RABORN IMAGE NO LONGER USEFUL TO WHITE HOUSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000100160009-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 23, 2000
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: June 23, 1966
• Content Type: OPEN

IiNi'V1'k N1,%11'i14M .M I'
JUN 2 9 1966..
RADORN IMAGE NO LONGER USEFUL To WHITE HOUSE
Budapest ESTI HIRLAP 23 June 1966--A
CPYR(GHT er Sereny Article: "News Co;,,mentary__-Changing of the Quard, at the CIA")
(Teyt.) At-, v,4. '-tosb Press C01'rUTUMM, PreSident . j announced '~
accepted "with regret" Ad
i
R
n ahas
m
ral
aborn's reiti
sgnaon andhas appointedinhis place Richard Helms as the new director of CIA.
There are no official reasons given nor why the No. 1 U.S. spy chief had to disappear
from the scene after barely 13 months in offi
ce Initial cometi
..mnares therefore
stressed that Raborn Was no "expert" and lacked the foreign political knowledge'
necessary for his position. In contrast
his
s
,
succes
or the
, has worked in the American intelligence network since World WaryII,? and has been
the direct deputy for CIA chiefs i
n recent years
,
Although this explanation is an obvious one, it is probable that President Johnsoni
did not know this last A
ril wh
p
en to everbdf
,,yoye surprise, he appointed, people, outsider Admiral Raborn to head the CIA. People in theoknow inol'
Washington then attributed the President's choice to the fact that Raborn was
.also a Texan who, in addition, was an influential Johnson agitator in the
1964 presidential election campaign both in the b
usiness world ad
n among senators
and who had military interests because of his official capacity with a California
airplane company. Thus, with Aabo>nls a
t
ppoin
ment Johst
,non waned to kill two
birds with one'stone: Take the wind out of the sails of the congressional critics
of the CIA, ahd insure through an "i
"
mpartial
disili
cpned Military man that the
CIA would not start independent operations with which it could stab White House
concepts in the back.
Raborn really had good connections, primarily in the defense committees of the
two houses of Congress, which have, never criticized the CIA; but, on the other
hand, he had to defend it from the Foreign Relations Committee, which has a more
"liberal" reputation. (By the way, CIA operations cannot be checked on by the'
Foreign Relations Committee.) At the same time, increasingly rdhemet. attacks on
a broader scale have been leveled at the CIA b
th
o
in the US Cg
.,onress and by
public opinion in 'recent months. More and more scandals have et'upted--for example`',
in connection with the fact that the espiona
e
g
organization has ud e
seeveral
universities as cover organs for some of its operations abroad.
It has also come to light that Preside
ent J
h
o
nson probabl itde
tynend to foster a
legend by the appointment of a "strong militi
it is true that the CIA is some sort of a stat
ito s although
e
e within a
ette
a,isalso true
that it is directly and Jointly controlled on the highest level by representatives
of both the White House and the State and Defense D~partments. The controlling
organ, the so-called group 54-12, is re ponsibl
t
e
o the US P
..resident himself.
Tnus, it is in tact a myth that the CIA can launch operations of world
deal
nianificance without the knowledge of the U.S. President, Yet the ^tab1j
h
a
l
d
t
ubte
be n d
d
y a
va
ag1lotis CO the white House, oocasionall>r. ..
enabling it
t ahi
o
--
espion
e
-
ag
organization
,
Now that even the newspapers have rcccntl d
"C)
0
ewn
r image of Raborn in the role of the ";crony miiitaattention to these details, the..i
Man"
fee
tor
loyal tic"
.the White House" has become obsolete. And sinc
:
gc
~
H
l
n
.
e
e
ms
'te
has
been
, "
. anyh "working director" for all practical purposes, JohnsonIs decision to raise the
do facts head without any dieguir.c to bo the de Jura head was the ob
i
'
e
v
ous
on
61
Approved For Release 2000/09/08 : CIA-RDP75-00001 R00.0100160009-1