Wisner left Bucharest in the last week of January 1945.[6]. Wisner was also able to restrict newspapers from reporting about certain events. We drank iced tea as we sat around a garden table in Dulles' back yard. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. Instead, President Obama turned to Frank Wisner, Jr., who has had a 36-year career in the State Department. On Tuesday, Frank Wisner, a former American diplomat, conveyed a most urgent message to Hosni Mubarak of Egypt: Barack Obama would . ", General Ridgeway answered. 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). In all, some 1,700 American POWs were transported. 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 man moved away. Wisner committed suicide. After leaving the OSS Wisner joined the Wall Street law firm, Carter Ledyard. 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. Some of this money was used to bribe journalists and publishers. Arbenz began to tackle Guatemala's unequal land distribution. Wisner remained concerned about the spread of communism and began lobbying for a new intelligence agency. The nature of Arbenz's government, however, meant that Operation Success launched both the CIA and the United States on a new path. 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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided byRefinitiv Lipper. The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was funded by siphoning of funds intended for the Marshall Plan. He suffered a breakdown in 1958, and retired from the Agency in 1962. Over the next few weeks riots took place in Poland and East Germany. 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). 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. Frank Wisner, Jr., had a more steady career in the State Department, was the ambassador in Egypt between 1986 and 1991. . [10], Wisner died by suicide on October 29, 1965.[22]. David Atlee Phillips was appointed to run the propaganda campaign against Arbenz's government. All rights reserved. Admiral. Eisenhower turned to his Chief of the Joint Chiefs. After graduating Wisner worked as a Wall Street lawyer. While the Guatemalan government valued $2.99 per acre, the American government valued it at $75 per acre. He was so depressed that his wife, Polly, worried that he would try to commit suicide. Wisner, who reside on the George Wedge farm east of town. He condemned the Great Purge and accused Stalin of abusing his power. Frank Wisner was brilliant, tortured, and a founder of American intelligence. One of the most important journalists under the control of Operation Mockingbird was Joseph Alsop, whose articles appeared in over 300 different newspapers. 1944, Wisner was sent to Turkey. For months, waves of airborne spies in mission after mission landed, and each was killed straightaway. In Hungary the prime minister Imre Nagy removed state control of the mass media and encouraged public discussion on political and economic reform. 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. Later, several of the people involved in Operation Success, including Richard Bissell and Tracy Barnes, regretted the outcome of the Guatemala Coup. Wisner's FBI file tells scurrilous tales of his wild life during and after World War II. I suspect that had we known more (it would have just made us more appreciative.) He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. Britain and France were both initially in favour but eventually buckled under United States pressure and agreed to abstain. 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. "All these people are getting killed, Wisner later said, and we weren't doing anything, we were ignoring it. However, in 1947, he was recruited by Dean Acheson, to work under Charles Saltzman, at the State Department's Office of Occupied Territories. ", Wisner, who had been involved in creating this propaganda, told friends that he felt the American government had let Hungary down. The Central Intelligence Agency decided that Arbenz had to be removed from power. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles added that the Guatemala people were living under a "communist type of terrorism". Graham himself recruited others who had worked for military intelligence during the war. ", General Ridgeway answered. In the cases of Frank Wisner and Philip Graham, it played a role in their suicides. Allen W. Dulles therefore sent him to London to be CIA chief of station in England. 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." 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.". 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. He served as third secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Algiers, Algeria. Carlos Castillo and his collection of soldiers now crossed the Honduran-Guatemalan border. In Hungary the prime minister Imre Nagy removed state control of the mass media and encouraged public discussion on political and economic reform. But Frank was a little excessive, even for me.". Wisner arrived in England in September, 1959. He was a good sprinter and hurdler and in 1936 was asked to compete in the Olympic trials. Members are only revealed after their death - a wreath of black magnolias shaped like '7' is laid at the gravesite. ", In December, 1956, Wisner had a mental breakdown and was diagnosed as suffering from manic depression. 1930 United States Federal Census. 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. [vague][15] Wisner was unsuccessful in convincing Mubarak to do so. 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. . Others like Stewart Alsop, Joseph Alsop and James Reston, were recruited from within the Georgetown Set. He was Richard Nixon, the Vice President. By the early 1960s he held right-wing opinions. In 1954 Wisner arranged for the funding the Hollywood production of Animal Farm, the animated allegory based on the book written by George Orwell. CIA's Voice of Liberation also put out similar radio broadcasts. Name: Frank Wisner Wisner's other great success was the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz. He worked in the Navy's censor's office before managing to get a transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). This was followed by a week of bombing ports, ammunition dumps, military barracks and the international airport. 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." This was the elite which ran American foreign policy and shaped legislation at home. 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. Arbenz, on the other hand, had simply been trying to reform his country and had not sought foreign help in this. 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. Unlike most members of the Georgetown Crowd, Meyer now abandoned his liberal views. No longer would the Monroe Doctrine, which was directed against foreign imperial ambitions in the Americas from across the Atlantic or the Pacific, suffice. On 18th June, 1954, aircraft dropped leaflets over Guatemala demanding that Arbenz resign immediately or else the county would be bombed. Let's run over your presentations." During his absence Wisner's job was covered by his chief of operations, Richard Helms. 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. 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". If it gets near the coast of Guatemala we'll sink the son-of-a-bitch. ' In 1951 Allen W. Dulles persuaded Cord Meyer to join the CIA. Arbenz, on the other hand, had simply been trying to reform his country and had not sought foreign help in this. It was the nearest thing to an expletive I ever heard Dulles use. This included former members of the Nazi Party such as Gustav Hilger and Hans von Bittenfield. The growth of the OSS brought conflict with John Edgar Hoover who saw it as a rival to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 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". Franklived in USA. It was later discovered that one commander accepted $60,000 to surrender his troops. As a result the resolution was defeated by 5 votes to 4. Khrushchev became increasingly concerned about these developments and on 4th November 1956 he sent the Red Army into Hungary. I saw Frank three days before he died and he seemed in good spirits. According to Nina Burleigh (A Very Private Woman) these journalists sometimes wrote articles that were commissioned by Frank Wisner. What right do we have to help someone topple his government and throw him out of office?" While its reductive to say the aftermath drove Wisner mad, its fair to say that it didnt help matters. Most men brought their wives to these gatherings. David Atlee Phillips was appointed to run the propaganda campaign against Arbenz's government. He served in South Vietnam until 1969, when he returned to the State Department as officer in charge of Tunisian affairs. 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 had been elected as President of Guatemala in March, 1951. They also produced three films on Guatemala for showing free in cinemas. [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. 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". A month earlier word had spread through the agency that the New York Times was embarking on a first-ever investigation of the CIA. Wisner found one of his boys' shotguns and killed himself on October 29, 1965. "Great," he said to Brad, "that was a good briefing." 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 second Deputy Director of Plans (DDP) in charge of the Directorate of Plans (DDP) of the Central Intelligence Agency from August 23, 1951 to September 1958. It wasnt long before the United States recognized the obvious mistake it had made in shutting down its intelligence capabilities. Alumni include Frank Wisner, one of the CIA's founders, and US ambassador to the UN Edward Stettinius, Jr. The President's final handshake was with Alien Dulles. Wisner worked closely with Kim Philby, the British agent who was also a Soviet spy. The UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold was so upset by the actions of the USA that he considered resigning from his post. He also serves on the advisory board of the National Security Network, and on the board of Refugees International. In 1954 Wisner arranged for the funding the Hollywood production of Animal Farm, the animated allegory based on the book written by George Orwell. "[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. In March 1953, 209,842 acres of United Fruit Company's uncultivated land was taken by the government which offered compensation of $525,000. While in Germany he served under Allen W. Dulles. ", He didnt take it well. On Tuesday, April third at Chicago, occurred the sudden death of little Frank M. Wisner, the three and a half years old son of Mr. and Mrs. L.S. Allen W. Dulles therefore sent him to London to be CIA chief of station in England. Mussadegh in Iran was left-wing and had indulged in talks with Russian diplomats about possible alliances and treaties. "They don't seem to be up to anything. This machinery was in the CIA but the agency shared control of it with the State Department and the Pentagon. Alsop was happy to comply, though he doubted his columns would have much impact on the Huks. During his absence Wisner's job was covered by his chief of operations, Richard Helms. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. If it gets near the coast of Guatemala we'll sink the son-of-a-bitch. ' He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. Jake Esterline was placed in charge of the CIA's Washington task force in the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. Wisner added that he felt personally betrayed by this behaviour. The Scroll and Key tomb is admired for its Moorish Revival style Scroll and Key, Yale, New Haven, Connecticut Wisner moved to Washington where he associated with a group of journalists, politicians and government officials that became known as the Georgetown Set. 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. [11] On September 1, 1948, the office was formally established, although it was renamed to the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) for obfuscation purposes. In April 1962 Richard Helms recalled Wisner to Washington. That beginning took place for him in Romania, simultaneously dealing with the results of the German war and with the coming reality of Soviet power. "Instead of a dirge, it was exuberant, powerful, exultant," recalled Tom Braden. They also produced three films on Guatemala for showing free in cinemas. Wisner grew very fond of Philby and was unaware that he was a Soviet spy betraying all his operations to his masters in Moscow. It has been estimated that between January and June, 1954, the CIA spent about $20 million on Castillo's army. It also highlights the structure and personalities of U.S. decision-making during that late spring of 1994 when hundreds of thousands were killed as the U.S. and other nations stood by. It was a warm summer night. [12] Wisner was chosen to lead the OPC in the capacity of Assistant Director for Policy Coordination (ADPC). But Frank was a little excessive, even for me.". Phillips, along with E. Howard Hunt, was responsible for running the CIA's Voice of Liberation radio station. Evan Thomas, the author of The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA (1995), argues that Joseph Alsop and Stewart Alsop worked very closely with Winser. A decision was reached to create an organization within the CIA to conduct secret political operations. Frank G. Wisner Jr. grew up in the long shadow of his secret agent father. Senator McCarthy succeeded in forcing CIA director Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter to dismiss long-time staffer Carmel Offie in 1950, over Wisner's objections.[19]. He announced a change in policy and gave orders for the Soviet Union's political prisoners to be released. 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 father of American covert operations, was both. 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. Harvey reported back in June 1951 that he was convinced that Philby was a KGB spy. Wisner moved to Washington where he associated with a group of journalists, politicians and government officials that became known as the Georgetown Set. A door opened near me. 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." 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. I myself was no great admirer of the Soviet Union, and I certainly had no expectation of harmonious relations after the war. 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". Wisner's suicide was "entirely rational, if you can say such a thing," said his niece Jean Lindsey. Wisner Junior was well-known in the CIA and he worked as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Under Secretary of . Thomas Braden later recalled: "Wisner brought in a whole load of fascists after the war, some really nasty people. The CIA was feeling particularly embattled that October. "Thanks Allen, and thanks to all of you. His work involved planning a coup in Guyana, a country that had a left-wing government. Frank Wisner, who was part of the small network of OSS hands eager to get back in the spy game, had a solution to the problem. 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. George Cristian Maior, former head of Romanian intelligence and current Ambassador to the United States, has written a . The Director turned to me "They tell me you know how to write. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Finally Brad (Colonel Albert Haney) rehearsed his speech. Wisner was a genteel lawyer from Mississippi who grew bored with office life and joined the Navy. Hector (Rip Robertson) said only one, a courier . With the help of resident Anastasio Somoza, Castillo had formed a rebel army in Nicaragua. Wisner's other great success was the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz. [11] He went on to become a member of the board for EOG Resources. 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.". 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.). Soon afterwards it was renamed the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC). He later claimed that Wisner had become obsessed with the Soviet Union: "He was already mobilizing for the cold war. A large number of these prisoners were tortured or killed. The Combat Applications Group does not write database software for infantry supply clerks; it is better known as Delta Force. Wisner's suicide was "entirely rational, if you can say such a thing," said his niece Jean Lindsey. This included James Truitt, Russell Wiggins, Phil Geyelin, John Hayes and Alan Barth. This included the claim that Guatemala was the beginning of "Soviet expansion in the Americas". document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. His work involved planning a coup in Guyana, a country that had a left-wing government. Under this innocuous title, the United States was now fully in the business of covert political operations. Wisner's friends believed the illness was triggered by the failure of the Hungarian Uprising. Wisner was appointed director of the organization. Wisner was a genteel lawyer from Mississippi who grew bored with office life and joined the Navy. 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. From 1974 to 1975, he was Director of the Office of Plans and Management in the Bureau of Public Affairs and in late 1975 became Deputy Director of the President's Indo-China Task Force in the Department.[8]. Frank Wisner was born in Laurel, Mississippi, in 1910. The company wanted $16 million for the land. It would nominally report to a senior State Department official. "Incredible". (A separate Office of Special Operations conducted secret actions aimed solely at gathering intelligence.) 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. Later he became an informal adviser to the royal family. Wisner remained concerned about the spread of communism and began lobbying for a new intelligence agency. He worked in the Navy's censor's office before managing to get a transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The real Angleton, the real Frank Wisner, the real Bill Harvey are stories in their own right. He talked about his children. He described the OPC as "Wisner's gang of weirdos" and began carrying out investigations into their past. 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. During the war William Donovan as head of the OSS, had built up a team of 16,000 agents working behind enemy lines. 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. [1] He was also tapped for the Seven Society. Early life [ edit] Wisner was born in New York on July 2, 1938. Another project started by Wisner was called Operation Bloodstone. The CIA sent Wisner to the Sheppard-Pratt Institute, a psychiatric hospital near Baltimore. Harrison E. Salisbury commented: "He (Wisner) was the key to a great many things, a brilliant, compulsive man, of enormous charm, imagination, and conviction that anything, anything could be achieved and that he could achieve it. "What about the Russians? Frank Wisner took over direct command of the everyday operations of the Indonesian project. ANCExplorer Frank Wisner grave.jpg. He was Richard Nixon, the Vice President. He eventually had a breakdown, was hospitalized, and received an aggressive course of electroshock therapy. In March 1953, 209,842 acres of United Fruit Company's uncultivated land was taken by the government which offered compensation of $525,000. Two months later he moved on to Romania where his main task was to spy on the activities of the Soviet Union. ", Assassination of John F. Kennedy Encyclopedia, In December, 1956, Wisner had a mental breakdown and was diagnosed as suffering from manic depression. During this period Wisner worked closely with Kim Philby, the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) liaison in Washington. On August 2, 1936, she married Arthur S. Wisner in Sparks, Nev. Mrs. Wisner had been active in the Emanuel. He persuaded President Harry S. Truman that the OSS in peacetime would be an "American Gestapo". http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKwisner.htm, Your email address will not be published. He whispered a number of questions: "Who is that? Brad finished and the lights went up. Carlos Castillo and his collection of soldiers now crossed the Honduran-Guatemalan border. Wisner was placed in charge of this new branch, and was beginning to find some real successes. 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]. The military now joined the opposition and Mossadegh was arrested on August 19, 1953. The CIA began providing financial and logistic support for Colonel Carlos Castillo. The CIA propaganda campaign included the distribution of 100,000 copies of a pamphlet entitled Chronology of Communism in Guatemala. Iranians took to the streets against Mohammed Mossadegh. The questions from the unknown man next to me were very insistent, furtive. Wisner also met Arthur Schlesinger, an OSS sergeant serving in Germany. 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. Britain and France were both initially in favour but eventually buckled under United States pressure and agreed to abstain. 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". Later that year Wisner established Mockingbird, a program to influence the domestic American media. Most men brought their wives to these gatherings. Frank Wisner, Jr. WASHINGTON Once a month or so, a coterie of aging diplomats convenes at the elegant Metropolitan Club of New York. During the war William Donovan as head of the OSS, had built up a team of 16,000 agents working behind enemy lines.

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