Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947–1991), as named by the Western Allies.[1]
East German leader Walter Ulbricht agitated and maneuvered to get the Soviet Union's permission to construct the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop emigration and defection westward through the Border system, preventing escape across the city sector border from East Berlin into West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of East and West. Soviet and American tanks briefly faced each other at the location during the Berlin Crisis of 1961. On 26 June 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy visited Checkpoint Charlie and looked from a platform onto the Berlin Wall and into East Berlin.[2]
After the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc and the reunification of Germany, the American guard house at Checkpoint Charlie became a tourist attraction. It is now located in the Allied Museum in the Dahlem neighborhood of Berlin. Background Sign at Checkpoint Charlie on the way into West Berlin, as it appeared in 1981 Emigration restrictions, the Inner German border and Berlin Further information: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection and Inner German border
By the early 1950s, the Soviet method of restricting emigration was emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc, including East Germany.[3] However, in occupied Germany, until 1952, the lines between East Germany and the western occupied zones remained easily crossed in most places.[4] Subsequently, the inner German border between the two German states was closed and a barbed-wire fence erected.
Even after closing of the inner German border officially in 1952,[5] the city sector border in between East Berlin and West Berlin remained considerably more accessible than the rest of the border because it was administered by all four occupying powers.[4] Accordingly, Berlin became the main route by which East Germans left for the West.[6] Hence the Berlin sector border was essentially a "loophole" through which Eastern Bloc citizens could still escape.[5]
The 3.5 million East Germans who had left by 1961 totaled approximately 20% of the entire East German population.[7] The emigrants tended to be young and well educated.[8] The loss was disproportionately great among professionals — engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled workers.[7] Berlin Wall constructed Main articles: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection and Berlin Wall
The brain drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility and economic viability of East Germany that the resecuring of the Soviet imperial frontier was imperative.[9] Between 1949 and 1961, over 2½ million East Germans fled to the West.[10] The numbers increased during the three years before the Berlin Wall was erected,[10] with 144,000 in 1959, 199,000 in 1960 and 207,000 in the first seven months of 1961 alone.[10][11] The East German economy suffered accordingly.[11]
On 13 August 1961, a barbed-wire barrier that would become the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin was erected by the East Germans.[9] Two days later, police and army engineers began to construct a more permanent concrete wall.[12] Along with the wall, the 830-mile (1336 km) zonal border became 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide on its East German side in some parts of Germany with a tall steel-mesh fence running along a "death strip" bordered by mines, as well as channels of ploughed earth, to slow escapees and more easily reveal their footprints.[13] Checkpoint Soviet Zone from Checkpoint Charlie observation post, 1982
Checkpoint Charlie was a crossing point in the Berlin Wall located at the junction of Friedrichstraße with Zimmerstraße and Mauerstraße (which for older historical reasons coincidentally means 'Wall Street'). It is in the Friedrichstadt neighborhood. Checkpoint Charlie was designated as the single crossing point (on foot or by car) for foreigners and members of the Allied forces. (Members of the Allied forces were not allowed to use the other sector crossing point designated for use by foreigners, the Friedrichstraße railway station).[citation needed]
The name 'Charlie' came from the letter C in the NATO phonetic alphabet; similarly for other Allied checkpoints on the Autobahn from the West: Checkpoint Alpha at Helmstedt and its counterpart Checkpoint Bravo at Dreilinden, Wannsee in the south-west corner of Berlin. The Soviets simply called it the Friedrichstraße Crossing Point (КПП Фридрихштрассе, KPP Fridrikhshtrasse). The East Germans referred officially to Checkpoint Charlie as the Grenzübergangsstelle ("Border Crossing Point") Friedrich-/Zimmerstraße.[citation needed]
As the most visible Berlin Wall checkpoint, Checkpoint Charlie was featured in movies[14] and books. A famous cafe and viewing place for Allied officials, armed forces and visitors alike, Cafe Adler ("Eagle Café"), was situated right on the checkpoint.
The development of the infrastructure around the checkpoint was largely asymmetrical, reflecting the contrary priorities of East German and Western border authorities. During its 28-year active life, the infrastructure on the Eastern side was expanded to include not only the wall, watchtower and zig-zag barriers, but a multi-lane shed where cars and their occupants were checked. However, the Allied authority never erected any permanent buildings. A wooden shed used as the guard house was replaced during the 1980s by a larger metal structure, now displayed at the Allied Museum in western Berlin. Their reasoning was that they did not consider the inner Berlin sector boundary an international border and did not treat it as such.[citation needed] Related incidents Stand-off between Soviet and U.S. tanks in October 1961 Main article: Berlin Crisis of 1961 US M48 Patton tanks facing Soviet T-54 tanks at Checkpoint Charlie in October 1961
Soon after the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961, a stand-off occurred between US and Soviet tanks on either side of Checkpoint Charlie. It began on 22 October as a dispute over whether East German border guards were authorized to examine the travel documents of a US diplomat based in West Berlin named Allan Lightner heading to East Berlin to watch an opera show there, since according to the agreement between all four Allied powers occupying Germany, there was to be free movement for Allied forces in Berlin and that no German military forces from either West Germany or East Germany were to be based in the city, and moreover the Western Allies did not (initially) recognise the East German state and its right to remain in its self-declared capital of East Berlin. Instead, Allied forces only recognised the authority of the Soviets over East Berlin rather than their East German allies. By 27 October, ten Soviet and an equal number of American tanks stood 100 yards apart on either side of the checkpoint. This stand-off ended peacefully on 28 October following a US-Soviet understanding to withdraw tanks and reduce tensions. Discussions between US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and KGB[citation needed] spy Georgi Bolshakov played a vital role in realizing this tacit agreement.[15] Early escapes
The Berlin Wall was erected with great speed by the East German government in 1961, but there were initially many means of escape that had not been anticipated. For example, Checkpoint Charlie was initially blocked only by a gate, and a citizen of the GDR (East Germany) smashed a car through it to escape, so a strong pole was erected. Another escapee approached the barrier in a convertible, the windscreen removed prior to the event, and slipped under the barrier. This was repeated two weeks later, so the East Germans duly lowered the barrier and added uprights.[16] Death of Peter Fechter
On 17 August 1962, a teenaged East German, Peter Fechter, was shot in the pelvis by East German guards while trying to escape from East Berlin. His body lay tangled in a barbed wire fence as he bled to death in full view of the world's media. He could not be rescued from West Berlin because he was a few metres inside the Soviet sector. East German border guards were reluctant to approach him for fear of provoking Western soldiers, one of whom had shot an East German border guard just days earlier. More than an hour later, Fechter's body was removed by the East German guards. A spontaneous demonstration formed on the American side of the checkpoint, protesting against the action of the East and the inaction of the West.[17]
A few days later, a crowd threw stones at Soviet buses driving towards the Soviet War Memorial, located in the Tiergarten in the British sector; the Soviets tried to escort the buses with armoured personnel carriers (APCs). Thereafter, the Soviets were only allowed to cross via the Sandkrug Bridge crossing (which was the nearest to Tiergarten) and were prohibited from bringing APCs. Western units were deployed in the middle of the night in early September with live armaments and vehicles, in order to enforce the ban.[citation needed] Today: Tourist and memorial site On the night of 9 November 1989 when a part of the Wall was opened
Although the wall was opened in November 1989 and the checkpoint booth removed on 22 June 1990,[18] the checkpoint remained an official crossing for foreigners and diplomats until German reunification in October 1990.
Checkpoint Charlie has since become one of Berlin's primary tourist attractions, where some original remnants of the border crossing blend with reconstructed parts, memorial and tourist facilities.
The guard house on the American side was removed in 1990; it is now on display in the open-air museum of the Allied Museum in Berlin-Zehlendorf.[19] A copy of the guard house and the sign that once marked the border crossing was reconstructed later on roughly the same site. It resembles the first guard house erected during 1961, behind a sandbag barrier toward the border. Over the years this was replaced several times by guard houses of different sizes and layouts (see photographs). The one removed in 1990 was considerably larger than the first one and did not have sandbags. Tourists used to be able to have their photographs taken for a fee with actors dressed as allied military police standing in front of the guard house but Berlin authorities banned the practice in November 2019 stating the actors had been exploiting tourists by demanding money for photos at the attraction.[citation needed]
The course of the former wall and border is now marked in the street with a line of cobblestones.[citation needed] Former Berlin Wall marker
An open-air exhibition was opened during the summer of 2006. Gallery walls along Friedrichstraße and Zimmerstraße give information about escape attempts, how the checkpoint was expanded, and its significance during the Cold War, in particular the confrontation of Soviet and American tanks in 1961. Also, an overview of other important memorial sites and museums about the division of Germany and the wall is presented.[citation needed]
Developers demolished the East German checkpoint watchtower in 2000, to make way for offices and shops. The watchtower was the last surviving major original Checkpoint Charlie structure. The city tried to save the tower but failed, as it was not classified as a historic landmark.[citation needed] Yet, that development project was never realised. To this day,[when?] the area between Zimmerstraße and Mauerstraße/Schützenstraße (the East German side of the border crossing) remains vacant, providing space for a number of temporary tourist and memorial uses. New plans since 2017 for a hotel on the site stirred a professional and political debate about appropriate development of the area. After the final listing of the site as a protected heritage area in 2018, plans were changed towards a more heritage-friendly approach.[20] BlackBox Cold War Exhibition
The "BlackBox Cold War" exhibition has illuminated the division of Germany and Berlin since 2012. The free open-air exhibition offers original Berlin Wall segments and information about the historic site. However, the indoor exhibition (entrance fee required) illustrates Berlin's contemporary history with 16 media stations, a movie theatre and original objects and documents. It is run by the NGO Berliner Forum fuer Geschichte und Gegenwart e.V..[21] Checkpoint Charlie Museum Checkpoint Charlie Museum
Near the location of the guard house is the Haus am Checkpoint Charlie. The "Mauermuseum - Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie" was opened on 14 June 1963[citation needed] in the immediate vicinity of the Berlin Wall. It shows photographs and fragments related to the separation of Germany. The border fortifications and the "assistance of the protecting powers" are illustrated. In addition to photos and documentation of successful escape attempts, the exhibition also showcases escape devices including a hot-air balloon, escape cars, chair lifts, and a mini-submarine.
From October 2004 until July 2005, the Freedom Memorial, consisting of original wall segments and 1,067 commemorative crosses, stood on a leased site.[22][23]
The museum is operated by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August e. V., a registered association founded by Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt. The director is Alexandra Hildebrandt, the founder's widow. The museum is housed in part in the "House at Checkpoint Charlie" building by architect Peter Eisenman.[citation needed]
With 850,000 visitors in 2007, the Checkpoint Charlie Museum is one of the most visited museums in Berlin and in Germany.[24] In popular culture
Checkpoint Charlie figures in numerous Cold War-era espionage and political novels and films. Some examples:
James Bond (played by Roger Moore) passed through Checkpoint Charlie in the film Octopussy (1983) from West to East.[25]
Checkpoint Charlie is featured in the opening scene of the 1965 film The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom), based on the John le Carré novel of the same name.
In the feature film Bridge of Spies, imprisoned American student Frederic Pryor is released at Checkpoint Charlie as part of a deal to trade Pryor and U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for convicted Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. Pryor's release happens offscreen while the trade of Powers for Abel takes place at the Glienicke Bridge.
It was depicted in the opening scene of the film The Man from U.N.C.L.E (2015).
The 1985 film Gotcha! includes a scene where the protagonist (Anthony Edwards) transits through Checkpoint Charlie into West Berlin.
Elvis Costello mentions Checkpoint Charlie in his hit song "Oliver's Army".[26] See also
List of tourist attractions in Berlin
References
"A brief history of Checkpoint Charlie". Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022. Andreas Daum, Kennedy in Berlin. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 134‒35. Dowty 1989, p. 114 Dowty 1989, p. 121 Harrison 2003, p. 99 Maddrell, Paul (2006). Spying on Science: Western Intelligence in Divided Germany 1945–1961. Oxford University Press. pp. 56. ISBN 978-0-19-926750-7. Dowty 1989, p. 122 Thackeray 2004, p. 188 Pearson 1998, p. 75 Gedmin, Jeffrey (1992). "The Dilemma of Legitimacy". The hidden hand: Gorbachev and the collapse of East Germany. AEI studies. Vol. 554. American Enterprise Institute. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-8447-3794-2. Dowty 1989, p. 123 Dowty 1989, p. 124 Black et al. 2000, p. 141 Blau, Christine (6 November 2014). "Insider's Guide to Cold War Berlin". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2018. Kempe, Frederick (2011). Berlin 1961. Penguin Group (USA). pp. 478–479. ISBN 978-0-399-15729-5. Dearden, Lizzie (7 November 2014). "Berlin Wall: What You Need To Know About the Barrier That Divided East and West". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2017. "Media battle ensues following the death of Peter Fechter". www.axelspringer.com. Retrieved 6 September 2023. "June 22, 1990: Checkpoint Charlie Closes". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2011. "Allied Museum Berlin". Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Eddy, Melissa (5 February 2019). "At Checkpoint Charlie, Cold War History Confronts Crass Commercialism". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019. "Black Box Cold War". www.berlin.de. 25 May 2016. Archived from the original on 15 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019. "Berlin Council Targets 'Checkpoint Charlie' Memorial". NPR. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018. Checkpoint Charlie: Between Memorials and Snack Bars. In: Sites of Unity (Haus der Geschichte), 2022. "Museen in Berlin: Die Top Ten – 4. Platz 4: Mauermuseum - Haus am Checkpoint Charly". www.berlin.de. 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017. "Bond's Border Crossing (Checkpoint Charlie) – James Bond Locations". www.jamesbondmm.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
Elvis Costello – Oliver's Army, retrieved 7 January 2023
Sources Black, Cyril E.; English, Robert D.; Helmreich, Jonathan E.; McAdams, James A. (2000), Rebirth: A Political History of Europe since World War II, Westview Press, ISBN 0-8133-3664-3 Daum, Andreas, Kennedy in Berlin. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-85824-3. Dowty, Alan (1989), Closed Borders: The Contemporary Assault on Freedom of Movement, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-04498-4 Dowty, Alan (1988), "The Assault on Freedom of Emigration", World Affairs, 151 (2) Harrison, Hope Millard (2003), Driving the Soviets Up the Wall: Soviet-East German Relations, 1953–1961, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-09678-3 Pearson, Raymond (1998), The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire, Macmillan, ISBN 0-312-17407-1 Thackeray, Frank W. (2004), Events that changed Germany, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0-313-32814-5
In espionage parlance, a cutout is a mutually trusted intermediary, method or channel of communication that facilitates the exchange of information between agents. Cutouts usually know only the source and destination of the information to be transmitted, not the identities of any other persons involved in the espionage process (need to know basis). Thus, a captured cutout cannot be used to identify members of an espionage cell. The cutout also isolates the source from the destination, so neither necessarily knows the other. Outside espionage
Some computer protocols, like Tor, use the equivalent of cutout nodes in their communications networks. The use of multiple layers of encryption usually stops nodes on such networks from knowing the ultimate sender or receiver of the data.
In computer networking, darknets have some cutout functionality. Darknets are distinct from other distributed peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, as sharing is anonymous, i.e., IP addresses are not publicly shared and nodes often forward traffic to other nodes. Thus, with a darknet, users can communicate with little fear of governmental or corporate interference.[1] Darknets are thus often associated with dissident political communications as well as various illegal activities.
A dead drop or dead letter box is a method of espionage tradecraft used to pass items or information between two individuals (e.g., a case officer and an agent, or two agents) using a secret location. By avoiding direct meetings, individuals can maintain operational security. This method stands in contrast to the live drop, so-called because two persons meet to exchange items or information.
Spies and their handlers have been known to perform dead drops using various techniques to hide items (such as money, secrets or instructions) and to signal that the drop has been made. Although the signal and location by necessity must be agreed upon in advance, the signal may or may not be located close to the dead drop itself. The operatives may not necessarily know one another or ever meet.[1][2] Considerations
The location and nature of the dead drop must enable retrieval of the hidden item without the operatives being spotted by a member of the public, the police, or other security forces—therefore, common everyday items and behavior are used to avoid arousing suspicion. Any hidden location could serve, although often a cut-out device is used, such as a loose brick in a wall, a (cut-out) library book, or a hole in a tree. Dead drop spike
A dead drop spike is a concealment device similar to a microcache. It has been used since the late 1960s to hide money, maps, documents, microfilm, and other items. The spike is water- and mildew-proof and can be pushed into the ground or placed in a shallow stream to be retrieved at a later time.
Signaling devices can include a chalk mark on a wall, a piece of chewing gum on a lamppost, or a newspaper left on a park bench. Alternatively, the signal can be made from inside the agent's own home, by, for example, hanging a distinctively-colored towel from a balcony, or placing a potted plant on a window sill where it is visible to anyone on the street. Drawbacks
While the dead drop method is useful in preventing the instantaneous capture of either an operative/handler pair or an entire espionage network, it is not without disadvantages. If one of the operatives is compromised, they may reveal the location and signal for that specific dead drop. Counterintelligence can then use the dead drop as a double agent for a variety of purposes, such as to feed misinformation to the enemy or to identify other operatives using it or ultimately to booby trap it.[3] There is also the risk that a third party may find the material deposited. Modern techniques See also: Short-range agent communications
On January 23, 2006, the Russian FSB accused Britain of using wireless dead drops concealed inside hollowed-out rocks ("spy rock") to collect espionage information from agents in Russia. According to the Russian authorities, the agent delivering information would approach the rock and transmit data wirelessly into it from a hand-held device, and later, his British handlers would pick up the stored data by similar means.[4]
SecureDrop, initially called DeadDrop, is a software suite for teams that allows them to create a digital dead drop location to receive tips from whistleblowers through the Internet. The team members and whistleblowers never communicate directly and never know each other's identity, therefore allowing whistleblowers to dead-drop information despite the mass surveillance and privacy violations which had become commonplace in the beginning of the twenty-first century. See also
Espionage Foldering PirateBox USB dead drop
References
Robert Wallace and H. Keith Melton, with Henry R. Schlesinger, Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda, New York, Dutton, 2008. ISBN 0-525-94980-1. Pp. 43-44, 63, and 74-76. Jack Barth, International Spy Museum Handbook of Practical Spying, Washington DC, National Geographic, 2004. ISBN 978-0-7922-6795-9. Pp. 119-125. Wettering, Frederick L. (2001-07-01). "The Internet and the Spy Business". International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence. 14 (3): 342–365. doi:10.1080/08850600152386846. ISSN 0885-0607. S2CID 153870872.
Nick Paton Walsh, The Guardian (23 January 2006). "Moscow names British 'spies' in NGO row". TheGuardian.com. Archived from the original on 29 August 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
Bibliography
"Russians accuse 4 Britons of spying".International Herald Tribune. January 24, 2006. News report on Russian discovery of British "wireless dead drop". "Old spying lives on in new ways". BBC. 23 January 2006. Madrid suspects tied to e-mail ruse. International Herald Tribune. April 28, 2006. Military secrets missing on Ministry of Defence computer files Robert Burnson, "Accused Chinese spy pleads guilty in U.S. 'dead-drop' sting", Bloomberg, 25 novembre 2019[1].
Robert Wallace and H. Keith Melton, with Henry R. Schlesinger, Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda, New York, Dutton, 2008. ISBN 0-525-94980-1.
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Louis Patrick Gray III (July 18, 1916 – July 6, 2005) was acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from May 3, 1972, to April 27, 1973. During this time, the FBI was in charge of the initial investigation into the burglaries that sparked the Watergate scandal, which eventually led to the resignation of President Nixon. Gray was nominated as permanent Director by Nixon on February 15, 1973, but failed to win Senate confirmation.[3] He resigned as Acting FBI director on April 27, 1973, after he admitted to destroying documents that had come from convicted Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt's safe—documents received on June 28, 1972, 11 days after the Watergate burglary, and given to Gray by White House counsel John Dean.[4]
Gray remained publicly silent about the Watergate scandal for 32 years, speaking to the press only once, near the end of his life; this was shortly after Gray's direct subordinate at the FBI, FBI Deputy Director Mark Felt, revealed himself to have been the secret source to The Washington Post known as "Deep Throat". Early life and education
Gray was born on July 18, 1916, in St. Louis, Missouri, the eldest son of Louis Patrick Gray Jr., a Texas railroad worker. He worked three jobs while attending schools in St. Louis and Houston, Texas, graduating from St. Thomas High School in 1932, at the age of 16 (having skipped two grades). Gray initially attended Rice University; however, his true goal was to be admitted to the United States Naval Academy. He was finally admitted to the Naval Academy in 1936 and he immediately dropped out of Rice University in his senior year so he could attend.
At the time, however, Gray could not afford the bus or train fare to Annapolis, so he hired on as an apprentice seaman on a tramp steamer out of Galveston. During the journey to Philadelphia (the closest the steamer could get him to Maryland), Gray taught calculus to the ship's captain, a Bulgarian named Frank Solis, in return for basic lessons in navigation. Once in Philadelphia, Gray hitchhiked to Annapolis.[5]
Once at the academy, Gray walked onto the football team as the starting quarterback, played varsity lacrosse and boxed as a light heavyweight. In 1940, Gray received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Naval Academy. Naval career
The United States Navy commissioned Gray as a line officer, and he served through five submarine war patrols in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. He suffered a ruptured appendix at the start of his sixth patrol and was unable to get to a hospital for 17 days, an ordeal that should have killed him.[6] In 1945, Gray visited Beatrice Castle Kirk (1923–2019), the widow of his Naval Academy classmate, Lieutenant Commander Edward Emmet DeGarmo (1917–1945). They were married in 1946. He adopted her two sons, Alan and Ed; and they had two of their own, Patrick and Stephen.[6]
In 1949, Gray received a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University Law School, where he edited the law review and became a member of the Order of the Coif. He was admitted to practice before the Washington, D.C., Bar in 1949; later, he was admitted to practice law by the Connecticut State Bar, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the United States courts of appeals, the United States Court of Claims, and the Supreme Court of the United States.[7]
By 1960, Gray's achievements in the Navy included commanding the U.S.S. Tiru (SS-416) and two other submarines on war patrols during the Korean War; earning the rank of captain two years before he was legally allowed to be paid for it; and serving as congressional liaison officer for the United States Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Chief of Naval Operations. He indicated his desire to retire from the Navy, but Chief of Naval Operations Arleigh Burke told him, "If you stay, you'll have my job some day."[6] He did not stay, but joined a Connecticut law firm in 1961. Department of Justice
In 1969, Gray returned to the federal government and worked under the Nixon administration in several different positions. In 1970, President Nixon appointed him as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division in the Department of Justice. In 1972, Gray was nominated to be Deputy Attorney General, but before he could be confirmed by the full United States Senate his nomination was withdrawn. Acting Director of FBI
Instead, President Nixon designated him as Acting Director of the FBI after the death of J. Edgar Hoover. Gray served for less than a year. Day-to-day operational command of the Bureau remained with Associate Director Mark Felt. Watergate involvement Watergate scandal The Watergate complex in 2006 Events List People Watergate burglars Groups CRP White House Judiciary Journalists Intelligence community
Mark Felt ("Deep Throat") L. Patrick Gray Richard Helms James R. Schlesinger
Congress Related
vte
Watergate and the FBI's investigation
On June 17, 1972, just six weeks after Gray took office at the FBI, five men were arrested after breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate hotel complex in Washington, D.C.
Gray first learned of the Watergate break-ins on June 17 from Wes Grapp, the Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles field office. Gray immediately called Mark Felt, his second in command. At the time, Felt only had limited information, remaining unclear as to whether it was a burglary or bombing attempt.[8]
Felt had more information the next day, when he informed Gray that the burglars had connections to the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), that one burglar (McCord) was head of security for the committee, and that at least one listening device had been found. Gray recalled the conversation concluding with the exchange:
"Are you absolutely certain that we have jurisdiction?" I asked.
"I'm sure of it," he [Felt] answered.
"Just check it and be absolutely certain," I ordered. "And then investigate it to the hilt with no holds barred."[9]
On the same day, June 18, 1972, Gray also met later-identified Watergate conspirator Fred LaRue in California. The two discussed Watergate, according to LaRue, and made arrangements to meet again back in Washington, D.C.[10] In his own memoir, Gray relates the LaRue meeting as a chance encounter at a hotel swimming pool and quotes their entire Watergate-related conversation:
"The Watergate thing is a hell of a thing," he said.
"You bet it is, Fred," I answered. "We're going to investigate the hell out of it."
That was all either of us said about it.[11]
For the first six months of the investigation, Gray remained heavily involved. It was only when it became apparent that the White House was involved that Gray recused himself from the investigation and handed control over to Mark Felt.[12] Cover-up
On June 23, 1972, White House Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman and President Nixon held one of the infamous "smoking gun" conversations in which they conspired to use the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to block the FBI investigation into the money trail leading from the Watergate burglars to the Committee to Re-elect the President, which would constitute hard evidence that Committee members were involved in the planning of the burglaries.
According to Gray, this plan was first put into action when he had a meeting with Vernon Walters, then deputy director of the CIA, in which he quotes Walters as falsely saying, "If the investigation gets pushed further south of the border… it could trespass onto some of our covert projects. Since you've got these five men under arrest, it will be best to taper the matter off here." This conversation implicitly stated that the FBI should not interview Manuel Ogarrio and Kenneth Dahlberg, individuals connected with the money used to fund the Watergate burglars.[13]
This would later be backed up by the Director of the CIA, Richard Helms, when he specifically told Gray that Karl Wagner and John Caswell should also not be interviewed, as they were, he stated, active CIA agents at the time.[14]
The basis for such a request came from a long-standing understanding between the CIA and the FBI that they would not reveal each other's informants. This effort by the White House and the CIA succeeded in delaying the interviews of both Ogarrio and Dahlberg for a little more than one week, at which point Gray and his senior FBI staff, including Mark Felt, Charlie Bates, and Bob Kunkel, decided that, due to the increasing importance of these individuals in the investigation, they needed a written request from the CIA not to interview them, which would have to state in greater detail the reasons for not interviewing these individuals. Once the decision was made, Gray called Vernon Walters and demanded that written request the next morning, or he would order the interviews to go forth.[15]
The next morning, Vernon Walters arrived and delivered a three-page memorandum, marked "SECRET", that did not ask the FBI to hold off on the interviews. The meeting concluded with Walters suggesting to Gray that he should warn the President that some members of the White House staff were hindering the FBI's investigation. After the conversation, Gray ordered the interviews to proceed immediately.[16]
Ultimately, the CIA cover-up delayed the FBI investigation no more than two weeks.
While not active in any Watergate activities per se, Gray was aware through his dealings with John Dean that the White House was concerned about what might be discovered from a full-field FBI investigation and explored what he could do to limit the investigation or shift it away from the Bureau's jurisdiction.[17] As Dean wrote in his Watergate memoir "Blind Ambition," he used Gray as a shill knowing that "we could count on Pat Gray to keep the Hunt material from becoming public, and he did not disappoint us."[18] In fact, even though he thought of this as a political not criminal situation and that he was ultimately serving the President as the "nation's chief law enforcement officer," Gray would come dangerously close to collusion because he chose to be useful to the White House without asking the hard questions. Dean goes on to say, "I met Pat Gray secretly at his home in southwest Washington. We were both apprehensive about the meeting as we walked to a park and sat down on a bench overlooking the Potomac, discussing my request to obtain FBI 302s and AirTels on the Watergate investigation."[18] Felt and the search for the source
The Nixon White House tapes reveal that Bob Haldeman told Nixon that Felt was the source of leaks of confidential information contained in the FBI's investigation to various members of the press, including Bob Woodward of The Washington Post. Gray claimed that he resisted five separate demands from the White House to fire Felt, stating that he believed Felt's assurances that he was not the source. Eventually, Gray demanded to know who was claiming Felt to be leaking. Attorney general Richard Kleindienst told Gray that Roswell Gilpatric, former deputy secretary of defense under John F. Kennedy and now outside general counsel to Time, had told John Mitchell that Felt was leaking to Sandy Smith of Time magazine.[19][20]
After Felt admitted in the May 2005 Vanity Fair article that he lied to Gray about leaking to the press, Gray claimed that Felt's bitterness at being passed over was the cause of his decision to leak to Time, The Washington Post, and others.[21] Confirmation hearings
In 1973, Gray was nominated as Hoover's permanent successor as head of the FBI. This action by President Nixon confounded many, coming at a time when revelations of involvement by Nixon administration officials in the Watergate scandal were coming to the forefront. Under Gray's direction, the FBI had been accused of mishandling the investigation into the break-in, doing a cursory job and refusing to investigate the possible involvement of administration officials. Gray's Senate confirmation hearing was to become the Senate's first opportunity to ask pertinent questions about the Watergate investigation.
During the confirmation hearing, Gray defended his bureau's investigation. During questioning, he volunteered that he had provided copies of some of the files on the investigation to White House Counsel John Dean, who had told Gray he was conducting an investigation for the President.[22] Gray testified that before turning over the files to Dean, he had been advised by the FBI's own legal counsel that he was required by law to comply with Dean's order. He confirmed that the FBI investigation supported claims made by The Washington Post and other sources, about dirty tricks committed and funded by the Committee to Re-Elect the President, and in particular, activities of questionable legality committed by Donald Segretti. The White House had for months steadfastly denied any involvement in such activities.
During the hearings, Gray testified that Dean had "probably lied" to the FBI,[23] increasing the suspicions of many of a cover-up. The Nixon administration was so angered by this statement that John Ehrlichman told John Dean that Gray should be left to "twist slowly, slowly in the wind." Destruction of documents and resignation from the FBI
On June 21, 1972, Gray met with John Dean and John Ehrlichman in Ehrlichman's office. During this meeting, Gray was handed several envelopes full of documents from the personal safe of E. Howard Hunt. Dean instructed Gray, in the presence of John Ehrlichman, that the documents were "national security documents. These should never see the light of day."[24] Dean further repeatedly told Gray that the documents were not Watergate-related.
Six months later, Gray said he finally looked at the papers as he burned them in a Connecticut fireplace. "The first set of papers in there were false top-secret cables indicating that the Kennedy administration had much to do with the assassination of the Vietnamese president (Diem)," Gray said. "The second set of papers in there were letters purportedly written by Senator Kennedy involving some of his peccadilloes, if you will."[4]
After learning from Ehrlichman that John Dean was cooperating with the U.S. attorney and would be revealing to him what happened on June 21, Gray told his staunchest congressional supporter, Senator Lowell Weicker, so that he might be prepared for that revelation. As a result, Senator Weicker leaked this revelation to some chosen reporters.[25]
Following this revelation, Gray was forced to resign from the FBI on April 27, 1973.[26] Legal struggles
For the next eight years, Gray defended his actions as Acting Director of the FBI, testifying before five federal grand juries and four committees of Congress.[27]
On October 7, 1975, the Watergate Special Prosecutor informed Gray that the last Watergate-related investigation of him had been formally closed.[28] Gray was never indicted in relation to Watergate, but the scandal dogged him afterwards.
In 1978, Gray was indicted, along with Assistant Director Edward Miller, for allegedly having approved illegal break-ins during the Nixon administration. Gray vehemently denied the charges, which were dropped in 1980. Felt and Miller, who had approved the illegal break-ins during the tenures of four separate FBI directors, including Hoover, Gray, William Ruckelshaus, and Clarence M. Kelley, were convicted and later pardoned by President Ronald Reagan. Exonerated by the Department of Justice after a two-year investigation,[29][30][31] Gray returned to his law practice in Connecticut. Later life
After his time in Washington, Gray returned to practicing law at the firm of Suisman, Shapiro, Wool, Brennan, Gray & Greenberg (SSWBGG) in New London, Connecticut.[32]
In a 2005 Vanity Fair article,[33] Deputy Director Mark Felt claimed to be Deep Throat, the infamous source of leaks to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.[34] Woodward, Bernstein, and Post executive editor Benjamin C. Bradlee confirmed the claim.[35][36] Gray spoke about the Watergate scandal for the first time in 32 years on June 26, 2005, ten days before his death from pancreatic cancer. He told ABC's This Week that he was in "total shock, total disbelief" when asked about Felt's claim. "It was like I was hit with a tremendous sledgehammer."[37]
Gray died on July 6, 2005.[38] He was working on his memoirs with his stepson Edward Gray, using his extensive and never-released personal Watergate files. His stepson finished the book In Nixon's Web: A Year in the Crosshairs of Watergate,[39] which disputes the claim that Felt was Deep Throat, citing Woodward's own notes and other evidence as proof that Deep Throat was a fictional composite made up of several Woodward sources, only one of whom was Felt.[40] Gray and the New York Times
In 2009, Bob Phelps, a former editor of The New York Times, and Robert M. Smith, a former reporter for the Times, claimed that they had received information from Gray that would have allowed the Times to break the Watergate story before The Washington Post, but they failed to act upon it.[41]
In August 1972, Gray and Smith had lunch. According to Smith, during this lunch Gray mentioned details of Donald Segretti and John Mitchell's involvement in the Watergate burglaries. Smith quotes Gray:
"[Gray] told me about a guy who burned his palm, and about Donald Segretti (by name).
And when he intimated over the entrée that the wrongdoing went further, I leaned back against the wall on my inside banquette and looked at him in frank astonishment.
"The attorney general?" I asked.
He nodded.
I paused.
"The president?" I asked.
He looked me in the eye without denial—or any comment. In other words, confirmation.[42]
After the lunch, Smith reportedly rushed to his editor, Phelps, with the story, but it amounted to nothing. Smith left his job the next day for Yale Law School, and Phelps lost track of the story while covering the 1972 Republican Convention.
However, while only Gray and Smith knew exactly what was said at that lunch, Gray's son, Edward, denies that his father could have implicated either the Attorney General or the President, stating:
The truth is that at the time of this luncheon—as my father testified multiple times under oath—neither he nor anyone else in the FBI had any evidence whatsoever that the president was involved.[43]
Gray goes on to point out that at the time of this lunch the Attorney General was Richard Kleindienst, who was never implicated in any of the Watergate scandals. Even if Smith meant that he was talking about John Mitchell, the former Attorney General, Gray further points out that no one (outside of the conspirators) knew of Mitchell's involvement until the following April, when John Dean admitted as much to special prosecutors.[43] Documents
Gray was a meticulous record-keeper, which is most easily evidenced by the 40 boxes of personal records he took with him from his year with the FBI.[44] The archive would grow even after Gray left the FBI as a direct result of the legal proceedings in which he was forced to take part in the years to follow.
This archive has become what is undoubtedly the "most complete set of Watergate investigative records outside the government."[45] Selected Navy awards
American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal National Defense Service Medal Korean Service Medal United Nations Korea Medal
See also
World War II portalBiography portal
Helen Gandy
Notes
Kessler, Ronald (2003). The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI. Macmillan. p. 29. ISBN 0-312-98977-6. Gray, L. Patrick (March 3, 2009). In Nixon's Web: A Year in the Crosshairs of Watergate. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0805089189. "He [L. Patrick Gray III] was a lifelong Republican, but Richard Nixon considered him a threat" NYT1 1973 Page 3 of 3 (June 26, 2005). "Page 3: 'Deep Throat's' Ex-Boss Shocked by Revelation - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved May 17, 2012. Gray III & Gray 2008, pp. xix–xx Gray III & Gray 2008, p. xx FBI 2008 Gray III & Gray 2008, p. 59 Gray III & Gray 2008, p. 60 Emery 1995, p. 157 Gray III & Gray 2008, pp. 60–61 Gray III & Gray 2008, p. 65 Gray III & Gray 2008, p. 72 USG 1974, p. 463 Gray III & Gray 2008, pp. 85–87 Gray III & Gray 2008, pp. 88–89 Haldeman, H.R., The Haldeman Diaries, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1994, 474-75. Dean, John, Blind Ambition, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1976, 122. Gray III & Gray 2008, p. 133 The claim by Gray that Roswell Gilpatric had informed John Mitchell about Felt being the leaker was called "far-fetched" by the deceased Gilpatric's son, John. John Gilpatric told The New York Times that his father never mentioned knowing John Mitchell. However, a tape in the Oval Office has Nixon telling Gray that the source for this accusation was "a lawyer... for Time." For more on this question, see Roswell Gilpatric Gray III & Gray 2008, p. 280 Sussman 1974, pp. 165–166 Sussman 1974, p. 173 Gray III & Gray 2008, pp. 81–82 Gray III & Gray 2008, pp. 238–243 Sullivan, Patricia. "Watergate-Era FBI Chief L. Patrick Gray III Dies at 88", Washington Post (July 7, 2005): "Mr. Gray, a Nixon loyalist often described as a political naif, finally was forced to resign April 27, 1973...." Gray III & Gray 2008, p. xxi Gray III & Gray 2008, p. 267 Gray III & Gray 2008, pp. 265–267 CHTribune 1980 UPI (December 30, 1980). "Exonerated Gray says he'll sue government". The Bulletin. Retrieved March 31, 2010.[permanent dead link] Purdum, Todd S. (July 7, 2005). "L. Patrick Gray III, Who Led the F.B.I. During Watergate, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2014. O'Connor 2005 "W. Mark Felt Reveals Himself as Deep Throat, Ends Years of Post-Watergate Speculation". Vanity Fair. October 17, 2006. Woodward, Bob. The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat, Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-8715-0 "The Watergate Story | Deep Throat Revealed - The Washington Post". The Washington Post. NYT3 2005, p. B4 HIGH 2008 Stout, David (March 9, 2008). "Ex-F.B.I. Chief's Book Revisits Watergate". The New York Times. Gray III & Gray 2008, pp. 289–302 NYT4 2009 AJRSmith 2009 AJRGray 2009 Gray III & Gray 2008, p. 303
Gray III & Gray 2008, p. 304
References
Biographical entry, St. Thomas High School Hall of Honor, archived from the original on May 12, 2008, retrieved July 2, 2008 Emery, Fred (1995), Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-684-81323-8 Directors, Then and Now, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, archived from the original on August 13, 2008, retrieved August 7, 2008 Gray III, L. Patrick; Gray, Ed (2008), In Nixon's Web: A Year in the Crosshairs of Watergate, Times Books/Henry Holt, ISBN 978-0-8050-8256-2 O'Connor, John D. (July 2005), "I'm the Guy They Called Deep Throat", Vanity Fair, retrieved July 2, 2008 Simeone, John; Jacobs, David (2003), Complete Idiot's Guide to the FBI, Alpha Books (published 2002), ISBN 0-02-864400-X Theoharis, Athan G. (2000), The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide, New York: Checkmark Books, ISBN 0-8160-4228-4 Woodward, Bob (2005), The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-7432-8715-0 Sussman, Barry (1974), The Great Cover-up: Nixon and the Scandal of Watergate, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, ISBN 0-690-00729-9 United States Congress, House Committee on the Judiciary (1974), Statement of information : hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Ninety-third Congress, second session, pursuant to H. Res. 803, a resolution authorizing and directing the Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its constitutional power to impeach Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States of America. May–June 1974 (Book II), U.S. Government Printing Office Johnston, David (June 27, 2005), "Ex-F.B.I. Chief Calls Deep Throat's Unmasking a Shock", New York Times, retrieved March 21, 2009 Rugaber, Walter (April 28, 1973), "A Sudden Decision: Chief Resigns After Citing Reports He Destroyed Files", New York Times, retrieved March 21, 2009 Crewdson, John (April 6, 1973), "Nixon Withdraws Gray Nomination as F.B.I. Director", New York Times, retrieved March 21, 2009 Perez-Pena, Richard (May 24, 2009), "2 Ex-Timesmen Say They Had a Tip on Watergate First", New York Times, retrieved May 31, 2009 Smith, Robert (May 26, 2009), "Before Deep Throat", American Journalism Review, retrieved June 1, 2009 Gray, Edward (May 28, 2009), "Taking Issue", American Journalism Review, retrieved June 1, 2009 "Court Clears ex-FBI Chief", The Chicago Tribune, December 12, 1980
External links
Louis Patrick Gray, III, www.fbi.gov. L. Patrick Gray, Deep Throat's Boss at F.B.I., Dies at 88. New York Times, July 6, 2005. Ex-F.B.I. Chief Calls Deep Throat's Unmasking a Shock. New York Times, June 27, 2005. 'Deep Throat's' Ex-Boss Shocked by Revelation. ABC News This Week, June 26, 2005. Obituary. Seattle Times, July 7, 2005. White House Tapes relating to FBI. National Security Archives, July 2, 2008. Biographical entry. St. Thomas High School Hall of Honor, July 2, 2008. Ed Gray on "Morning Joe." MSNBC, March 7, 2008. Ex-F.B.I. Chief's Book Revisits Watergate New York Times, March 9, 2008. In Nixon's Web: Watergate and the FBI Gray in Black and White Archived June 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. The American Spectator, June 2008.
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John O'Beirne Ranelagh is a television executive and producer, and an author of history and of current politics. He was created a Knight First Class by King Harald V of Norway in 2013 in the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, for outstanding service in the interest of Norway.
Ranelagh was born in New York and moved to rural Ireland following his parents’ 1946 marriage.[1] Education
He read Modern History at Christ Church, Oxford, and went on to take a Ph.D. at Eliot College, University of Kent. Career
He was Campaign Director for "Outset", a charity for the single homeless person, where he pioneered the concept of charity auctions. From 1974 to 1979 he was at the Conservative Research Department where he first had responsibility for Education policy, and then for Foreign policy. He started his career in television with the British Broadcasting Corporation, first for BBC News and Current Affairs on Midweek. As Associate Producer he was a key member of the BBC/RTE Ireland: A Television History 13-part documentary series (1981). Later a member of the team that started Channel 4, he conceived the Equinox program,[2] developed the "commissioning system", and served as Board Secretary. He was the first television professional appointed to the Independent Television Commission (ITC), a government agency which licensed and regulated commercial television in Britain from 1991 to 2003.[3]
Eventually Ranelagh relocated to Scandinavia where he continued in television broadcasting.[4] There he has been with various companies: as Executive Chairman for NordicWorld; as Director for Kanal 2 Estonia; and, as Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Programmes for TV2 Denmark. Later Ranelagh worked at TV2 Norway as Director of Acquisition, and at Vizrt as deputy Chairman and then Chairman .[5]
Ranelagh stood as the Conservative Party candidate in Caerphilly in the 1979 general election. He stood for the seat of Bethnal Green and Bow in the 1977 Greater London Council election.[6] Books
Ranelagh has also written several books:[7]
"The I.R.B. from the Treaty to 1924," in Irish Historical Studies, Vol. 20, No. 77 (March 1976). "Science and Education," CRD, 1977. "Human Rights and Foreign Policy," with Richard Luce, CPC, 1978. Ireland. An illustrated history (Oxford University 1981); A Short History of Ireland (Cambridge University 1983, 2d ed. 1995, 3d ed. 2012); The Agency. The rise and decline of the CIA (New York: Simon and Schuster 1986, pb. ed. 1987); "Secrets, Supervision and Information," in Freedom of Information; Freedom of the Individual, ed. Julia Neuberger, 1987. "The Irish Republican Brotherhood in the revolutionary period, 1879–1923," in The Revolution in Ireland, 1879–1923, ed. D.G. Boyce, 1988. Den Anden Kanal, Tiderne Skifter, 1989. Thatcher's People. An insider's account of the politics, the power and the personalities (HarperCollins 1991); CIA: A History (London: BBC Books, illustrated edition 1992). Encyclopædia Britannica, "Ireland," 1993– "Through the Looking Glass: A comparison of United States and United Kingdom Intelligence cultures," in In the Name of Intelligence, eds. Hayden B. Peake and Samuel Halpern, 1998. "Channel 4: A view from within," in The making of Channel 4, ed. Peter Catterall, 1998.
Family
John Ranelagh's Irish father was James O'Beirne Ranelagh (died 1979 Cambridge) who had been in the IRA in 1916 and later, fighting on the Republican side in the 1922–24 Civil War. His mother was Elaine (née Lambert Lewis). She had been a young American folklorist with her own WNYC radio program,[8] and thereafter became the noted author, E. L. Ranelagh (born 1914 New York, died 1996 London).[9] A native New Yorker, she had moved to rural Ireland following her 1946 marriage to James. Their son John Ranelagh, who has three younger sisters, Bawn, Elizabeth and Fionn, was born in 1947.[10] His wife is Elizabeth Grenville Hawthorne, author of Managing Grass for Horses (2005). Hawthorne is the daughter of the late Sir William Hawthorne. See also
Channel 4 Equinox TV2 Norway
Notes
"The Irish Republican Brotherhood 1914 – 1924". Irish Academic Press. Retrieved 6 August 2024. Equinox ran from 1986 to 2001 and presented science features and documentaries. Speaker Bio John Ranelagh at natpe.2014 Archived 2011-05-15 at the Wayback Machine. Video Snack with John Ranelagh, TV2 Norway. Speaker Bio John Ranelagh at natpe.2014 Archived 2011-05-15 at the Wayback Machine. "Greater London Council Election" (PDF). 5 May 1977. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2023. His The Agency (1986), won the National Intelligence Book Prize, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. In 2000 the Washington Post listed it as one if the ten best books on Intelligence in the twentieth century. To the present day it is recommended reading for students of Intelligence. He is also the author of two books on the history of Ireland, one of which – "A Short History of Ireland" – has been in constant print since 1983.Amazon's John Ranelagh page Broadcasting from New York City, her show featured folk songs. In the late 1930s she helped introduce the blues of Huddie Ledbetter to radio audiences. Among the books of E. L. Ranelagh: Himself and I (New York: Citadel 1957), under the pen-name Anne O'Neill-Barna; The Past We Share. The near eastern ancestry of western folk literature (London: Quartet 1979); Men on Women (London: Quartet 1985), a history of gender relations. Later, she also published paperbacks on "Rugby Jokes".
Obituaries: Elaine O'Beirne-Ranelagh
External links
Exclusive Interview with John O'Beirne Ranelagh Video Snack with John Ranelagh, TV2 Norway
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata International
20th-century Irish historiansIrish broadcastersLiving peopleHistorians of the Central Intelligence AgencyAlumni of Christ Church, OxfordBBC peopleAlumni of the University of KentConservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidatesPeople from New York City
Featuring a diverse array of voices, including intellectual powerhouse Dr. Noam Chomsky, prolific author Dr. William Domhoff, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, and the astute perspectives of former Congressman Ron Paul, among others, this series delves into the multifaceted layers of power shaping the nation.
The inaugural segment meticulously dissects the ruling class institutions that wield immense influence, such as the Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderbergers, and Trilateral Commission. It unveils how these entities, irrespective of political affiliations, intricately steer US economic and political landscapes. Through an astute examination of personnel and policies, the program elucidates how these entities exert control, transcending the boundaries of Democrat or Republican administrations.
Unraveling the intricate interplay of power and policy, this episode serves as an eye-opening journey into the unseen forces governing the American socio-political sphere.
George William "Bill" Domhoff (born August 6, 1936) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus and research professor of psychology and sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a founding faculty member of UCSC's Cowell College.[1][2] He is best known as the author of several best-selling sociology books,[3] including Who Rules America? and its seven subsequent editions (1967 through 2022).[4] Biography Early life
Domhoff was born in Youngstown, Ohio, and raised in Rocky River, 12 miles from Cleveland. His parents were George William Domhoff Sr., a loan executive, and Helen S. (Cornett) Domhoff, a secretary at George Sr.'s company.
In high school, Domhoff was a three-sport athlete (in baseball, basketball, and football), wrote for his school newspaper's sports section, served on student council, and won a contest to be the batboy for the Cleveland Indians. He graduated as co-valedictorian.[2] Education
Domhoff received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology at Duke University (1958), where he finished freshman year tenth in his class, wrote for the Duke Chronicle, played baseball as an outfielder, and tutored the student athletes. As an undergraduate, he also wrote for The Durham Sun and received his Phi Beta Kappa key.[2] He later earned a Master of Arts degree in psychology at Kent State University (1959), and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in psychology at the University of Miami (1962).[5] Family
Domhoff has four children. His son-in-law was a Major League Baseball player, Glenallen Hill.[2][6] Career Academia
Domhoff was an assistant professor of psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, for three years in the early 1960s. In 1965, he joined the founding faculty[7] of the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), as an assistant professor at Cowell College. He became an associate professor in 1969, a professor in 1976, and a Distinguished Professor in 1993. After his retirement in 1994, he has continued to publish and teach classes as a research professor.[2][8]
Over the course of his career at UCSC, Domhoff served in many capacities at various times: acting dean of the Division of Social Sciences,[9] chair of the Sociology Department, chair of the Academic Senate, chair of the Committee on Academic Personnel, and chair of the Statewide Committee on Preparatory Education.[2] In 2007, he received the University of California's Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award, which honors the post-retirement contributions of UC faculty.[10] Sociology
Domhoff's first book, Who Rules America? (1967), was a 1960s sociological best-seller.[2] It argues that the United States is dominated by an elite ownership class both politically and economically.[11] This work was partially inspired by Domhoff's experience of the Civil Rights Movement and projects that he assigned for his social psychology courses to map how different organizations were connected.[2] It built on E. Digby Baltzell's 1958 book Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class, C. Wright Mills' 1956 book The Power Elite, Robert A. Dahl's 1961 book Who Governs? and Paul Sweezy work on interest groups, and Floyd Hunter's 1953 book Community Power Structure and 1957 book Top Leadership, USA.
Who Rules was followed by a series of sociology and power structure books like C. Wright Mills and the Power Elite (1968), Bohemian Grove and Other Retreats (1974), and three more best-sellers: The Higher Circles (1970), The Powers That Be (1979), and Who Rules America Now? (1983).[2]
Domhoff has written seven updates to Who Rules America? Every edition has been used as a sociology textbook. He also has a "Who Rules America?" website, hosted by UCSC.[12] Psychology
In addition to his work in sociology, Domhoff has been a pioneer in the scientific study of dreams.[13][14] In the 1960s, he worked closely with Calvin S. Hall, who had developed a content analysis system for dreams. He has continued to study dreams, and his latest research advocates a neurocognitive basis for future dream research.[15][16]
He and his research partner, Adam Schneider, maintain two websites dedicated to quantitative dream research: DreamResearch.net and DreamBank.net.[14] Selected bibliography Who Rules America?
1967. Who Rules America? Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 1983. Who Rules America Now? A View for the 80's. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1998. Who Rules America? Power and Politics in the Year 2000. 3rd Edition. Mountain View, Calif.: Mayfield Publishing Co. 2002. Who Rules America? Power and Politics. 4th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2006. Who Rules America? Power, Politics, and Social Change. 5th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2010. Who Rules America? Challenges to Corporate and Class Dominance. 6th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2014. Who Rules America? The Triumph of the Corporate Rich.. 7th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2022. Who Rules America? The Corporate Rich, White Nationalist Republicans, and Inclusionary Democrats in the 2020s. 8th Edition. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Dreams
1996. Finding Meaning in Dreams: A Quantitative Approach. New York: Plenum Publishing. 2003. The Scientific Study of Dreams: Neural Networks, Cognitive Development, and Content Analysis. Washington: American Psychological Association Press. 2018. The Emergence of Dreaming: Mind-Wandering, Embodied Simulation, and the Default Network. New York: Oxford University Press. 2022. The Neurocognitive Theory of Dreaming: The Where, How, When, What, and Why of Dreams. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
References
"Psychology Faculty". University of California at Santa Cruz. Retrieved 16 December 2019. Domhoff, G. William (February 13, 2014). "G. William Domhoff: The Adventures and Regrets of a Professor of Dreams and Power". University of California. Gans, H. (1997). "Best-sellers by sociologists: An exploratory study". Contemporary Sociology. 26 (2): 131–135. doi:10.2307/2076741. JSTOR 2076741. Seidman, Derek. ""Who Rules America?" After 50 Years: An Interview with Professor G. William Domhoff". Eyes on the Ties (LittleSis). Retrieved 16 December 2019. Domhoff, p.209 in Class in America: An Encyclopedia. by Robert E. Weir ABC-CLIO, 2007 "Sunday, Dec. 3, 1995 C-7. Weddings, Engagements, Anniversaries". Santa Cruz Sentinel. December 3, 1995. "G. William (Bill) Domhoff, founding faculty, and psychologist Calvin S. Hall, at the Cowell College fountain". UCSC. 1968. Archived from the original on 2017-09-16. Retrieved 2017-06-12. Domhoff, G. William. "G. William Domhoff: Power Structure Research retrospective (1994)." YouTube. "William (Bill) Domhoff, dean of the division of social sciences". UCSC. Archived from the original on 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2017-06-12. "UCSC's Michael Nauenberg wins UC distinguished emeriti award". Santa Cruz Sentinel. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2019. World of Sociology. Gale. November 2000. ISBN 978-0-7876-4965-4. "Who Rules America?" "Keynote Speakers: 2017 Annual International Dream Conference". International Association for the Study of Dreams. King, Philip; Bulkeley, Kelly; Welt, Bernard (2011). Dreaming in the Classroom: Practices, Methods, and Resources in Dream Education. SUNY Press. p. 245. Domhoff, G. William (2018). The Emergence of Dreaming: Mind-Wandering, Embodied Simulation, and the Default Network. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190673420. Domhoff, G. William (2022). The Neurocognitive Theory of Dreaming. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262544214.
William Ramsey Clark (December 18, 1927 – April 9, 2021) was an American lawyer, activist, and federal government official. A progressive, New Frontier liberal,[1] he occupied senior positions in the United States Department of Justice under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, serving as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969; previously, he was Deputy Attorney General from 1965 to 1967 and Assistant Attorney General from 1961 to 1965.
As attorney general, Clark was known for his vigorous opposition to the death penalty, aggressive support of civil liberties and civil rights, and dedication to enforcing United States antitrust laws.[2] Clark supervised the drafting of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Civil Rights Act of 1968.
After leaving public office, Clark led many progressive activism campaigns, including opposition to the War on Terror. He offered advice or legal defense to such prominent figures as Charles Taylor, Slobodan Milošević, Saddam Hussein, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, and Lyndon LaRouche.[3] Until his death in 2021, Clark was the last surviving member of the cabinet of Lyndon B. Johnson.[4] Early life and career
Clark was born in Dallas, Texas, on December 18, 1927,[5] the son of jurist Tom C. Clark and his wife Mary Jane (née Ramsey). Clark's father served as United States Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 under President Harry S. Truman and then became a Supreme Court Justice in August 1949.[6] His maternal grandfather was William Franklin Ramsey, who served on the Supreme Court of Texas,[7][8] while his paternal grandfather, lawyer William Henry Clark, was president of the Texas Bar Association.[7]
Clark attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., but dropped out at the age of 17 in order to join the United States Marine Corps, seeing action in Western Europe in the final months of World War II;[7] he served until 1946. Back in the U.S., he earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in 1949, and obtained a Master of Arts in American history from the University of Chicago and a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1950 and 1951, respectively.[9] While at the University of Texas, he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.[10]
He was admitted to the Texas bar in 1950, and was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1956. From 1951 to 1961, Clark practiced law as an associate and partner at his father's Texas law firm, Clark, Reed and Clark.[11] Kennedy and Johnson administrations Attorney General Clark and President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967
In the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, Clark occupied senior positions in the Justice Department; he was Assistant Attorney General, overseeing the department's Lands Division from 1961 to 1965, and then served as Deputy Attorney General from 1965 to 1967.[12]
In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated him to be Attorney General of the United States. He was confirmed by the Senate and took the oath of office on March 2. Clark was one of Johnson's popular and successful cabinet appointments, being described as "able, independent, liberal and soft-spoken" and a symbol of the New Frontier liberals;[1] he had also built a successful record, especially in his management of the Justice Department's Lands Division; he had increased the efficiency of his division and had saved enough money from his budget so that he had asked Congress to reduce the budget by $200,000 annually.[1]
However, there also was speculation that one of the reasons that contributed to Johnson's making the appointment was the expectation that Clark's father, Associate Justice Tom C. Clark, would resign from the Supreme Court to avoid a conflict of interest.[13] Johnson wanted a vacancy to be created on the Court so he could appoint Thurgood Marshall, the first African American justice. The elder Clark assumed senior status on June 12, 1967, effectively resigning from the Supreme Court and creating the vacancy Johnson apparently desired.[14]
During his years at the Justice Department, Clark played an important role in the history of the civil rights movement. He:
supervised the federal presence at Ole Miss during the week following the admission of James Meredith; surveyed all school districts in the South desegregating under court order (1963); supervised federal enforcement of the court order protecting the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches; headed the Presidential task force to Watts following the 1965 riots; and supervised the drafting and executive role in passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Civil Rights Act of 1968.[3]
As attorney general during part of the Vietnam War, Clark oversaw the prosecution of the Boston Five for "conspiracy to aid and abet draft resistance." Four of the five were convicted, including pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock and Yale chaplain William Sloane Coffin Jr.,[15] but in later years, Clark expressed his regret at the prosecution's victory: "We won the case, that was the worst part."[16]
Clark served as the attorney general until Johnson's term as president ended on January 20, 1969.[17] Because of Richard Nixon's attacks on Clark's liberal record during the 1968 presidential election campaign and ultimate narrow victory over Hubert H. Humphrey, relations between Johnson and Clark soured and, by inauguration day, they were no longer on speaking terms.[15]
In addition to his government work, during this period Clark was also director of the American Judicature Society (in 1963) and national president of the Federal Bar Association in 1964–65.[17] Private career
Following his term as attorney general, Clark taught courses at the Howard University School of Law (1969–1972) and Brooklyn Law School (1973–1981).[18] He was active in the anti-Vietnam War movement and visited North Vietnam in 1972 as a protest against the bombing of Hanoi.[15] During this time he was associated with the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, but he resigned in 1973, saying, "I didn't feel like working on things I didn't believe in, I didn't think were important."[19]
On January 28, 1970, Ramsey Clark testified in the Chicago Seven trial. He was barred by Judge Julius Hoffman from testifying before the jury after Clark had testified outside the presence of the jury. Judge Hoffman upheld the prosecution's objections to 14 of Defense Attorney William Kunstler's 38 questions to Clark, but Clark did testify that he had told the prosecutor Tom Foran to investigate the charges against the defendants through Justice Department lawyers "as is generally done in civil rights cases", rather than through a grand jury.[20]
At the 1972 Democratic National Convention, Clark received one delegate vote for the presidential nomination[21] and two delegate votes for the vice-presidential nomination.[22]
In the 1974 New York state election, Clark ran as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator; he defeated the party's designee Lee Alexander in the primary, but lost in the general election to the incumbent Jacob Javits. In the 1976 election, Clark again sought the Democratic nomination to represent New York in the Senate, but finished a distant third in the primary behind Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Congresswoman Bella Abzug.[15]
On November 5, 1979, at the start of the Iranian hostage crisis, President Jimmy Carter instructed Clark and Senate staffer William Miller to visit Tehran and seek to open negotiations with Iranian authorities for the hostages' release; while en route, they were refused entry into the country by Ayatollah Khomeini.[23][24] Defying a travel ban, Clark went to Tehran again in June 1980 to attend a conference on alleged U.S. interference in Iranian affairs, on which occasion he was granted admission. While there he both demanded the release of the hostages and criticized past U.S. support for the deposed Shah. This second unauthorized trip reportedly infuriated President Carter.[25][15] International activism
In September 1998, Clark led a delegation to Sudan to collect evidence in the aftermath of President Bill Clinton's bombing of the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum the previous month as part of Operation Infinite Reach. Upon returning to the U.S., the delegation held a press conference on September 22, 1998, to refute the U.S. State Department's claims that the facility had been producing VX nerve agent.[26] U.S. officials later acknowledged that the evidence cited as the rationale for the Al-Shifa strike was weaker than initially believed.[27]
In 1991, Clark's Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East opposed the U.S.-led war and sanctions against Iraq.[28] Clark accused the administration of President George H. W. Bush, its officials Dan Quayle, James Baker, Dick Cheney, William Webster, Colin Powell, Norman Schwarzkopf, and "others to be named" of "crimes against peace, war crimes", and "crimes against humanity" for its conduct of the Gulf War against Iraq and the ensuing sanctions;[29] in 1996, he added the charges of genocide and the "use of a weapon of mass destruction".[30] Similarly, after the 1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Ramsey charged and "tried" NATO on 19 counts and issued calls for its dissolution.[31]
As a lawyer, Clark was criticized by both opponents and supporters for some of the people he agreed to defend, such as foreign dictators hostile to the United States; Clark stood beside and defended his clients, regardless of their own admitted actions and crimes.[32]
In 2004, Clark joined a panel of about 20 Arab and one other non-Arab lawyers to defend Saddam Hussein in his trial before the Iraqi Special Tribunal.[33] Clark appeared before the Iraqi Special Tribunal in late November 2005 arguing "that it failed to respect basic human rights and was illegal because it was formed as a consequence of the United States' illegal war of aggression against the people of Iraq."[34] Clark said that unless the trial was seen as "absolutely fair", it would "divide rather than reconcile Iraq".[35] Christopher Hitchens said Clark was admitting Hussein's guilt when Clark reportedly stated in a 2005 BBC interview: "He [Saddam] had this huge war going on, and you have to act firmly when you have an assassination attempt".[36]
Hitchens continued to describe Clark in the following terms:
"From bullying prosecutor he mutated into vagrant and floating defense counsel, offering himself to the génocideurs of Rwanda and to Slobodan Milosevic, and using up the spare time in apologetics for North Korea. He acts as front-man for the Workers World Party, which originated in a defense of the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956."[36]
Sociologist and anti-communist scholar Paul Hollander wrote of Clark:
"It is likely that well before Clark took his bizarre positions in support of highly repressive, violent, and intolerant political systems and their leaders, he came to the conclusion that the United States was the most dangerous and reprehensible source of evil in the world. This overarching belief led to the reflexive sympathy and support for all the enemies and alleged victims of the United States. They include dictators of different ideological persuasion noted above, whose inhumane qualities and policies Clark was unable to discern or acknowledge, let alone condemn. It was sufficient for Clark's moral accounting that if these dictators were opposed to (and allegedly victimized by) the United States, they deserved and earned his sympathy."[37]
Clark was not alone in criticizing the Iraqi Special Tribunal's trial of Saddam Hussein, which drew intense criticism from international human rights organizations. Human Rights Watch called Saddam's trial a "missed opportunity" and a "deeply flawed trial",[38][39] and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found the trial to be unfair and to violate basic international human rights law.[34] Among the irregularities cited by HRW, were that proceedings were marked by frequent outbursts by both judges and defendants, that three defense lawyers were murdered, that the original chief judge was replaced, that important documents were not given to defense lawyers in advance, that paperwork was lost, and that the judges made asides that pre-judged Saddam Hussein.[40] One of the aforementioned outbursts occurred when Clark was ejected from the trial after passing the judge a memorandum stating that the trial was making "a mockery of justice". The chief judge Raouf Abdul Rahman shouted at Clark, "No, you are the mockery ... get him out. Out!"[41]
On March 18, 2006, Clark attended the funeral of Slobodan Milošević. He commented: "History will prove Milošević was right. Charges are just that: charges. The trial did not have facts." He compared the trial of Milošević with Saddam's, stating "both trials are marred with injustice, both are flawed." He characterized Milošević and Saddam Hussein as "both commanders who were courageous enough to fight more powerful countries."[42] Ramsey Clark speaks to the anti-war protest in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2010.
In June 2006, Clark wrote an article criticizing U.S. foreign policy in general, containing a list of 17 U.S. "major aggressions" introduced by "Both branches of our One Party system, Democrat and Republican, favor the use of force to have their way."[a] He followed this by saying, "The United States government may have been able to outspend the Soviet Union into economic collapse in the Cold War arms race, injuring the entire planet in the process. Now Bush has entered a new arms race and is provoking a Second Cold War."[43]
On September 1, 2007, in New York City, Clark called for detained Filipino Jose Maria Sison's release and pledged assistance by joining the latter's legal defense team headed by Jan Fermon. Clark doubted Dutch authorities' "validity and competency", since the murder charges originated in the Philippines and had already been dismissed by the country's Supreme Court.[44]
In November 2007, Clark visited Nandigram in India[45][46] where conflict between state government forces and villagers resulted in the death of at least 14 villagers.[47][48][49] In a December 2007 interview, he described the War on Terrorism as a war against Islam.[50] Ramsey Clark visiting Nandigram, India, November 2007
In April 2009, Clark spoke at a session of the UN's anti-racism Durban Review Conference at which he accused Israel of genocide.[51]
In September 2010, an essay on torture by Clark was published in a three-part paperback entitled The Torturer in the Mirror (Seven Stories Press).[52][15]
Clark was a recipient of the 1992 Gandhi Peace Award,[53] and also the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for his commitment to civil rights, his opposition to war and military spending and his dedication to providing legal representation to the peace movement, particularly, his efforts to free Leonard Peltier.[54] In 1999, he traveled to Belgrade to receive an honorary doctorate from Belgrade University.[55][56] In 2008, the United Nations awarded him its Prize in the Field of Human Rights for "his steadfast insistence on respect for human rights and fair judicial process for all".[57] Advocating the impeachment of George W. Bush See also: Efforts to impeach George W. Bush VoteToImpeachFounded 2002 Dissolved January 20, 2009 Type Political advocacy Focus Impeachment of Bush administration members Location
Washington, D.C.
Area served United States Members Reported over 1,000,000 signatories Key people Ramsey Clark (founder)
In 2002, Clark founded "VoteToImpeach", an organization advocating the impeachment of President George W. Bush and several members of his administration. For the duration of Bush's terms in office, Clark sought, unsuccessfully, for the House of Representatives to bring articles of impeachment against Bush. He was the founder of the International Action Center, which holds significant overlapping membership with the Workers' World Party.[58] Clark and the IAC helped found the protest organization A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism).[59]
On March 19, 2003, the New Jersey newspaper and website The Independent reported Clark's efforts to impeach Bush and others, prior to the start of the Iraq War. The paper commented: "Clark said there is a Web site, www.votetoimpeach.org, dedicated to collecting signatures of U.S. citizens who want President George W. Bush impeached, and that approximately 150,000 have signed to impeach, he said."[60] The Weekly Standard magazine stated in an article dated February 27, 2004, "Ramsey Clark's VoteToImpeach.org is a serious operation", and said the group had run full-sized newspaper advertising on both coasts of the U.S. though the Standard also went on to describe them as also being an "angry petition stage."[61]
Clark's speech to a counter-inauguration protest on January 20, 2005, at John Marshall Park in Washington, D.C., was broadcast by Democracy Now in which Clark stated: "We've had more than 500,000 people sign on 'Vote to Impeach'."[62] The San Francisco Bay Guardian listed the website as one of three "Impeachment links", alongside afterdowningstreet.org and impeachpac.org.[63]
The organization, under Clark's guidance, drafted its own articles of impeachment against President Bush, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Attorney General John Ashcroft. The document argues that the four committed, "violations and subversions of the Constitution of the United States of America in an attempt to carry out with impunity crimes against peace and humanity and war crimes and deprivations of the civil rights of the people of the United States and other nations, by assuming powers of an imperial executive unaccountable to law and usurping powers of the Congress, the Judiciary and those reserved to the people of the United States."[64] Votetoimpeach.org claimed to have collected over one million signatures in favor of impeachment as of January 2009.[65] Notable clients
As a lawyer, Clark also provided legal counsel and advice to prominent figures, including many controversial individuals.[66][67]
Regarding his role as a defense lawyer in the trial of Saddam Hussein, Clark said: "A fair trial in this case is absolutely imperative for historical truth."[68] Clark stated that by the time he decided to join Hussein's defense team, it was clear that "proceedings before the Iraqi Special Tribunal would corrupt justice both in fact and in appearance and create more hatred and rage in Iraq against the American occupation...affirmative measures must be taken to prevent prejudice from affecting the conduct of the case and the final judgment of the court...For there to be peace, the days of victor's justice must end."[69]
A partial listing of persons who have reportedly received legal counsel and advice from Ramsey Clark includes:
Lori Berenson, an American convicted of support of MRTA guerrillas in Peru.[70] Father Philip Berrigan, a Catholic priest and antiwar activist (one of the Harrisburg Seven). Clark served as defense counsel at trial and won an acquittal.[71] Young church worker Jennifer Casolo, charged by Salvadoran authorities in 1989 with aiding the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front. Clark traveled to El Salvador to aid in her defense.[72][73] Casolo was released and deported to the U.S. after 18 days in police detention.[74][75] Radovan Karadžić, former Bosnian Serb politician. In the 1990s, Clark represented Karadžić in a civil suit brought by Croats and Muslims from the former Yugoslavia who sued Karadžić under the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 and Torture Victims Protection Act of 1992 for atrocities and human rights abuses committed during the Bosnian War.[67][76] About 100 survivors and relatives of the dead members of the Branch Davidian sect, whose Mount Carmel compound besieged by federal agents in a 51-day Waco siege in 1993, resulting in the death of about 80 members. Clark represented the plaintiffs in a suit alleging wrongful death and excessive force, giving an impassioned closing argument in which he called the siege "the greatest domestic law enforcement tragedy in the history of the United States." In a trial in 2000, the jury returned a verdict for the government.[77][78] "Political-cult guru" Lyndon LaRouche.[79] Nazi concentration camp commandant Karl Linnas.[80] Camilo Mejía, a U.S. soldier who deserted his post.[81] The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Advisory Board during the 1970s and early 1980s.[82][83] American Indian Movement prisoner Leonard Peltier.[84] Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, a leader in the Rwandan genocide.[85] Palestine Liberation Organization leaders in a lawsuit brought by the family of Leon Klinghoffer, who was murdered during hijacking of the Achille Lauro.[16] Nazi War criminal Jakob "Jack" Reimer, charged for the killings of Jews in Warsaw.[86] Liberian dictator Charles Taylor[3] during his 1985 fight against extradition from the United States to Liberia, Taylor would later be convicted of crimes against humanity.[87] Civil rights attorney Stephen Yagman,[88] whose disbarment from U.S. federal court was sought based on his harsh criticism of a federal judge, William Duffy Keller, calling him an anti-Semite and saying he had been drunk on the bench.[89]
In popular culture
In Aaron Sorkin's 2020 film The Trial of the Chicago 7, Clark was portrayed by Michael Keaton.[90] Personal life
Clark married Georgia Welch, a classmate from the University of Texas, on April 16, 1949. They had two children, Ronda Kathleen Clark and Tom Campbell Clark II. His wife died on July 3, 2010, at the age of 81.[91][92] His son Tom died from cancer on November 23, 2013.[93] Clark lived in Greenwich Village in New York City, where he died on April 9, 2021, at age 93.[15] Works
Clark, Ramsey (1970). Crime in America: Observations on Its Nature Causes Prevention and Control. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-067120407-5. — (1974). Crime and Justice. The Great Contemporary Issues. New York: Arno Press. ISBN 978-040504167-9. — (1992a). The Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 978-156025047-0. — (1992b). War Crimes: A Report on U.S. War Crimes Against Iraq. Maisonneuve Press. ISBN 978-094462415-9. — (1998). Challenge to Genocide: Let Iraq Live. International Action Center. ISBN 978-096569164-2. — (2000). NATO in the Balkans: Voices of Opposition. International Action Center. ISBN 978-096569162-8. — (2002a) [First published 1996]. The Impact of Sanctions on Iraq: The Children Are Dying (2nd ed.). World View Forum. ISBN 978-096569163-5. — (2002b). "Appendix: On the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights". Acts of Aggression: Policing "Rogue" States. By Chomsky, Noam; Zangana, Haifa. Seven Stories Press. ISBN 978-158322546-2. —; Doebbler, Curtis (2011). The Iraqi Special Tribunal: An Abuse of Justice [Draft Report] (Report). Lulu.com. ASIN B08KWYBVZ5. —; Douglass, Frederick; Danticat, Edwidge; Dupuy, Ben; Laraque, Paul (2010). Chin, Pat; Dunkel, Greg; Flounders, Sara; Ives, Kim (eds.). Haiti: A Slave Revolution: 200 Years After 1804 (Updated ed.). Youth & The Military Education Project (US). ISBN 978-097475214-3. — (2010). "Torture, the Cruelest of All Human Acts, Is a Crime in America". The Torturer in the Mirror. By Reifer, Thomas Ehrlich; Zangana, Haifa (First ed.). Seven Stories Press. ISBN 978-158322913-2.
See also
Biography portal
List of peace activists Progressive Party (South Korea, 2017)
Notes
Clark's list of "major aggressions" by the United States: Regime change in Iran (1953), the Shah replacing democratically elected Mossadegh; Eisenhower (R). Regime change in Guatemala (1954), military government for democratically elected Arbenz; Eisenhower (R). Regime change in Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) (1961), assassination of Patrice Lumumba; Eisenhower (R). The Vietnam War (1959–1975); Eisenhower (R), Kennedy (D), Johnson (D), Nixon (R). Invasion of the Dominican Republic (1965); Johnson (D). The Contras warfare against Nicaragua (1981–1988), resulting in regime change from the Sandinistas to corrupt capitalists; Reagan (R). Attack and occupation of Grenada (population 110,000)(1983–1987); Reagan (R) Aerial attack on the sleeping cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya, (1986); Reagan (R). Invasion of Panama (1989–1990), regime change; George H. W. Bush (R). Gulf War (1991); George H. W. Bush (R) "Humanitarian" occupation of Somalia (1992–1993), leading to 10,000 Somali deaths; George H. W. Bush (R) and Clinton (D). Aerial attacks on Iraq (1993–2001); Bill Clinton (D) War against Yugoslavia (1999), 23,000 bombs and missiles dropped on Yugoslavia; Clinton (D). Missile attack in Khartoum (1998), (21 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles) destroying the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory which provided the majority of all medicines for Sudan; Clinton (D). Invasion and occupation of Afghanistan (2001–present), regime change; George W. Bush (R). War of aggression against Iraq and hostile occupation (2003–present); George W. Bush (R). Regime change in Haiti (2004), deposing the democratically elected Aristide for years of chaos and systematic killings; George W. Bush (R).
References
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The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 11, 2021. Brendan (April 28, 2004). "Clinton Bombs Sudanese Pharmaceutical Plant". ThereItIs.org. Lacey, Marc (October 20, 2005). "Look at the Place! Sudan Says, 'Say Sorry', but U.S. Won't". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2016. Gelbspan, Ross (January 22, 1991). "Peace activists express concern about anti-semites in movement". The Boston Globe. War Crimes: A Report on United States War Crimes Against Iraq to the Commission of Inquiry for the International War Crimes Tribunal Archived February 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, by Ramsey Clark and others The Wisdom Fund, "Former US Attorney General Charges US, British and UN Leaders", November 20, 1996 CJPY, "NATO found guilty", June 10, 2000 Archived September 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine John Judis, "The Strange Case of Ramsey Clark," The New Republic, April 22, 1991, pp. 23–29. "US rebel joins Saddam legal team", news.bbc.co.uk, December 29, 2004 "Cases". 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Barnes, Bart (December 23, 2013). "Tom C. Clark II, environmental lawyer, dies at 59". The Washington Post.
Further reading Citizen Clark: A Life of Principle – documentary film on the life of former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark (2018, 95 minutes) Victor Navasky, "In memoriam Ramsesy Clark (1927–2021): The former US attorney general was sui generis", The Nation, vol. 312, no. 10 (17/24 May 2021), p. 6. Wohl, Alexander (2013). Father, Son, and Constitution: How Justice Tom Clark and Attorney General Ramsey Clark Shaped American Democracy. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-070061916-0.
Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947–1991), as named by the Western Allies.[1]
East German leader Walter Ulbricht agitated and maneuvered to get the Soviet Union's permission to construct the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop emigration and defection westward through the Border system, preventing escape across the city sector border from East Berlin into West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of East and West. Soviet and American tanks briefly faced each other at the location during the Berlin Crisis of 1961. On 26 June 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy visited Checkpoint Charlie and looked from a platform onto the Berlin Wall and into East Berlin.[2]
After the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc and the reunification of Germany, the American guard house at Checkpoint Charlie became a tourist attraction. It is now located in the Allied Museum in the Dahlem neighborhood of Berlin. Background Sign at Checkpoint Charlie on the way into West Berlin, as it appeared in 1981 Emigration restrictions, the Inner German border and Berlin Further information: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection and Inner German border
By the early 1950s, the Soviet method of restricting emigration was emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc, including East Germany.[3] However, in occupied Germany, until 1952, the lines between East Germany and the western occupied zones remained easily crossed in most places.[4] Subsequently, the inner German border between the two German states was closed and a barbed-wire fence erected.
Even after closing of the inner German border officially in 1952,[5] the city sector border in between East Berlin and West Berlin remained considerably more accessible than the rest of the border because it was administered by all four occupying powers.[4] Accordingly, Berlin became the main route by which East Germans left for the West.[6] Hence the Berlin sector border was essentially a "loophole" through which Eastern Bloc citizens could still escape.[5]
The 3.5 million East Germans who had left by 1961 totaled approximately 20% of the entire East German population.[7] The emigrants tended to be young and well educated.[8] The loss was disproportionately great among professionals — engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled workers.[7] Berlin Wall constructed Main articles: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection and Berlin Wall
The brain drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility and economic viability of East Germany that the resecuring of the Soviet imperial frontier was imperative.[9] Between 1949 and 1961, over 2½ million East Germans fled to the West.[10] The numbers increased during the three years before the Berlin Wall was erected,[10] with 144,000 in 1959, 199,000 in 1960 and 207,000 in the first seven months of 1961 alone.[10][11] The East German economy suffered accordingly.[11]
On 13 August 1961, a barbed-wire barrier that would become the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin was erected by the East Germans.[9] Two days later, police and army engineers began to construct a more permanent concrete wall.[12] Along with the wall, the 830-mile (1336 km) zonal border became 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide on its East German side in some parts of Germany with a tall steel-mesh fence running along a "death strip" bordered by mines, as well as channels of ploughed earth, to slow escapees and more easily reveal their footprints.[13] Checkpoint Soviet Zone from Checkpoint Charlie observation post, 1982
Checkpoint Charlie was a crossing point in the Berlin Wall located at the junction of Friedrichstraße with Zimmerstraße and Mauerstraße (which for older historical reasons coincidentally means 'Wall Street'). It is in the Friedrichstadt neighborhood. Checkpoint Charlie was designated as the single crossing point (on foot or by car) for foreigners and members of the Allied forces. (Members of the Allied forces were not allowed to use the other sector crossing point designated for use by foreigners, the Friedrichstraße railway station).[citation needed]
The name 'Charlie' came from the letter C in the NATO phonetic alphabet; similarly for other Allied checkpoints on the Autobahn from the West: Checkpoint Alpha at Helmstedt and its counterpart Checkpoint Bravo at Dreilinden, Wannsee in the south-west corner of Berlin. The Soviets simply called it the Friedrichstraße Crossing Point (КПП Фридрихштрассе, KPP Fridrikhshtrasse). The East Germans referred officially to Checkpoint Charlie as the Grenzübergangsstelle ("Border Crossing Point") Friedrich-/Zimmerstraße.[citation needed]
As the most visible Berlin Wall checkpoint, Checkpoint Charlie was featured in movies[14] and books. A famous cafe and viewing place for Allied officials, armed forces and visitors alike, Cafe Adler ("Eagle Café"), was situated right on the checkpoint.
The development of the infrastructure around the checkpoint was largely asymmetrical, reflecting the contrary priorities of East German and Western border authorities. During its 28-year active life, the infrastructure on the Eastern side was expanded to include not only the wall, watchtower and zig-zag barriers, but a multi-lane shed where cars and their occupants were checked. However, the Allied authority never erected any permanent buildings. A wooden shed used as the guard house was replaced during the 1980s by a larger metal structure, now displayed at the Allied Museum in western Berlin. Their reasoning was that they did not consider the inner Berlin sector boundary an international border and did not treat it as such.[citation needed] Related incidents Stand-off between Soviet and U.S. tanks in October 1961 Main article: Berlin Crisis of 1961 US M48 Patton tanks facing Soviet T-54 tanks at Checkpoint Charlie in October 1961
Soon after the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961, a stand-off occurred between US and Soviet tanks on either side of Checkpoint Charlie. It began on 22 October as a dispute over whether East German border guards were authorized to examine the travel documents of a US diplomat based in West Berlin named Allan Lightner heading to East Berlin to watch an opera show there, since according to the agreement between all four Allied powers occupying Germany, there was to be free movement for Allied forces in Berlin and that no German military forces from either West Germany or East Germany were to be based in the city, and moreover the Western Allies did not (initially) recognise the East German state and its right to remain in its self-declared capital of East Berlin. Instead, Allied forces only recognised the authority of the Soviets over East Berlin rather than their East German allies. By 27 October, ten Soviet and an equal number of American tanks stood 100 yards apart on either side of the checkpoint. This stand-off ended peacefully on 28 October following a US-Soviet understanding to withdraw tanks and reduce tensions. Discussions between US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and KGB[citation needed] spy Georgi Bolshakov played a vital role in realizing this tacit agreement.[15] Early escapes
The Berlin Wall was erected with great speed by the East German government in 1961, but there were initially many means of escape that had not been anticipated. For example, Checkpoint Charlie was initially blocked only by a gate, and a citizen of the GDR (East Germany) smashed a car through it to escape, so a strong pole was erected. Another escapee approached the barrier in a convertible, the windscreen removed prior to the event, and slipped under the barrier. This was repeated two weeks later, so the East Germans duly lowered the barrier and added uprights.[16] Death of Peter Fechter
On 17 August 1962, a teenaged East German, Peter Fechter, was shot in the pelvis by East German guards while trying to escape from East Berlin. His body lay tangled in a barbed wire fence as he bled to death in full view of the world's media. He could not be rescued from West Berlin because he was a few metres inside the Soviet sector. East German border guards were reluctant to approach him for fear of provoking Western soldiers, one of whom had shot an East German border guard just days earlier. More than an hour later, Fechter's body was removed by the East German guards. A spontaneous demonstration formed on the American side of the checkpoint, protesting against the action of the East and the inaction of the West.[17]
A few days later, a crowd threw stones at Soviet buses driving towards the Soviet War Memorial, located in the Tiergarten in the British sector; the Soviets tried to escort the buses with armoured personnel carriers (APCs). Thereafter, the Soviets were only allowed to cross via the Sandkrug Bridge crossing (which was the nearest to Tiergarten) and were prohibited from bringing APCs. Western units were deployed in the middle of the night in early September with live armaments and vehicles, in order to enforce the ban.[citation needed] Today: Tourist and memorial site On the night of 9 November 1989 when a part of the Wall was opened
Although the wall was opened in November 1989 and the checkpoint booth removed on 22 June 1990,[18] the checkpoint remained an official crossing for foreigners and diplomats until German reunification in October 1990.
Checkpoint Charlie has since become one of Berlin's primary tourist attractions, where some original remnants of the border crossing blend with reconstructed parts, memorial and tourist facilities.
The guard house on the American side was removed in 1990; it is now on display in the open-air museum of the Allied Museum in Berlin-Zehlendorf.[19] A copy of the guard house and the sign that once marked the border crossing was reconstructed later on roughly the same site. It resembles the first guard house erected during 1961, behind a sandbag barrier toward the border. Over the years this was replaced several times by guard houses of different sizes and layouts (see photographs). The one removed in 1990 was considerably larger than the first one and did not have sandbags. Tourists used to be able to have their photographs taken for a fee with actors dressed as allied military police standing in front of the guard house but Berlin authorities banned the practice in November 2019 stating the actors had been exploiting tourists by demanding money for photos at the attraction.[citation needed]
The course of the former wall and border is now marked in the street with a line of cobblestones.[citation needed] Former Berlin Wall marker
An open-air exhibition was opened during the summer of 2006. Gallery walls along Friedrichstraße and Zimmerstraße give information about escape attempts, how the checkpoint was expanded, and its significance during the Cold War, in particular the confrontation of Soviet and American tanks in 1961. Also, an overview of other important memorial sites and museums about the division of Germany and the wall is presented.[citation needed]
Developers demolished the East German checkpoint watchtower in 2000, to make way for offices and shops. The watchtower was the last surviving major original Checkpoint Charlie structure. The city tried to save the tower but failed, as it was not classified as a historic landmark.[citation needed] Yet, that development project was never realised. To this day,[when?] the area between Zimmerstraße and Mauerstraße/Schützenstraße (the East German side of the border crossing) remains vacant, providing space for a number of temporary tourist and memorial uses. New plans since 2017 for a hotel on the site stirred a professional and political debate about appropriate development of the area. After the final listing of the site as a protected heritage area in 2018, plans were changed towards a more heritage-friendly approach.[20] BlackBox Cold War Exhibition
The "BlackBox Cold War" exhibition has illuminated the division of Germany and Berlin since 2012. The free open-air exhibition offers original Berlin Wall segments and information about the historic site. However, the indoor exhibition (entrance fee required) illustrates Berlin's contemporary history with 16 media stations, a movie theatre and original objects and documents. It is run by the NGO Berliner Forum fuer Geschichte und Gegenwart e.V..[21] Checkpoint Charlie Museum Checkpoint Charlie Museum
Near the location of the guard house is the Haus am Checkpoint Charlie. The "Mauermuseum - Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie" was opened on 14 June 1963[citation needed] in the immediate vicinity of the Berlin Wall. It shows photographs and fragments related to the separation of Germany. The border fortifications and the "assistance of the protecting powers" are illustrated. In addition to photos and documentation of successful escape attempts, the exhibition also showcases escape devices including a hot-air balloon, escape cars, chair lifts, and a mini-submarine.
From October 2004 until July 2005, the Freedom Memorial, consisting of original wall segments and 1,067 commemorative crosses, stood on a leased site.[22][23]
The museum is operated by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August e. V., a registered association founded by Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt. The director is Alexandra Hildebrandt, the founder's widow. The museum is housed in part in the "House at Checkpoint Charlie" building by architect Peter Eisenman.[citation needed]
With 850,000 visitors in 2007, the Checkpoint Charlie Museum is one of the most visited museums in Berlin and in Germany.[24] In popular culture
Checkpoint Charlie figures in numerous Cold War-era espionage and political novels and films. Some examples:
James Bond (played by Roger Moore) passed through Checkpoint Charlie in the film Octopussy (1983) from West to East.[25]
Checkpoint Charlie is featured in the opening scene of the 1965 film The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom), based on the John le Carré novel of the same name.
In the feature film Bridge of Spies, imprisoned American student Frederic Pryor is released at Checkpoint Charlie as part of a deal to trade Pryor and U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for convicted Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. Pryor's release happens offscreen while the trade of Powers for Abel takes place at the Glienicke Bridge.
It was depicted in the opening scene of the film The Man from U.N.C.L.E (2015).
The 1985 film Gotcha! includes a scene where the protagonist (Anthony Edwards) transits through Checkpoint Charlie into West Berlin.
Elvis Costello mentions Checkpoint Charlie in his hit song "Oliver's Army".[26] See also
List of tourist attractions in Berlin
References
"A brief history of Checkpoint Charlie". Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022. Andreas Daum, Kennedy in Berlin. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 134‒35. Dowty 1989, p. 114 Dowty 1989, p. 121 Harrison 2003, p. 99 Maddrell, Paul (2006). Spying on Science: Western Intelligence in Divided Germany 1945–1961. Oxford University Press. pp. 56. ISBN 978-0-19-926750-7. Dowty 1989, p. 122 Thackeray 2004, p. 188 Pearson 1998, p. 75 Gedmin, Jeffrey (1992). "The Dilemma of Legitimacy". The hidden hand: Gorbachev and the collapse of East Germany. AEI studies. Vol. 554. American Enterprise Institute. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-8447-3794-2. Dowty 1989, p. 123 Dowty 1989, p. 124 Black et al. 2000, p. 141 Blau, Christine (6 November 2014). "Insider's Guide to Cold War Berlin". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2018. Kempe, Frederick (2011). Berlin 1961. Penguin Group (USA). pp. 478–479. ISBN 978-0-399-15729-5. Dearden, Lizzie (7 November 2014). "Berlin Wall: What You Need To Know About the Barrier That Divided East and West". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2017. "Media battle ensues following the death of Peter Fechter". www.axelspringer.com. Retrieved 6 September 2023. "June 22, 1990: Checkpoint Charlie Closes". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2011. "Allied Museum Berlin". Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Eddy, Melissa (5 February 2019). "At Checkpoint Charlie, Cold War History Confronts Crass Commercialism". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019. "Black Box Cold War". www.berlin.de. 25 May 2016. Archived from the original on 15 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019. "Berlin Council Targets 'Checkpoint Charlie' Memorial". NPR. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018. Checkpoint Charlie: Between Memorials and Snack Bars. In: Sites of Unity (Haus der Geschichte), 2022. "Museen in Berlin: Die Top Ten – 4. Platz 4: Mauermuseum - Haus am Checkpoint Charly". www.berlin.de. 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017. "Bond's Border Crossing (Checkpoint Charlie) – James Bond Locations". www.jamesbondmm.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
Elvis Costello – Oliver's Army, retrieved 7 January 2023
Sources Black, Cyril E.; English, Robert D.; Helmreich, Jonathan E.; McAdams, James A. (2000), Rebirth: A Political History of Europe since World War II, Westview Press, ISBN 0-8133-3664-3 Daum, Andreas, Kennedy in Berlin. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-85824-3. Dowty, Alan (1989), Closed Borders: The Contemporary Assault on Freedom of Movement, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-04498-4 Dowty, Alan (1988), "The Assault on Freedom of Emigration", World Affairs, 151 (2) Harrison, Hope Millard (2003), Driving the Soviets Up the Wall: Soviet-East German Relations, 1953–1961, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-09678-3 Pearson, Raymond (1998), The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire, Macmillan, ISBN 0-312-17407-1 Thackeray, Frank W. (2004), Events that changed Germany, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0-313-32814-5
