arthur Schlesinger, an OSS sergeant serving in Germany. The removal of Jacobo Arbenz resulted in several decades of repression. [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. This included James Truitt, Russell Wiggins, Phil Geyelin, John Hayes and Alan Barth. However, in 1947, he was recruited by Dean Acheson, to work under Charles Saltzman, at the State Department's Office of Occupied Territories. All the top officials of the agency, from director on down, were in attendance. (A separate Office of Special Operations conducted secret actions aimed solely at gathering intelligence.) Among his overseas assignments, Wisner served as the United States Ambassador to Zambia (197982); Egypt (198691), the Philippines (199192), and India, 199497. 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. During that time, Wisner and Bishop discovered and penetrated a Russian Intelligence service named GUGBEZ. 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. 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. (A separate Office of Special Operations conducted secret actions aimed solely at gathering intelligence.) . It was not successful and still suffering from depression, he was released from hospital in 1958. Theres a general rule in secret operations: If it has a bland name, its important. . Tracy Barnes was field commander of what became known as Operation Success. According to Nina Burleigh (A Very Private Woman) these journalists sometimes wrote articles that were commissioned by Frank Wisner. Frank Wisner killed himself with one of his son's shotguns on 29th October, 1965. Castillo's new government was immediately recognised by President Dwight Eisenhower. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. This report examines the information and intelligence resources available to and relied upon by policymakers during the Rwanda crisis. Now internal subversion communism from within - was an additional cause for direct action. The President's final handshake was with Alien Dulles. This had the effect of keeping the money flowing while allowing Wisner to influence and backchannel policy decisions. Who made that decision?". He pointed out that they had spent a great deal of money on Radio Free Europe "to get these people to revolt". ", General Ridgeway answered. Frank Wisner - Ancestry.com 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). He described the OPC as "Wisner's gang of weirdos" and began carrying out investigations into their past. Frank Wisner was the first American in, and this - you're talking August, September - I guess September of 1944. Mossadegh also abolished Iran's feudal agriculture sector and replaced with a system of collective farming and government land ownership. While in Bucharest he became friendly with King Michael of Romania. The Director turned to me "They tell me you know how to write. The plot against Arbenz therefore became part of Executive Action (a plan to remove unfriendly foreign leaders from power). Iranians took to the streets against Mohammed Mossadegh. 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". Two months later he moved on to Romania where his main task was to spy on the activities of the Soviet Union. Later that year Wisner established Operation Mockingbird, a program to influence the American media. 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. The Director turned to me "They tell me you know how to write. On his watch, the CIA overthrew the governments of Iran and Guatemalathe only two such successes in the Agencys history. In April 1962 Richard Helms recalled Wisner to Washington. Harvey reported back in June 1951 that he was convinced that Philby was a KGB spy. ", Wisner, who had been involved in creating this propaganda, told friends that he felt the American government had let Hungary down. Graham himself recruited others who had worked for military intelligence during the war. 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. While its reductive to say the aftermath drove Wisner mad, its fair to say that it didnt help matters. During the war William Donovan as head of the OSS, had built up a team of 16,000 agents working behind enemy lines. (The CIA posted guards to keep the KGB from seeing who was there.). Wisner's friends believed the illness was triggered by the failure of the Hungarian Uprising. The CIA also provided them with classified information to help them with their work. The lighted shaft of the Washington Monument could be seen through the trees. He was prescribed psychoanalysis and shock therapy (electroconvulsive treatment). Over the next few weeks thousands were arrested on suspicion of communist activity. "What about the Russians? With the help of resident Anastasio Somoza, Castillo had formed a rebel army in Nicaragua. To get better results, add more information such as Birth Info, Death Info and Locationeven a guess will help. Cord Meyer and the Assassination of JFK - The Education Forum He worked in the Navy's censor's office until he managed to transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1943. He lived in Romania with a beautiful Russian spy. Frank Gardner Wisner was born in Laurel, Mississippi, in 1910. Harvey reported back in June 1951 that he was convinced that Philby was a KGB spy. "Tomorrow morning, gentlemen," Dulles said, "we will go to the White House to brief the President. Iranians took to the streets against Mohammed Mossadegh. Wisner and 21 OSS agents landed in Romania,[5] where he became head of OSS Bucharest. He whispered a number of questions: "Who is that? "[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. Bio of the CIA's Frank G. Wisner, Sr. - The Constantine Report The New York Times reported that he was a personal friend of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Indonesia 1958: Nixon, the CIA, and the Secret War The Central Intelligence Agency decided that Arbenz had to be removed from power. Richard Bissell - The Connecticut Yankee Behind the Bay of Pigs Wisner was a genteel lawyer from Mississippi who grew bored with office life and joined the Navy. The agents whom he and Burke infiltrated into Romania, Poland, the Baltic states and East Germany all disappeared; most were probably killed. ANCExplorer Frank Wisner grave.jpg. He could do that, because he was powerful. Guillermo Toriello appealed to the United Nations to help protect Guatemalan government. Frank G. Wisner, Sr. did not dabble in small matters. The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was funded by siphoning of funds intended for the Marshall Plan. The man moved away. Their articles appeared in over 300 different newspapers. This included the claim that Guatemala was the beginning of "Soviet expansion in the Americas". http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKwisner.htm Categories: People Articles with hCards Hector (Rip Robertson) said only one, a courier . [9], Immediately after the arrival of Major Robert Bishop (September 9, 1944) as head of X-2 (Counter Espionage) branch in Bucharest, Wisner started the search for German records. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. 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. After graduating Wisner worked as a Wall Street lawyer. After World War II, American governments were more willing to use their influence and strength all over the world for the first time and to see an ideological implication in the "persecution" of US business interests. A door opened near me. Alsop was happy to comply, though he doubted his columns would have much impact on the Huks. Operation Mockingbird - Spartacus Educational It did not take him long to discover that some of them had been active in left-wing politics in the 1930s. Wisner moved to Washington where he associated with a group of journalists, politicians and government officials that became known as the Georgetown Set. Wisner leaked details of the speech to the New York Times who published it on 2nd June, 1956. When Lansdale was manipulating electoral politics in the Philippines in 1953, Wisner asked Joe Alsop to write some columns warning the Filipinos not to steal the election from Magsaysay. . Wisner remained concerned about the spread of communism and began lobbying for a new intelligence agency. As a result Philby was forced to leave the United States. He committed suicide in 1965. He eventually had a breakdown, was hospitalized, and received an aggressive course of electroshock therapy. He was a good sprinter and hurdler and in 1936 was asked to compete in the Olympic trials. 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. Five thousand refugees volunteered to be part of a post-nuclear guerrilla force, which was just what it sounds likeFallout: New Stalingrad. 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). This machinery was in the CIA but the agency shared control of it with the State Department and the Pentagon. His army was outnumbered by the Guatemalan Army. 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. In 1954 Wisner arranged for the funding the Hollywood production of Animal Farm, the animated allegory based on the book written by George Orwell. Hoover also passed to McCarthy details of an affair that Wisner had with Princess Caradja in Romania during the war. [12] Wisner is chair of the board of directors of The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.[13][14]. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Wisner was too ill to return to his post as head of the DDP. After graduating Wisner worked as a Wall Street lawyer. Internationalist, abrasive, competitive, these men had an unshakeable belief in their value system, and in their duty to offer it to others.