Wisner arrived in England in September, 1959. . Two months later he moved on to Romania where his main task was to spy on the activities of the Soviet Union. CDR Frank Gardiner Wisner (1909-1965) - Find a Grave Memorial ", In December, 1956, Wisner had a mental breakdown and was diagnosed as suffering from manic depression. 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. Thus by overthrowing him, America was in effect making a new decision in the cold war. 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 disappointed by the US government's reaction to this news and he was forced to advise the Romanian royal family to go into exile. His army was outnumbered by the Guatemalan Army. Four months later he agreed to retire from the CIA. and a LL.B. As a result the resolution was defeated by 5 votes to 4. This secret operation involved recruiting former German officers and diplomats who could be used in the covert war against the Soviet Union. 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.". It was not successful and still suffering from depression, he was released from hospital in 1958. 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). This included the claim that Guatemala was the beginning of "Soviet expansion in the Americas". Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, was put in charge of what became known as Operation Ajax. Perhaps he had made up his mind to kill himself. If it gets near the coast of Guatemala we'll sink the son-of-a-bitch. ' In late 2002, Wisner co-chaired an independent working group that developed a model for the US's post-conflict role in Iraq, should an invasion occur. At Arlington Cemetery, Frank Wisner was buried as a naval commander, his wartime rank. Alsop was happy to comply, though he doubted his columns would have much impact on the Huks. He wanted to start yet another secret agencythis one accountable to virtually no one. Wisner was transferred to the OSS station in Wiesbaden. Bio of the CIA's Frank G. Wisner, Sr. - The Constantine Report Britain and France were both initially in favour but eventually buckled under United States pressure and agreed to abstain. Frank Wisner, the father of American covert operations, was both. Most men brought their wives to these gatherings. 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. Now internal subversion communism from within - was an additional cause for direct action. After leaving the OSS Wisner joined the Wall Street law firm, Carter Ledyard. Arbenz began to tackle Guatemala's unequal land distribution. However, he began to get suspicious in 1951 and he asked William Harvey and James Jesus Angleton to investigate Philby. Death Frank Wisner reportedly committed suicide with one of his son's shotguns on October 29, 1965. After graduating Wisner worked as a Wall Street lawyer. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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. Frank Wisner, the Envoy Sent to Prod Mubarak - The New York Times Khrushchev became increasingly concerned about these developments and on 4th November 1956 he sent the Red Army into Hungary. Wisner was a genteel lawyer from Mississippi who grew bored with office life and joined the Navy. Frank Gardiner Wisner (1909 - 1965) - Genealogy - Geni Family Tree No longer would the Monroe Doctrine, which was directed against foreign imperial ambitions in the Americas from across the Atlantic or the Pacific, suffice. Harvey reported back in June 1951 that he was convinced that Philby was a KGB spy. How An American Spy Predicted the Cold War - US News & World Report During the war William Donovan as head of the OSS, had built up a team of 16,000 agents working behind enemy lines. During his absence Wisner's job was covered by his chief of operations, Richard Helms. Wisner worked closely with Kim Philby, the British agent who was also a Soviet spy. 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.". Faked photographs were distributed that claimed to show the mutilated bodies of opponents of Arbenz. 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. 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. 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. Under this innocuous title, the United States was now fully in the business of covert political operations. 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.". While the Guatemalan government valued $2.99 per acre, the American government valued it at $75 per acre. Subscribe to our Spartacus Newsletter and keep up to date with the latest articles. Record information. Frank Wisner - Wikiwand It did not take him long to discover that some of them had been active in left-wing politics in the 1930s. Unlike most members of the Georgetown Crowd, Meyer now abandoned his liberal views. . Hector and I smiled at each other as Brad flushed with pleasure. It was a warm summer night. "Great," he said to Brad, "that was a good briefing." By the early 1960s he held right-wing opinions. 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. Ernesto Guevara attempted to organize some civil militias but senior army officers blocked the distribution of weapons. Powered and implemented byFactSet Digital Solutions. The results were horrifying2500 Hungarians were killed, 200,000 were forced to flee their country, and tens of thousands were arrested and imprisoned. 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. Franklived in month1918, at address, Illinois. The Wisner's A Father & Son Expose' - Issuu Wisners office would be attached to the CIA only on paper, and strictly for funding and quarters. [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. Nixon asked a number of questions, concise and to the point, and demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the Guatemalan political situation. 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. 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). [10], Wisner died by suicide on October 29, 1965.[22]. As a result Philby was forced to leave the United States. Arbenz began to tackle Guatemala's unequal land distribution. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles added that the Guatemala people were living under a "communist type of terrorism". During World War II, Wisner and his wife Polly became close friends with Philip Graham and his wife Katharine Graham who after the war became publishers of The Washington Post. Over the next few weeks riots took place in Poland and East Germany. His work involved planning a coup in Guyana, a country that had a left-wing government. 1944, Wisner was sent to Turkey. Over the next few weeks riots took place in Poland and East Germany. He retired in 1963, and committed suicide with a shotgun in 1965. Frank Wisner married Antonie Chalupsky, daughter of Frantisek Chalupsky and Katerine Chudly about 1881 and they . He was so depressed that his wife, Polly, worried that he would try to commit suicide. The lighted shaft of the Washington Monument could be seen through the trees. Castillo now reversed the Arbenz reforms. 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. 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. He worked in the Navy's censor's office until he managed to transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1943. He was a good sprinter and hurdler and in 1936 was asked to compete in the Olympic trials. He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. He pointed out that they had spent a great deal of money on Radio Free Europe "to get these people to revolt". Most men brought their wives to these gatherings. Frank Wisner, Son of Nazi-Recruiting CIA Official, Sent to Prod Mubarak 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 CIA began providing financial and logistic support for Colonel Carlos Castillo. . 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 Romanian Intelligence, they manage to obtain tons of records, including SD files, 200 rolls of German film and a large amount of Russian information. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. 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. This resulted in the religious community turning against Mossadegh. This information was passed to Joseph McCarthy who started making attacks on members of the OPC. 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. 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. Funded with money from the CIA and MI6, the pro-monarchy forces quickly gained the upper hand. No longer would the Monroe Doctrine, which was directed against foreign imperial ambitions in the Americas from across the Atlantic or the Pacific, suffice. Market data provided by Factset. The President strode from the room. The questions from the unknown man next to me were very insistent, furtive. While the Guatemalan government valued $2.99 per acre, the American government valued it at $75 per acre. 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. Continue with Recommended Cookies. When the project collapsed, however, the Belarusians quickly settled in and obtained US citizenship and intelligence agencies protected them from exposure for decades. [2] An event carried out Events Participated in References Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, Penguin, 2007, pp.36-38. Mossadegh also abolished Iran's feudal agriculture sector and replaced with a system of collective farming and government land ownership. It wasnt long before the United States recognized the obvious mistake it had made in shutting down its intelligence capabilities. Frank Wisner - JFK Assassination Debate - The Education Forum Feit Frank Visner aka Wisner or Vizner was born about 1857 in Cslav, Kutn Hora District, (Central Bohemian District), Bohemia, Austria. In March 1945, Wisner was transferred to Wiesbaden, Germany. 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." Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 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. [citation needed], Wisner married Mary Ellis 'Polly' Knowles (19122002) and they had four children: Elizabeth Wisner, Graham Wisner, Ellis Wisner, and Frank G. Wisner who entered into diplomatic service. 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. According to Nina Burleigh (A Very Private Woman) these journalists sometimes wrote articles that were commissioned by Frank Wisner. 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. He worked in the Navy's censor's office before managing to get a transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). A large staff under Desmond Fitzgerald of the Far East Division was set up. Wisner, as head of the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC), took overall responsibility for the operation. "The Empire's Bagman:" Obama Egypt Envoy Frank Wisner Says Mubarak 1944, Wisner was sent to Turkey. Frank G. Wisner - Wikipedia It was later discovered that one commander accepted $60,000 to surrender his troops. Wisner became head of this new organization and Richard Helms became his chief of operations. Some of this money was used to bribe journalists and publishers. About Frank G. Wisner. The lighted shaft of the Washington Monument could be seen through the trees. Market data provided byFactset. 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.". First headed by Allen Dulles, Wisner succeeded Dulles in 1951 when Dulles was named Director of Central Intelligence. During his absence Wisner's job was covered by his chief of operations, Richard Helms. All the top officials of the agency, from director on down, were in attendance. In 1951 Allen W. Dulles persuaded Cord Meyer to join the CIA. [11] He went on to become a member of the board for EOG Resources. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. [2][7] He joined the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer in December 1961. The Scroll and Key tomb is admired for its Moorish Revival style Scroll and Key, Yale, New Haven, Connecticut In Hungary the prime minister Imre Nagy removed state control of the mass media and encouraged public discussion on political and economic reform. 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. In 1954 Wisner arranged for the funding the Hollywood production of Animal Farm, the animated allegory based on the book written by George Orwell. Wisner began having trouble with J. Edgar Hoover. 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. 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. Mussadegh in Iran was left-wing and had indulged in talks with Russian diplomats about possible alliances and treaties. Eisenhower turned to his Chief of the Joint Chiefs. Frank Wisner, Father of American Covert Operations - Mental Floss 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. (Mockingbird wasnt the OPCs only psychological operation, and Wisners office had a great sense of humor. Later, several of the people involved in Operation Success, including Richard Bissell and Tracy Barnes, regretted the outcome of the Guatemala Coup. 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 . He became Assistant Director of the Office of Policy Coordination. Frank Gardiner Wisner - Commander, United States Navy Central With the help of resident Anastasio Somoza, Castillo had formed a rebel army in Nicaragua. degree. An indictment of the CIA, through the lives of four spies The U.S. and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994 - George Washington University The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was funded by siphoning of funds intended for the Marshall Plan. His work involved planning a coup in Guyana, a country that had a left-wing government. A decision was reached to create an organization within the CIA to conduct secret political operations. [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. Thomas points out that he "considered his friends Joe and Stewart Alsop to be reliable purveyors of the company line in their columns". The CIA was also busy bribing Arbenz's military commanders. Members are only revealed after their death - a wreath of black magnolias shaped like '7' is laid at the gravesite. At Arlington Cemetery, Frank Wisner was buried as a naval commander, his wartime rank. 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). (A separate Office of Special Operations conducted secret actions aimed solely at gathering intelligence.) Death 29 Oct 1965 (aged 56) Kent . 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. The Two Frank Wisners | The New Yorker 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). "Great," he said to Brad, "that was a good briefing." Henry Breck, a junior CIA officer out of Groton and Harvard, watched his grim-faced elders as they mourned. A large number of these prisoners were tortured or killed. 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. Franklived in USA. He had upset the US government by nationalizing Iran's oil industry. Frank Wisner, Jr., had a more steady career in the State Department, was the ambassador in Egypt between 1986 and 1991. . 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. . Others like Stewart Alsop, Joseph Alsop and James Reston, were recruited from within the Georgetown Set. The only thing theyre proving is the law of gravity, said one CIA officer. When he finished Alien Dulles said, "Brad, I've never heard such crap." [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. Frank Gardner Wisner was born in Laurel, Mississippi, in 1910.
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