During his war service in the US Navy, Lieutenant Helms was initially assigned to track enemy submarines off the coast of New York. After the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Helms joined the Navy and moved his family to his parents' home in South Orange, New Jersey. The prison term was suspended. Mr. Helms was forced out of the agency in 1973 by President Nixon, who considered him insufficiently cooperative in providing C.I.A. During the 1950s and early 1960s, he held high positions in the division responsible for clandestine operations. . For example, memos from the 1950s show that the CIA hid knowledge of the whereabouts of notorious Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann who had escaped to Argentina. I didn't want to mislead the Senate. Most likely, Dennis figures, his father got the stationery shortly after Germanys surrender and backdated the letter to confer historical sweep. Indeed, Helms and Angleton's goal was much more than just defensive techniques and truth serums; they were intent on finding out if a human could be programmed to carry out "executive action" operations, which in CIA terminology meant assassination. The CIA's mind control research program was renamed ARTICHOKE in 1952. The gold-embossed letterhead features a swastika and the name Adolf Hitler. Family (1) Spouse Julia Bretzman Shields (1939 - 1968) (divorced) (1 child) Cynthia McKelvie (? The subjects chosen by the CIA included prisoners, foreigners, prostitutes, mental patients, and drug addicts. When Mr. Helms refused, Mr. But Helms wrote in his memoir that he was in France that day. He became a consultant to businesses that made investments in other countries. For more than 11 months, until the tunnel was detected by the Soviet Union, the C.I.A. He will be. The trouble is, as a lawyer, I can tell you that to find out the actual truth to any of those allegations, you have to go back and dig. He worked for the president and answered only to him. ,&$vP1)Pcb`. Helms was born in St. Davids, Pa., the son of an Alcoa executive and grandson of a leading international banker. "I had sworn my oath to protect certain secrets. Mr. Helms believed he had performed well in a job that, although many Americans considered it sinister and undemocratic, was nevertheless a cold-blooded necessity in an era of cold war. The captured Nazi research documents showed that the most gruesome Nazi experiments conducted at death camps were the so-called "aviation series" in which prisoners were used to test various survival factors for the military. 15 Sep 1970: President Richard M. Nixon and Henry Kissinger instruct CIA Director Richard Helms to spend up to $10 million "to prevent Allende from coming to power or to unseat him." 2 Feb 1973: Richard M. Nixon fires Richard Helms, after Helms is loyal to CIA and not Nixon, over Watergate issues. Thats the way it often goes in CIA families. The father typed out short messages about things he could freely discuss a Time magazine piece about paintings, a Joe Alsop column about liberals, and an article referring to some court matter. But several other letters between the Helms men are available for public viewing at Georgetown Universitys library, which obtained the fathers papers in 2008. Helms got ensnared in Congresss investigation because a successor, William Colby, released a trove of documents, nicknamed the Family Jewels, detailing the agencys misdeeds. He died on October 22, 2002 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. In that operation, a force of 1,200 CIA-trained and -equipped Cuban exiles attempted to retake the island from Castro. Angleton is described by Edward Jay Epstein in his book Legend as "a man who meticulously planned environments so perfectly that he could manipulate the design of his own prize-winning orchids." His role in those early years, authorities on the history of the agency say, was running covert operations. 1927, marble, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Julia Bretzman, 1972.171. The col- lapse of that marriage in 1968 also became a factor in 'his role in government and in Washington society. The effort failed, and most of the invaders were killed or captured. Share on Facebook Share. Returning to America, he graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1935. See the article in its original context from. Helms completed his schooling in Europe at age eighteen in 1931 and returned to the United States after his acceptance at Williams College in western Massachusetts. But the relationship between Mr. Helms and Nixon was never smooth, and in November 1972, shortly after he had been elected to his second term, the president summoned his CIA chief to a meeting at Camp David and asked him to resign. The Hitler-chancellery letter, it turns out, was the beginning of an epistolary relationship that would span about 50 years. In that sense, he was a little frustrating, he said. In the title of his 1979 biography of Mr. Helms, Thomas Powers called him "The Man Who Kept the Secrets." After the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Helms joined the Navy and moved his family to his parents' home in South Orange, New Jersey. Agents often turned to him in times of trouble, Powers wrote of Helms. He worked in New York plotting the positions of German submarines in the western Atlantic. While with the OSS dur- ing the war, Helms made contact with a handful of men who would remain influential . Sources: Materials in collection. A year later, he was among a group of journalists who interviewed Adolf Hitler. I think if I had done anything else I would have been disgraced.". At an early age, Helms studied in Switzerland at Le Rosey. He attended Williams College, where he was president of his class, editor of the campus newspaper and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. In the late 1950s, he interned at the CIA vacuuming dust off Soviet newspapers in the agency library and later went to Williams College, just like his dad. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser, Richard Helms walked briskly from a hearing room in Washington, DC, on April 28, 1975. Father of Dennis and grandfather of Julia and Alexander; brother of Betty Helms Hawn, Pearsael Helms and Gates Helm; stepfather of Didi Anderson, Jill . He and his fellow officers were the beneficiaries of the most successful espionage operation of World War II in Europe the breaking of the German code by allied cryptologists an operation code-named ULTRA. During his three years in Iran, Mr. Helms would make more than a dozen trips back to Washington to testify before Senate committees investigating CIA activities during his directorship. They just dont exist. Helms, who was present at the creation of the agency in 1947 during the Cold War, was an important operations man in the agency for two decades. He grew up in South Orange, N.J., and studied for two years during high school in Switzerland, where he became fluent in French and German. The Agency's MK experiments started out in 1950 as project BLUEBIRD. I believed in the importance to the nation of the function that the agency served. had run a major secret operation in Chile that gave more than $8 million to the opponents of Mr. Allende, using the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation as a conduit. That reputation grew after 1973, when Mr. Helms clashed with President Richard M. Nixon, who sought his help in thwarting an F.B.I. Although the Shah was six years younger than Helms, the fellow alumni became very close in their later lives, and particularly when Helms was appointed ambassador to Iran by President Richard Nixon in March 1973. Julia apparently favored the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, his friend Richard Helms was also on a fast track. Helm's style was cool by choice and temperament; his instinct was to soften differences, to find a middle ground, to tone down operations that were getting out of hand, to give faltering projects one more chance rather than shut them down altogether, to settle for compromise in the interests of bureaucratic peace." During the 1950s, Dulles gave him special assignments. He was reserved in public. He will be buried at Arlington National Ceremony on Nov. 20. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Im afraid for her life: Riverside CC womens coach harassed after Title IX suit, Six people, including mother and baby, killed in Tulare County; drug cartel suspected, Want to solve climate change? How do we create a person's profile? Born on March 30, 1913, in St. Davids, Pa., Richard McGarrah Helms -- he avoided using the middle name -- was the son of an Alcoa executive and grandson of a leading international banker, Gates McGarrah. chief, Mr. Helms received favorable, occasionally fawning attention from lawmakers and the press, who remarked on his professionalism, candor, and even his dark good looks. He was accused by the panel of failing to notify senior administration officials of efforts to assassinate Castro. 1968, one son) Son: Dennis Helms Wife: Cynthia Ratcliff McKelvin (m. 1968) High School: Carteret School, Orange, NJ University: Williams College (1935) US Ambassador to Iran 1973-76 CIA Director 1966-73 CIA Deputy Director 28-Apr-1965 to 30-Jun-1966 OSS Agent The Indianapolis Times Helms' early work was in the field of journalism. As I recalled other events, I realized that . was able to eavesdrop on Moscow's conversations with officials in East Germany and Poland. However, in later years, it was publicly revealed that in reality the Soviets' work in this area had been much exaggerated. Helms would call up those people, invite them to dinner or lunch and he would more or less tell them how you live through this, and believe me, they were grateful, Powers said. .Booklist. At the height of McCarthy's fervid hunts for communists inside the government, Mr. Helms headed a CIA committee to protect the agency against McCarthy's efforts to infiltrate the CIA with his own informers. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. He later became an international consultant, specializing in trade with the Middle East. When Hitler spoke face-to-face, active salivary glands seemed to make his voice indistinct, Helms wrote in his memoir.). Beneath Helms's outward appearance of restraint (the Daniel Schorr outburst being a major exception), the career spymaster was the embodiment of ambition. In 1977, Mr. Helms stepped down as ambassador to Iran and returned to Washington to plead no contest to charges that in 1973 he had lied to a Congressional committee about the intelligence agency's role in bringing down the Allende government. That reputation grew in 1973, when Mr. Helms clashed with President Nixon, who sought his help in thwarting an F.B.I. Foreword by Dr. Henry C. Lee, Preface, Chapter 1: Richard Helms, The Strategist, Chapter 2: The Sociopathy Test, Chapter 3: James Angleton, The Tactician, Chapter 4: Assassinations Past, Chapter 5: Lee Harvey Oswald, An Unwitting Patsy, Chapter 6: November 22, 1963, the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Chapter 7: Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, an Involuntary Pawn, Chapter 8: June 5, 1968, the Assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Chapter 9: Conclusion, Notes, Index, Readers who cant get enough of speculation about the JFK and RFK assassinations should definitely give [CIA Rogues and the Killing of the Kennedys] a read . At the close of World War II, top German spy Commander Reinhard Gehlen escaped the approaching Russians and fled to the Americans, bringing with him a treasure trove of Nazi and Russian intelligence files. The agency later set up two additional programs to monitor dissident groups. Dennis figured the original was safer in Langley. He served under such men as Allen W. Dulles, Richard M. Bissell, John A. McCone and Vice Adm. William F. Raborn. Mr. Helms said outside the courtroom that he wore his conviction ''like a badge of honor,'' and added: ''I don't feel disgraced at all. Mr. Helms pleaded no contest in 1977 to two misdemeanor counts of failing to testify fully four years earlier to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But he eventually ran afoul of Congressional investigators who found that he had lied or withheld information about the United States' role in assassination attempts in Cuba, anti-government activities in Chile and the illegal surveillance of journalists in the United States. In his biography, The Man Who Kept the Secrets, Thomas Powers wrote that Helms style was cool by choice and temperament; his instinct was to soften differences, to find a middle ground, to tone down operations that were getting out of hand, to give faltering projects one more chance rather than shut them down altogether, to settle for compromise in the interests of bureaucratic peace.. Dennis wanted to be like his father in some ways. The artifact itself would have made any museum professionals day. That was about it. Earlier this year, the CIA contacted Dennis Helms to let him know the agency was redesigning its in-house museum and wanted to increase its memorabilia from Richard Helms and the three other CIA directors who also served in the OSS: Allen Dulles, William Casey and William Colby. Blood, Money, & Power: How L.B.J. He lives with his wife in West Hartford, Connecticut. In this brave. Helms, an OSS operative in World War II, was always vague about the letter. As he stepped into the hallway, he came face-to-face with CBS newsman Daniel Schorr. Helms and Dulles, who was then Chief of Mission in Berne, Switzerland, met at General Dwight Eisenhower's headquarters when Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945. investigation into the Watergate break-in. He was a firm believer in the importance of the espionage game. For a short time, Helms worked closely with Allen Dulles, a World War I spymaster who would eventually become CIA director (1953 1961). In pursuit of that goal, he paid his own fare to London, where he became a European reporter for United Press. I was simply trying to find my way through a difficult situation in which I found myself.''. The couple were divorced in 1968, and Mr. Helms married Cynthia McKelvie later that year. Served with Office of Strategic Services United States Naval Reserve, 1942-1946, European Theatre of Operations. Richard M. Helms, 89, the quintessential intelligence and espionage officer who joined the Central Intelligence Agency at its founding in 1947 and rose through the ranks to lead it for more than six years, died in his sleep Oct. 22 at his home in Washington. Helms returned to the United States in 1938 and took a job on the business side at the Indianapolis Times. He fancied a career in journalism, and went to Europe as a reporter for United Press. In addition to his wife, Mr. Helms is survived by a son, Dennis Helms, of Princeton, N.J. Richard M. Helms Dies at 89; Dashing Ex-Chief of the C.I.A. Enabling JavaScript in your browser will allow you to experience all the features of our site. At some point, he lost track of it. For example, at Dachau, inmates were immersed in cold water to determine how long a downed pilot would last in frigid seas. He is survived by his wife, the former Cynthia McKelvie, whom he married in 1968; and a son from his first marriage, Dennis Helms. They divorced in 1968. (Published 10/25/02). Over the years, there would be more assignments with domestic political implications. Mr. Helms, who was allowed to receive his government pension, put his intelligence experience to use after his retirement. It was not until June 2006 that the National Archives in Washington released twenty-seven thousand pages of declassified post-World War II documents revealing the extent of the CIA's collaboration with ex-Nazis. [M]y life has spanned an historic period, and I am rather awed by that fact, he wrote. He died on October 22, 2002 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. Richard Helms, the CIA director during the Vietnam War and Watergate eras, who died in 2002. agency employees and their guests can see, The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Spymaster Father, William Colby.. Sure, theyd take that. The following year in September 1939, Germany attacked Poland, starting World War II. . The Measure of a Man is the earliest attempt to publish King's sermons in book form. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/23/obituaries/richard-m-helms-dies-at-89-dashing-exchief-of-the-cia.html. "The Man Who Kept the Secrets" was the title chosen by author Thomas Powers for his biography of Mr. Helms. Richard married Julia Helms (born Bretzman Shields) on month day 1939, at age 26 at marriage place, Indiana. It also conveyed a certain historical intuition about the evil that one man could do. The committee's job was to monitor reports of covert approaches to CIA officers by McCarthy agents and to plug any leaks. It included the rending of the American social fabric and the antiwar protests of the Vietnam War era, and it ended during the Watergate crisis. At his retirement in 1973, Mr. Helms left an organization viewed with suspicion by many and about to undergo intense scrutiny from an unfriendly Congress for activities ranging from assassination plots against foreign leaders to spying on U.S. citizens. Hypnosis and drugs were central elements of the programs that encompassed CIA mind control and behavior modification research of this era. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. According to Helms's assistant, George McManus, the main reason Helms did not tell his boss about mob involvement in assassination conspiracies was because McCone would have considered it "morally reprehensible.". He was known as a charming conversationalist, a gregarious partygoer and an accomplished dancer, and he and his wife continued to be familiar figures on the capital party scene. ''I had found myself in a position of conflict,'' he told a federal judge at the formal proceeding after entering a plea agreement with the Justice Department. We encourage you to research and . In 1939 he married Julia Bretzman Shields, and they had a son, Dennis, a lawyer in Princeton, N.J. The reports indicate that the CIA feared that his capture would expose their use of former Nazis, and that he would reveal the CIA's efforts to undermine Communist influence in West Germany. As for the initials "MK," the words "mind control" come to mind, though the origin of this code name has never been found. WASHINGTON Oct. 23 — Richard Helms, a former director of central intelligence who defiantly guarded some of the darkest secrets of the cold war, died today of multiple myeloma. Mar 1973 Richard Helms's income source is mostly from being a successful Actor. People at the agency suppress their egos. But asked Wednesday about the speculation, Woodward -- now an assistant managing editor at the Post -- said Deep Throat wasnt Helms.
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