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The DPP now accounted for three quarters of the CIA budget and 60% of its personnel. The company wanted $16 million for the land. . His work involved planning a coup in Guyana, a country that had a left-wing government. The DPP now accounted for three quarters of the CIA budget and 60% of its personnel. It said that Frank had died and gave no reason, but I knew." Wisner found one of his boys' shotguns and killed himself on October 29, 1965. "Great," he said to Brad, "that was a good briefing." 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. 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. 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. 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 removal of Jacobo Arbenz resulted in several decades of repression. However, he got bored and enlisted in the United States Navy six months before Pearl Harbor. Wisner was appointed director of the organization. Wisner also met Arthur Schlesinger, an OSS sergeant serving in Germany. Alumni include Frank Wisner, one of the CIA's founders, and US ambassador to the UN Edward Stettinius, Jr. While its reductive to say the aftermath drove Wisner mad, its fair to say that it didnt help matters. Wisner expected the United States would help the Hungarians. 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 If it gets near the coast of Guatemala we'll sink the son-of-a-bitch. ' But Frank was a little excessive, even for me.". Later, several of the people involved in Operation Success, including Richard Bissell and Tracy Barnes, regretted the outcome of the Guatemala Coup. "He just has many, many friends in. When he finished Alien Dulles said, "Brad, I've never heard such crap." 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. Wisner leaked details of the speech to the New York Times who published it on 2nd June, 1956. Another project started by Wisner was called Operation Bloodstone. (The CIA posted guards to keep the KGB from seeing who was there.). After graduating Wisner worked as a Wall Street lawyer. [8] Twelve B-17 Flying Fortress planes flew out the prisoners in hourly shifts. "Instead of a dirge, it was exuberant, powerful, exultant," recalled Tom Braden. : the individuals concerned have for . The CIA sent Wisner to the Sheppard-Pratt Institute, a psychiatric hospital near Baltimore. Wisner's friends believed the illness was triggered by the failure of the Hungarian Uprising. They also produced three films on Guatemala for showing free in cinemas. "He realized that his life would be circumscribed by increasing cycles of depression. The lighted shaft of the Washington Monument could be seen through the trees. He was diagnosed as manic depressive and received electroshock therapy. Faked photographs were distributed that claimed to show the mutilated bodies of opponents of Arbenz. 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". In Hungary the prime minister Imre Nagy removed state control of the mass media and encouraged public discussion on political and economic reform. Henry Cabot Lodge tried to block the Security Council from discussing a resolution to send an investigation team to Guatemala. She was born in Ashley, N.D. She grew up and attended schools in North Dakota. Five thousand refugees volunteered to be part of a post-nuclear guerrilla force, which was just what it sounds likeFallout: New Stalingrad. "Thanks Allen, and thanks to all of you. During this period Wisner worked closely with Kim Philby, the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) liaison in Washington. Wisner arrived in England in September, 1959. 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 was assigned as a vice consul at the American Consulate General in Tangier, Morocco. Wisner recruited Philip Graham (Washington Post) to run the project within the industry. 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). Thomas points out that he "considered his friends Joe and Stewart Alsop to be reliable purveyors of the company line in their columns". 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. He had been elected as President of Guatemala in March, 1951. It was an exhausting, stressful, and almost impossible job. His work involved planning a coup in Guyana, a country that had a left-wing government. In 2012 he succeeded Paul A. Volcker as chairman of the board of trustees of International House, a cultural-exchange residence and program center in New York City. He worked in the Navy's censor's office before managing to get a transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). 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. In 19451946, he returned to law practice at Carter, Ledyard & Milburn. Wisner began his intelligence career in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II. 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. 1930s. Wisner recruited Philip Graham (Washington Post) to run the project within the industry. By the early 1960s he held right-wing opinions. Brad finished and the lights went up. (A separate Office of Special Operations conducted secret actions aimed solely at gathering intelligence.) Frank Gardiner Wisner (June 23, 1909 - October 29, 1965) was head of Office of Strategic Services operations in southeastern Europe in 1944-1945 at the end of World War II, and served as the 2nd Deputy Director of Plans in charge of the Directorate of Plans of the Central Intelligence Agency from August 23, 1951 to January 1, 1959. This included James Truitt, Russell Wiggins, Phil Geyelin, John Hayes and Alan Barth. For months, waves of airborne spies in mission after mission landed, and each was killed straightaway. What right do we have to help someone topple his government and throw him out of office?" It would nominally report to a senior State Department official. He later claimed that Wisner had become obsessed with the Soviet Union: "He was already mobilizing for the cold war. . 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? With the help of resident Anastasio Somoza, Castillo had formed a rebel army in Nicaragua. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKwisner.htm, Your email address will not be published. First headed by Allen Dulles, Wisner succeeded Dulles in 1951 when Dulles was named Director of Central Intelligence. As a result Philby was forced to leave the United States. Four months later he agreed to retire from the CIA. They also produced three films on Guatemala for showing free in cinemas. 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. This was the elite which ran American foreign policy and shaped legislation at home. Wisner began his intelligence career in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II. Castillo's new government was immediately recognised by President Dwight Eisenhower. Jake Esterline was placed in charge of the CIA's Washington task force in the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. [10], Wisner is an advisory board member for the Partnership for a Secure America, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy. The Combat Applications Group does not write database software for infantry supply clerks; it is better known as Delta Force. Frank Wisner was constantly looked for ways to help convince the public of the dangers of communism. Hector and I smiled at each other as Brad flushed with pleasure. 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". For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for Frank Wisner . After 1953 the network was overseen by Allen W. Dulles, director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The lights were turned off while Brad used slides during his report. It was a warm summer night. He worked in the Navy's censor's office before managing to get a transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). However, in 1947, he was recruited by Dean Acheson, to work under Charles Saltzman, at the State Department's Office of Occupied Territories. 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 expected the United States would help the Hungarians. He was dismissed from the CIA in 1950 after an arrest a few years earlier brought his homosexuality to the attention of Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Lavender scare that saw a purge of the State Department personnel because of charges of homosexuality. post-template-default single single-post postid-2835 single-format-standard. Soon afterwards it was renamed the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC). 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. When this failed he put pressure on Security Council members to vote against the resolution. He eventually had a breakdown, was hospitalized, and received an aggressive course of electroshock therapy. Another project started by Wisner was called Operation Bloodstone. Market data provided by Factset. So still, there's still another, you know, year left in the war. The program successfully inserted countless pro-American news stories into coverage while suppressing reporting that might be embarrassing to the country. Name: Frank Wisner With the help of resident Anastasio Somoza, Castillo had formed a rebel army in Nicaragua. . The CIA began providing financial and logistic support for Colonel Carlos Castillo. Dulles decided that Richard Bissell rather than Richard Helms should become the new head of the DPP. After leaving the OSS Wisner joined the Wall Street law firm, Carter Ledyard. In 1954 Wisner arranged for the funding the Hollywood production of Animal Farm, the animated allegory based on the book written by George Orwell. 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. The CIA was feeling particularly embattled that October. While the Guatemalan government valued $2.99 per acre, the American government valued it at $75 per acre. He talked about his children. ", In December, 1956, Wisner had a mental breakdown and was diagnosed as suffering from manic depression. . 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. 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.". Frank G. Wisner Jr. grew up in the long shadow of his secret agent father. Guillermo Toriello appealed to the United Nations to help protect Guatemalan government. Wisner, one of the early members of the Central Intelligence Agency, helped build, and was the . He became Assistant Director of the Office of Policy Coordination. When this failed he put pressure on Security Council members to vote against the resolution. 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. All the top officials of the agency, from director on down, were in attendance. Among his overseas assignments, Wisner served as the United States Ambassador to Zambia (197982); Egypt (198691), the Philippines (199192), and India, 199497. A decision was reached to create an organization within the CIA to conduct secret political operations. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. 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. Allen W. Dulles therefore sent him to London to be CIA chief of station in England. In April 1962 Richard Helms recalled Wisner to Washington. 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. 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 . Some of this money was used to bribe journalists and publishers. 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. 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. The FBI hated them because they didnt want competition. 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. The growth of the OSS brought conflict with John Edgar Hoover who saw it as a rival to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I saw Frank three days before he died and he seemed in good spirits. Wisner was obviously too sick to go to Spain. The questions from the unknown man next to me were very insistent, furtive. 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. Ernesto Guevara attempted to organize some civil militias but senior army officers blocked the distribution of weapons. Contents Wisner committed suicide. Early life [ edit] Afterward, he obviously wasnt equipped to go back to the Directorate of Plans, so he was made the station chief in London. With the help of George Kennan, the Office of Special Projects was created in 1948. About Frank G. Wisner. Wisner Junior was well-known in the CIA and he worked as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Under Secretary of . 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. "Thanks Allen, and thanks to all of you. He was a good sprinter and hurdler and in 1936 was asked to compete in the Olympic trials. 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". Unlike most members of the Georgetown Crowd, Meyer now abandoned his liberal views. Four days later, after a day in which Mubarak allies took violent reprisal against democracy activists, Wisner spoke to a security conference in Europe and called it "crucial" that Mubarak stay on in the interest of "stability." 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. He worked in the Navy's censor's office until he managed to transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1943. Wisner was educated at the University of Virginia, where he received both a B.A. Over the next few weeks thousands were arrested on suspicion of communist activity. "What about the Russians? However, Wisner was cleared of all suspicions by the CIA Office of Security. The POWs were returned by a U.S. Air Crew Rescue Unit via the Popeti-Leordeni Airfield. Later that year Wisner established Operation Mockingbird, a program to influence the American media. This included former members of the Nazi Party such as Gustav Hilger and Hans von Bittenfield. "The cable was from Des FitzGerald. 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. One of the most important journalists under the control of Operation Mockingbird was Joseph Alsop, whose articles appeared in over 300 different newspapers. In 1950, the OPC was placed under the Central Intelligence Agency and renamed the Directorate of Plans. 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." You've averted a Soviet beachhead in our hemisphere." 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.". However, Barnes convinced him that it was vital important that the Soviets did not establish a "beachhead in Central America". In 1954 Wisner arranged for the funding the Hollywood production of Animal Farm, the animated allegory based on the book written by George Orwell. While the Guatemalan government valued $2.99 per acre, the American government valued it at $75 per acre. 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. 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. Wisner was too ill to return to his post as head of the DDP. Jake Esterline was placed in charge of the CIA's Washington task force in the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. The Director turned to me "They tell me you know how to write. As previously described at Mental Floss, one of their more brilliant, but alas, never executed, operations involved airdropping enormous condoms labeled medium behind the Iron Curtain, as a way of demonstrating the anatomical superiority of the American fighting man.). In early 2011, the Obama administration asked Wisner to carry views to Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, including advice that Mubarak should resign to defuse the crisis. "Frank Wisner, Jr. was a big catch for Enron Corporation. Wisner was also able to restrict newspapers from reporting about certain events. Others like Stewart Alsop, Joseph Alsop and James Reston, were recruited from within the Georgetown Set. Work out a new speech for Brad We went to the White House in the morning. The CIA was also busy bribing Arbenz's military commanders. After graduating Wisner worked as a Wall Street lawyer. In April 1962 Richard Helms recalled Wisner to Washington. In 1951 Allen W. Dulles persuaded Cord Meyer to join the CIA. No senior gure of the time at CIA ever had anything to do with that organization. "He realized that his life would be circumscribed by increasing cycles of depression. Continue with Recommended Cookies. FrankWisner18791963Frank Wisnerin U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Frank Wisnerwas born on September 14 1879. The President's final handshake was with Alien Dulles. The removal of Jacobo Arbenz resulted in several decades of repression. The company wanted $16 million for the land. "[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. The Defense Department preferred to save its dirty tricks for times of war. Hector and I smiled at each other as Brad flushed with pleasure. However, he began to get suspicious in 1951 and he asked William Harvey and James Jesus Angleton to investigate Philby. When Truman signed the CIA into existence, the new agency found a similar reception. According to Nina Burleigh (A Very Private Woman) these journalists sometimes wrote articles that were commissioned by Frank Wisner. 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. 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.". 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. Wisner became head of this new organization and Richard Helms became his chief of operations. [6][7], Wisner arrived just as Romania joined the Allies and declared war on the Axis. [16], On August 23, 1951, Wisner succeeded Allen W. Dulles and became the second Deputy Director of Plans, with Richard Helms as his chief of operations. After graduating Wisner worked as a Wall Street lawyer. At Arlington Cemetery, Frank Wisner was buried as a naval commander, his wartime rank. 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 became head of this new organization and Richard Helms became his chief of operations. Accepting that further resistance would only bring more deaths he announced his resignation over the radio. This secret operation involved recruiting former German officers and diplomats who could be used in the covert war against the Soviet Union. 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. Today, Wisner serves as an international affairs advisor for global legal powerhouse Squire Patton . During his absence Wisner's job was covered by his chief of operations, Richard Helms. As a result the resolution was defeated by 5 votes to 4. He committed suicide in 1965. The CIA propaganda campaign included the distribution of 100,000 copies of a pamphlet entitled Chronology of Communism in Guatemala. Let's run over your presentations." He is a member of the Metropolitan Club of Washington DC. Media in category "Frank Wisner" The following 3 files are in this category, out of 3 total. The lighted shaft of the Washington Monument could be seen through the trees. However, he began to get suspicious in 1951 and he asked William Harvey and James Jesus Angleton to investigate Philby. Wisners office would be attached to the CIA only on paper, and strictly for funding and quarters. (Mockingbird wasnt the OPCs only psychological operation, and Wisners office had a great sense of humor.