Wisner, one of the early members of the Central Intelligence Agency, helped build, and was the . "They don't seem to be up to anything. The UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold was so upset by the actions of the USA that he considered resigning from his post. Wisner arrived in England in September, 1959. His lineage is impeccable, since his father, Frank Wisner Sr., was a senior CIA official (from 1947 until his suicide in 1965) who was involved in the overthrow of Arbenz of Guatemala (1954) and Mossadeq of Iran (1953). 1930 United States Federal Census. By the early 1960s he held right-wing opinions. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. His army was outnumbered by the Guatemalan Army. 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. David Atlee Phillips was appointed to run the propaganda campaign against Arbenz's government. post-template-default single single-post postid-2835 single-format-standard. In this position, he was instrumental in supporting pro-American forces that toppled Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran in 1953[citation needed] and Jacobo Arbenz Guzmn in Guatemala in 1954. The whole arrangement of American power in the world from the nineteenth century was based on commercial concerns and methods of operation his had given America a material empire through the ownership of foreign transport systems, oil fields, estancias, stocks, and shares. 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). [9], Immediately after the arrival of Major Robert Bishop (September 9, 1944) as head of X-2 (Counter Espionage) branch in Bucharest, Wisner started the search for German records. I saw Frank three days before he died and he seemed in good spirits. He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. The lighted shaft of the Washington Monument could be seen through the trees. DR: In a sense, The Good Shepherd The questions from the unknown man next to me were very insistent, furtive. He worked tirelessly during the Hungarian Uprising in 1956 to roll back Soviet expansion, but was largely ignored for fear of triggering a nuclear war. He was so depressed that his wife, Polly, worried that he would try to commit suicide. If it gets near the coast of Guatemala we'll sink the son-of-a-bitch. ' A door opened near me. Wisner recruited Philip Graham (Washington Post) to run the project within the industry. For months, waves of airborne spies in mission after mission landed, and each was killed straightaway. Wisner's FBI file tells scurrilous tales of his wild life during and after World War II. In March 1945, Wisner was transferred to Wiesbaden, Germany. All the top officials of the agency, from director on down, were in attendance. He persuaded President Harry S. Truman that the OSS in peacetime would be an "American Gestapo". So still, there's still another, you know, year left in the war. 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. 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 was prescribed psychoanalysis and shock therapy (electroconvulsive treatment). They plan for apocalyptic scenarios and continuity of government. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Phillips, along with E. Howard Hunt, was responsible for running the CIA's Voice of Liberation radio station. View. During this period Wisner worked closely with Kim Philby, the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) liaison in Washington. Wisner Junior was well-known in the CIA and he worked as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Under Secretary of . It would nominally report to a senior State Department official. [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. Death Frank Wisner reportedly committed suicide with one of his son's shotguns on October 29, 1965. Castillo now reversed the Arbenz reforms. Harvey reported back in June 1951 that he was convinced that Philby was a KGB spy. "All these people are getting killed, Wisner later said, and we weren't doing anything, we were ignoring it. Frank Wisner was constantly looked for ways to help convince the public of the dangers of communism. While in Germany he served under Allen W. Dulles. The only thing theyre proving is the law of gravity, said one CIA officer. "They don't seem to be up to anything. They also produced three films on Guatemala for showing free in cinemas. ANCExplorer Frank Wisner grave.jpg. Harvey reported back in June 1951 that he was convinced that Philby was a KGB spy. His work involved planning a coup in Guyana, a country that had a left-wing government. In June. He was so depressed that his wife, Polly, worried that he would try to commit suicide. She moved to Lodi in 1934. 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 married to Christine de Ganay, the stepmother of Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France from 2007 until 2012. He orchestrated a massive spy ring, many of whose members were tasked with parachuting into Soviet territory and gathering intelligence. Any reaction? Wisner's death saddened but did not shock his colleagues. Franklived in USA. 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. Frank Wisner killed himself with one of his son's shotguns on 29th October, 1965. They were the patricians of the modern age, the paladins of democracy, and saw no contradiction in that. Eisenhower turned to his Chief of the Joint Chiefs. Wisner Sr. died in 1965 by michael gordon. Frankpassed away in July 1963, at age 83. Members are only revealed after their death - a wreath of black magnolias shaped like '7' is laid at the gravesite. He was a good sprinter and hurdler and in 1936 was asked to compete in the Olympic trials. It has been estimated that between January and June, 1954, the CIA spent about $20 million on Castillo's army. 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. Wisner was appointed director of the organization. The CIA propaganda campaign included the distribution of 100,000 copies of a pamphlet entitled Chronology of Communism in Guatemala. Wisner found one of his boys' shotguns and killed himself on October 29, 1965. Four months later he agreed to retire from the CIA. Wisner was transferred to the OSS station in Wiesbaden. After graduating Wisner worked as a Wall Street lawyer. Subscribe to our Spartacus Newsletter and keep up to date with the latest articles. The State Department didnt want anything to do with these precursors to the CIA, fearing that some blown secret mission might cripple diplomacy. Legal Statement. Legal Statement. Frank Gardner Wisner was born in Laurel, Mississippi, in 1910. Graham himself recruited others who had worked for military intelligence during the war. This included former members of the Nazi Party such as Gustav Hilger and Hans von Bittenfield. 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. Wisner was placed in charge of this new branch, and was beginning to find some real successes. 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. Castillo's new government was immediately recognised by President Dwight Eisenhower. All results for Frank Wisner. ", General Ridgeway answered. The plot against Arbenz therefore became part of Executive Action (a plan to remove unfriendly foreign leaders from power). Samuel Zemurray, United Fruit Company's largest shareholder, with the help of Tommy Corcoran, organized an anti-Arbenz campaign in the American media. Nixon asked a number of questions, concise and to the point, and demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the Guatemalan political situation. Wisner was transferred to the OSS station in Wiesbaden. Eisenhower turned to his Chief of the Joint Chiefs. He was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange and the University of Virginia. Today, Wisner serves as an international affairs advisor for global legal powerhouse Squire Patton . Wisner added that he felt personally betrayed by this behaviour. Alsop was happy to comply, though he doubted his columns would have much impact on the Huks. Accepting that further resistance would only bring more deaths he announced his resignation over the radio. Theres a general rule in secret operations: If it has a bland name, its important. According to Deborah Davis, Meyer became Mockingbird's "principal operative". Media in category "Frank Wisner" The following 3 files are in this category, out of 3 total. Some of this money was used to bribe journalists and publishers. Frank Wisner was the first American in, and this - you're talking August, September - I guess September of 1944. Later, several of the people involved in Operation Success, including Richard Bissell and Tracy Barnes, regretted the outcome of the Guatemala Coup. Four months later he agreed to retire from the CIA. The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was funded by siphoning of funds intended for the Marshall Plan. Wisner began his intelligence career in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II. With the help of resident Anastasio Somoza, Castillo had formed a rebel army in Nicaragua. In 1948 Frank Wisner was appointed director of the Office of Special Projects. He was impressive - not at all the disturbing man he was in the shadows. Worse yet, the few offices still around with any sort of proficiency in covert action were just too accountable. Henry Breck, a junior CIA officer out of Groton and Harvard, watched his grim-faced elders as they mourned. Wisner's death saddened but did not shock his colleagues. In Hungary the prime minister Imre Nagy removed state control of the mass media and encouraged public discussion on political and economic reform. [8] Twelve B-17 Flying Fortress planes flew out the prisoners in hourly shifts. Afterward, he obviously wasnt equipped to go back to the Directorate of Plans, so he was made the station chief in London. Eisenhower shook hands all around. At Arlington Cemetery, Frank Wisner was buried as a naval commander, his wartime rank. 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. He had been elected as President of Guatemala in March, 1951. In fact, according to several of his friends, on social occasions he became very aggressive when discussing politics. Alumni include Frank Wisner, one of the CIA's founders, and US ambassador to the UN Edward Stettinius, Jr. "Tomorrow morning, gentlemen," Dulles said, "we will go to the White House to brief the President. However, he got bored and enlisted in the United States Navy six months before Pearl Harbor. The CIA was feeling particularly embattled that October. 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]. She was born in Ashley, N.D. She grew up and attended schools in North Dakota. Frank Wisner died rather suddenly at age 29 years while still living in Tama County, Iowa. 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. 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's friends believed the illness was triggered by the failure of the Hungarian Uprising. Let's run over your presentations." 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.) Wisner leaked details of the speech to the New York Times who published it on 2nd June, 1956. Feb 21, 11:00 am. A decision was reached to create an organization within the CIA to conduct secret political operations. Nixon asked a number of questions, concise and to the point, and demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the Guatemalan political situation. 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". Let's run over your presentations." Soon afterwards it was renamed the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC). 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. The man moved away. He eventually had a breakdown, was hospitalized, and received an aggressive course of electroshock therapy. 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. Britain and France were both initially in favour but eventually buckled under United States pressure and agreed to abstain. Most men brought their wives to these gatherings. The POWs were returned by a U.S. Air Crew Rescue Unit via the Popeti-Leordeni Airfield. After leaving the OSS Wisner joined the Wall Street law firm, Carter Ledyard. His work involved planning a coup in Guyana, a country that had a left-wing government. Thus by overthrowing him, America was in effect making a new decision in the cold war. Frank Wisner was born in Laurel, Mississippi, in 1910. Perhaps he had made up his mind to kill himself. The company wanted $16 million for the land. Nagy also released anti-communists from prison and talked about holding free elections and withdrawing Hungary from the Warsaw Pact. He had upset the US government by nationalizing Iran's oil industry. Hoover also passed to McCarthy details of an affair that Wisner had with Princess Caradja in Romania during the war. 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. "Thanks Allen, and thanks to all of you. "Instead of a dirge, it was exuberant, powerful, exultant," recalled Tom Braden. Eisenhower shook his head, perhaps thinking of the thousands who had died in France. 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. Wisner came directly from central casting as the shady OSS spy from World War II. This became the espionage and counter-intelligence branch of the Central Intelligence Agency. Such vague accusations as that "more than ten people have died mysteriously" can always be explained in some natural way e.g. I myself was no great admirer of the Soviet Union, and I certainly had no expectation of harmonious relations after the war. It was a warm summer night. Dulles decided that Richard Bissell rather than Richard Helms should become the new head of the DPP. He also serves on the advisory board of the National Security Network, and on the board of Refugees International. He was a good sprinter and hurdler and in 1936 was asked to compete in the Olympic trials. The CIA propaganda campaign included the distribution of 100,000 copies of a pamphlet entitled Chronology of Communism in Guatemala. 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. 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. Under this innocuous title, the United States was now fully in the business of covert political operations. He became Assistant Director of the Office of Policy Coordination. Over the next few weeks riots took place in Poland and East Germany. While the Guatemalan government valued $2.99 per acre, the American government valued it at $75 per acre. 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. "Thanks Allen, and thanks to all of you. He had upset the US government by nationalizing Iran's oil industry. "Frank Wisner, Jr. was a big catch for Enron Corporation. William (Rip) Robertson was also involved in the campaign against Arbenz. Faked photographs were distributed that claimed to show the mutilated bodies of opponents of Arbenz. The program lasted through 1971. [21], In 1962, Wisner retired from the CIA. On 18th June, 1954, aircraft dropped leaflets over Guatemala demanding that Arbenz resign immediately or else the county would be bombed. About Frank G. Wisner. A door opened near me. A large staff under Desmond Fitzgerald of the Far East Division was set up. 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.". The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. By this time Operation Mockingbird had a major influence over 25 newspapers and wire agencies. [10], Wisner died by suicide on October 29, 1965.[22]. Wisner reportedly suffered a mental breakdown after the Soviet Union quashed the Hungarian revolution in 1956, and in 1965 he committed suicide. Among his overseas assignments, Wisner served as the United States Ambassador to Zambia (197982); Egypt (198691), the Philippines (199192), and India, 199497. CIA's Voice of Liberation also put out similar radio broadcasts. The President strode from the room. He committed suicide in 1965. The Director turned to me "They tell me you know how to write. Wisner began having trouble with J. Edgar Hoover. Wisner grew very fond of Philby and was unaware that he was a Soviet spy betraying all his operations to his masters in Moscow. Dulles decided that Richard Bissell rather than Richard Helms should become the new head of the DPP. It was not successful and still suffering from depression, he was released from hospital in 1958. 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. 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." He pointed out that they had spent a great deal of money on Radio Free Europe "to get these people to revolt". Later, several of the people involved in Operation Success, including Richard Bissell and Tracy Barnes, regretted the outcome of the Guatemala Coup. http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKwisner.htm Categories: People Articles with hCards Wisner and 21 OSS agents landed in Romania,[5] where he became head of OSS Bucharest. 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". Arbenz, on the other hand, had simply been trying to reform his country and had not sought foreign help in this. 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. 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. 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). The most active element of this special staff came from the CIA's clandestine Air Division which at that time was under the control of Dick Helms. Over the next few weeks thousands were arrested on suspicion of communist activity. "I got a cable in Kuala Lumpur, where I was stationed," said Arthur Jacobs, the "Ozzard of Wiz" who had been Wisner's aide in the early 1950s. Admiral. Frank Justin Wisnerwas born on month day1879, at birth place. This machinery was in the CIA but the agency shared control of it with the State Department and the Pentagon. Mussadegh in Iran was left-wing and had indulged in talks with Russian diplomats about possible alliances and treaties. The CIA also provided them with classified information to help them with their work. [13] The OPC initially received services from the CIA but was accountable to the State Department. [12] Wisner is chair of the board of directors of The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.[13][14]. In 19451946, he returned to law practice at Carter, Ledyard & Milburn. The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was funded by siphoning of funds intended for the Marshall Plan. 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. From 1971 to 1973, he was first secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, and following that, from 1973 to 1974, he was first secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Dacca, Bangladesh. Frank G. Wisner Jr. grew up in the long shadow of his secret agent father. 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. By this time Operation Mockingbird had a major influence over 25 newspapers and wire agencies. 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. 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.". 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. Later he became an informal adviser to the royal family. Another historical falsehood is that becoming a leader at CIA hinges on membership in Skull and Bones, the secret society at Yale. However, he began to get suspicious in 1951 and he asked William Harvey and James Jesus Angleton to investigate Philby. 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. During that time, Wisner and Bishop discovered and penetrated a Russian Intelligence service named GUGBEZ. Powered and implemented byFactSet Digital Solutions. 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 this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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 . 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.". Wisner became head of this new organization and Richard Helms became his chief of operations. 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. He pointed out that they had spent a great deal of money on Radio Free Europe "to get these people to revolt". 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. He is a member of the Metropolitan Club of Washington DC. 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. Frank Gardiner Wisner was one of the founding officers of the Central Intelligence Agency and played a major role in CIA operations throughout the 1950s. When this failed he put pressure on Security Council members to vote against the resolution. 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.

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