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. Wisner remained concerned about the spread of communism and began lobbying for a new intelligence agency. In March 1945, Wisner was transferred to Wiesbaden, Germany. . No longer would the Monroe Doctrine, which was directed against foreign imperial ambitions in the Americas from across the Atlantic or the Pacific, suffice. Wisner arrived in England in September, 1959. Wisner's death saddened but did not shock his colleagues. Khrushchev became increasingly concerned about these developments and on 4th November 1956 he sent the Red Army into Hungary. Now internal subversion communism from within - was an additional cause for direct action. He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. She moved to Lodi in 1934. Wisners office would be attached to the CIA only on paper, and strictly for funding and quarters. Record information. What right do we have to help someone topple his government and throw him out of office?" [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. When he finished Alien Dulles said, "Brad, I've never heard such crap." Hector and I smiled at each other as Brad flushed with pleasure. 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. You've averted a Soviet beachhead in our hemisphere." 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. It did not take him long to discover that some of them had been active in left-wing politics in the 1930s. 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? [vague][15] Wisner was unsuccessful in convincing Mubarak to do so. 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 swearing in of Warren Christopher as United States Secretary of State later that day. He persuaded President Harry S. Truman that the OSS in peacetime would be an "American Gestapo". The program lasted through 1971. Frank Wisner killed himself with one of his son's shotguns on 29th October, 1965. Frank Wisner was brilliant, tortured, and a founder of American intelligence. Wisner was also able to restrict newspapers from reporting about certain events. Unlike most members of the Georgetown Crowd, Meyer now abandoned his liberal views. If it gets near the coast of Guatemala we'll sink the son-of-a-bitch. ' The CIA propaganda campaign included the distribution of 100,000 copies of a pamphlet entitled Chronology of Communism in Guatemala. Media in category "Frank Wisner" The following 3 files are in this category, out of 3 total. While in Germany he served under Allen W. Dulles. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. The CIA began providing financial and logistic support for Colonel Carlos Castillo. Wisner came directly from central casting as the shady OSS spy from World War II. Powered and implemented byFactSet Digital Solutions. Harvey reported back in June 1951 that he was convinced that Philby was a KGB spy. Samuel Zemurray, United Fruit Company's largest shareholder, with the help of Tommy Corcoran, organized an anti-Arbenz campaign in the American media. She was born in Ashley, N.D. She grew up and attended schools in North Dakota. Hoover, claimed that Caradja was a Soviet agent. 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. Brad finished and the lights went up. Another project started by Wisner was called Operation Bloodstone. Contents Wisner, 72, was U.S. ambassador to Egypt from 1986 to 1991 and developed a close relationship with Mubarak in that time, according to Hazard and news reports. While the Guatemalan government valued $2.99 per acre, the American government valued it at $75 per acre. A close friend, Avis Bohlen said he "was so depressed about how the world was going he felt we were losing the Cold War.". This included George Kennan, Dean Acheson, Richard Bissell, Desmond FitzGerald, Joseph Alsop, Stewart Alsop, Tracy Barnes, Thomas Braden, Philip Graham, David Bruce, Clark Clifford, Walt Rostow, Eugene Rostow, Chip Bohlen, Cord Meyer, James Angleton, William Averill Harriman, John McCloy, Felix Frankfurter, John Sherman Cooper, James Reston, Allen W. Dulles and Paul Nitze. He had upset the US government by nationalizing Iran's oil industry. This secret operation involved recruiting former German officers and diplomats who could be used in the covert war against the Soviet Union. Soon afterwards it was renamed the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC). He worked in the Navy's censor's office until he managed to transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1943. 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. The President strode from the room. One of the most important journalists under the control of Operation Mockingbird was Joseph Alsop, whose articles appeared in over 300 different newspapers. 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.) Eisenhower shook hands all around. Frank Wisner, the father of American covert operations, was both. Their published recommendations included: the establishment of law and order through the retraining of the Iraqi army, focusing on the distribution of humanitarian assistance and reestablishment of vital services, and the importance of avoiding the appointment of exiled Iraqi opposition leaders to dominant positions in the new government. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The Guatemalan Foreign Minister, Guillermo Toriello, asked the United Nations for help against the covert activities of the United States. Market data provided by Factset. 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. Iranians took to the streets against Mohammed Mossadegh. Another project started by Wisner was called Operation Bloodstone. 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. Carlos Castillo and his collection of soldiers now crossed the Honduran-Guatemalan border. FrankWisner18791963Frank Wisnerin U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Frank Wisnerwas born on September 14 1879. In all, some 1,700 American POWs were transported. [2][7] He joined the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer in December 1961. According to Deborah Davis (Katharine the Great): "By the early 1950s, Wisner 'owned' respected members of the New York Times, Newsweek, CBS and other communications vehicles.". 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. The plot against Arbenz therefore became part of Executive Action (a plan to remove unfriendly foreign leaders from power). The real Angleton, the real Frank Wisner, the real Bill Harvey are stories in their own right. 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. 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. Later he became an informal adviser to the royal family. (The CIA posted guards to keep the KGB from seeing who was there.). . Among his overseas assignments, Wisner served as the United States Ambassador to Zambia (197982); Egypt (198691), the Philippines (199192), and India, 199497. Their articles appeared in over 300 different newspapers. However, Barnes convinced him that it was vital important that the Soviets did not establish a "beachhead in Central America". Over the next few weeks thousands were arrested on suspicion of communist activity. Nagy also released anti-communists from prison and talked about holding free elections and withdrawing Hungary from the Warsaw Pact. He lived in Romania with a beautiful Russian spy. The Director turned to me "They tell me you know how to write. When the project collapsed, however, the Belarusians quickly settled in and obtained US citizenship and intelligence agencies protected them from exposure for decades. [8] Twelve B-17 Flying Fortress planes flew out the prisoners in hourly shifts. According to Nina Burleigh (A Very Private Woman) these journalists sometimes wrote articles that were commissioned by Frank Wisner. 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. Hoover also passed to McCarthy details of an affair that Wisner had with Princess Caradja in Romania during the war. Another historical falsehood is that becoming a leader at CIA hinges on membership in Skull and Bones, the secret society at Yale. Franklived in USA. Henry Breck, a junior CIA officer out of Groton and Harvard, watched his grim-faced elders as they mourned. Brad finished and the lights went up. He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. Wisner's friends believed the illness was triggered by the failure of the Hungarian Uprising. "All these people are getting killed, Wisner later said, and we weren't doing anything, we were ignoring it. Guillermo Toriello appealed to the United Nations to help protect Guatemalan government. Nixon asked a number of questions, concise and to the point, and demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the Guatemalan political situation. Mussadegh in Iran was left-wing and had indulged in talks with Russian diplomats about possible alliances and treaties. As a result the resolution was defeated by 5 votes to 4. The Two Frank Wisners. Others like Stewart Alsop, Joseph Alsop and James Reston, were recruited from within the Georgetown Set. . The CIA was also busy bribing Arbenz's military commanders. 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. However, Barnes convinced him that it was vital important that the Soviets did not establish a "beachhead in Central America". 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. Wisner moved to Washington where he associated with a group of journalists, politicians and government officials that became known as the Georgetown Set. The removal of Jacobo Arbenz resulted in several decades of repression. A month earlier word had spread through the agency that the New York Times was embarking on a first-ever investigation of the CIA. By the early 1960s he held right-wing opinions. Probably the most powerful of the Georgetown insiders was Frank Wisner, chief of covert operations for the C.I.A., and one of the most zealous of the anti-Communist crusaders who turned the agency . [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. The UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold was so upset by the actions of the USA that he considered resigning from his post. After retiring from government service in 1997, Wisner joined the board at a subsidiary of Enron, the former energy company and served on the board of American International Group (AIG). It was a warm summer night. When Truman signed the CIA into existence, the new agency found a similar reception. Over the next few weeks riots took place in Poland and East Germany. During his absence Wisner's job was covered by his chief of operations, Richard Helms.