THE (REALLY) QUIET AMERICAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00161R000400210008-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 20, 2014
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: May 20, 1973
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release @ 50-Yr 2014/02/21 : CIA-RDP84-00161R000400210008-9
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"\I
1
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Sur!lay,.May 20, 1973 .. TFIE WASHINGTON .13.0ST
, ? ? . ? ?
' ? ?
fly 'frndi McC. Osborne
.The author, a former Associated Press
..writer, is .currently a Washingto:n-based.
.ikeefancer. . . .
? THE CLOSE of' Orseir WelleS'..
tt landmark. movie 'Citizen Kane,"
single word gives insight into, the un-
fathomable character of the dying pro-
tagonist as he breathes the name,.of .
thb'slcd ; he owned :in, :boyhood::
"Rtlebud." ' ?
, :Nine more 'words are'needed to inn-
rrct4te the drives of an eqUallyinscra-;
table man; Richard .McGarrah Helms'
U.S.' ambassador to ? Iran and until. 're-k,
cdntry, head of the Central Intelligenee,
Ageney and "board chairman" of. the
UiVed States' entire intelligence corn-
- MUnity. His "Rosebud" once emerged,
in his light response to, the question of
what made him, tick: "I want to live in
the house on the hill."
?l'Of course' Dick Helms is ambi-
tious," says John Maury, his former
deputyfor congressional affairs. "You ,
wouldn't get to the top of . this heap
? without ambition." , '. ? ,. ?
"Dick ambitious? ? Totally!," 'affirms
his first wife, Julia Shields Helms. "?
Now, 'there: is nothing wrong, with
ambition: Without it the world* would
beleaderless..Its significance. here is,
that it. is' the only adhesive that binds'
together the, apparent conflicts in the .
nature and _career 'of one of the coun-;:
try's ? moat .contradictory, ? most Charm- ,
Ina; at one time most valuable and still..
least known public men?and, unlike
his counterpart in British intelligence,
Helms as head of U.S. intelligence'was
a public man.. Indeed, just last week he,
, was in the public eye again, .testifying
before. a Senate subcommittee .on appar-
ent White House efforts to involve the ?
domestic ?political espionage. ?
sPite all, of his 'public appearances, ..
though, it has sometimes, seemed that.
his Personality and his detailed.personal
history have been the CIA's most cloSe-,
ly held secret. Helms kept a pro-
file so low?a phrase he often uses?as
to, be nearly submerged, pretending
'did riot grant interviews al-
Hs/Hc- 1..k
,
same'year?by paying his own ,way,to
'Europe and with some,entree 'provided
by W. W. Hawkins, an executive Of the
? Scripps-Howard. newspaper chain and
the affiliated , United Press?Dick
Helms landed a job with the UP in
London, then went on to Berlin.
There, the foreign press corps and
members of the Western diplomatic es-
tablishments made a congenial 'group.
If they had not been congenial by in-
clination they would have become so
by necessity.
"We. didn't exactly have free social ,
circulation," one of them recalled re-
cently. "You 'have ? to remember that
Hitler, in his June 30,4934, proclama-
tion, had declared that any Germans
consorting with foreign correspond-
' ents and embassy personnel . could be
'presumed to be doing it for 'treason-
able reasons.'" .
In 1936 Berlin, Helms?fluent .;in ,
.? French and German?began making his
mark. He interviewed; among others,,
ice-skating ?_star Sonja Henie and Adolf
Hitler. He worked and 'partied and ;en-
joyed the excitement of time and' place;.,
and suddenly, in the ?fall of 1937, he
tossed it all aside to,go back to' Depres-
sion-ridden America,' to Indianapolis. He, ?
' had no tics there, and he went hi the
most menial of advertising jobs on the old
Scripps-Howard paper, The Indianapolis
Times?now defunct?in a dingy office
on Maryland Street. "He was selling
chicken advertising:. . . a ,few lines of
classified , .. small stuff . .
The Unknown Midwest , ??
ICK HELMS HAD been 'no
.stranger to Europe, where. 'he first
',had *chosen,. to work, but' he' was: a
stranger to the American Middle West.
Born in Pennsylvania in .1913 and edu-
cated at Carteret Academy in ,Orange,
uliet
Richard 1VIcGarrah
phony 'side' and better avoided as an
].antagonist, she has conducted art
classes for aphasic youngsters at Child-
ren's Hospital in Washington,' and 'she
.."Sculnts`(and exhibits)' with distinctibn,
? infusing stone with rare humor.
She met Dick 'Helms on the day of
her divorce from Frank Shields, the
Berbasol king. As Shields' wife she
had presided over an estate (now a
'country club) in 'Martinsville, Indiana;
Where' she raised and showed horses,
? ? traveled 'to Churchill Downs and E'u-
? 'rope. She says she was a "showpiece"
for her husband In that life not even
being permitted to See 'much f her
' ?
?
. - . ?
Wheq her lawyer , an old friend, told
her as' they'left the divorcecourt that
'there was a young man in Indianapolis
he wanted her to meet, she replied,
"Oh,. no! Not out the' frying pan and
Into the fire.". Nevertheless, she met'
, Helms at dinner that night. ? .
She later said,' "I' thought,Dick had ?
. the most potential of any person I had
ever met." They, married the following
yearc Both of the Helmses were Du-
...rope-oriented, Julia being second-genera-
tion American.. Her father, a natural-
ized German sometimes referred to as
the "Bachrach of Indianapolis," was a
successful 'society photogranher.- Dick
Helms was; third-generation : American...
This May account for the. fact. that the
"Bold, Eaaterners"=a group of ama-
teur spies; disproportionately freighted
with old Grotonians in the World War .
II espionage agency, the Office 'of Stra-
. tegic '.SerVices?never quite accepted,
him as one of their own,- although his
immediate background- was little dif-
ferent from' theirs. Those 'of the group
who- stayed in clandestine work' came,?
however; to consider him a.' good
bridge between themselves and the rel-
atively; plebeian. "Prudent. Profession-
?els,? fi'S Stewart Alsop has called them.
Helms' materna/ 'grandfather w a s
Gates McGarrah, a banker 'and impor-
, tant .financiaT figure in New York who
served from 1930 to 1933 in Basel, Switz-
erland, as president of the Bank for In-
ternational Settlements, a precursor of
the World Bank. Helms' paternal
grandparents were German Lutheran
Immigrants. One of Dick's brothers, Row-
land, was a grain merchant In Geneva,
Switzerland; another, Gates, an execu-
tive of a New York printing firm; and
a sister, Mrs. Clinton Van Hawn, mar-
ried a physician in Cooperstown, New
York. Richard was the eldest child of
what appears to have been a happy
family.
Of the family finances while his fa-
(jg) in the
'hours after hi
left for naval
followed, but
years she har
of 1942 he
, helped to Pu'
ciety, hobnol
persons who
benefits and
signed to the
jobs in New
fore going t
England, Fr.
Germany. Fe
clandestine
looked back.
At war's
civilian, wit
organizations
' Unit 'of the ?
the Central
Its formation
the CIA.. Ac
Helms' publi
years is "a t
say he was r
try. He surf
the deputy d
division, the
dies undercc
became dep.
1965 deputy
It being gen
would suece
Raborn as c
and in 1966
college class
by reaching
rector of Ce
comitantly,
States Int(
Declassified and Approved For Release @50-Yr 2014/02/21 : CIA-RDP84-00161R000400210008-9
Declassified and Approved For Release @50-Yr 2014/02/21 : CIA-RDP84-00161R000400210008-9
uiet erican
.c1 MeGarrah Helms
voided as art
nducted ? art
ders 'at Child.
;ton, arid she
h distinctibn,
umor.
,n the day of
Shields, the
ds' wife she
state (now a
'ilk, Indiana;
owed horses,
wns and Ey- ?
"showpiece"
life, not even
much of her
. . ?
d friend, told
*ce court that
Indianapolis,
she replied,
'Mg pan and ,
.ess, she met' ?
. (jg) in the Navy in Jay 1942 and, 30 they were the Defense Department's
'hours after his and Julia's son was born, 'far-larger,. code-cracking National Se-
left for naval training at Harvard: Julia curity Agency; the Defense Intelli..,
? followed, but says that for the next six gence Agency, which incorporates the '
years she hardly saw hint. In the winter .? branches of military intelligence; the..
'
. .., .. ?
. of 1942 he served in New York and State Deparment's Intelligence and ?? '
, helped to publicize the Navy Relief So- Research . organ; the Atomic Energy- ? ? . .
:
r-clety, hobnobbing' with the .important ;Commission's intelligence unit and the '':Ing objective fact to Congress. He said,
persons who sponsored its big social Federal Bureau of Investigation. A for ?., he would only lose credibility by . ? ?
shad-
benefits and balls. In 1943 he was as- mer aide to President Lyndon Johnson ..ing fact one way : for Senator Ful-
signed to the OSS and performed desk said, "There was enormous
? infighting ; bright and another pr's Senator John, Stennis:. he re-estab-
? way ? for Mississip-
? ; ?
jobs in New York and Washington be- ? among these groups. It was a major ? ' h h CIA' d congressional
:fore ?going to the European theater: .* operation to coordinate the fruits of .? :'?
re-
England, France ?and?after the war, their. Services?to the extent that they lations; which had deteriorated under
Germany. Following his Initiation into were coordinated .. : A rot was at stake Admiral Raborn. Despite that,. Helms
- ? ? ?
' clandestine work, Dick Helms ' never in those weekly meetings?not just esti-'was in hot water with Congress more
.. .
looked back: ' ' ? ? mates of the damage dome by bombing .,than once: In 1967,, when Ramparts
At.. war's end, :
? ? ? remained, as. a ',.in North Vietnam . Helms' job was : magazine revealed that the CIA had
illan; :with the . Oss's
?? heSueeeisor :.. .. to get a consensus from the meetings. ?
? subsidized the National Student Asso-
: ..
organizations: 'the Strategic' Sery ? dation since 1952; in 1968, during the
ices ., He had plenty. to think.about, plenty to ,
., . . CIA's suspected but denied involve-
job. It was a triumph for a man to e '
worry . s ory complicatedment with the mystery' killing of 'Viet.-
.. b''
. able to stay in it a while. I give full ! namese alleged counterspy Thai Khac
. -marks for being able to sit' on top of . ? Chuyen, for which stir Green Beret of-
ficers were charged with murder and
.? ' . , , ?? conspiracy to murder. One of the of-
The Shop and the Chief . , :ficers, Robert F. Marasco, later con-
'
.WHEN WEARING the other of his . fessed to the murder. In another con-
' two hats, Helms masterminded fession, Capt. John McCarthy Jr., of
the Green Berets, said he had partici-
pated in a CIA-directed operation to'aid
'In the overthrow of former Cambodian
. ruler Prince Norodom Sihanouk. ? ? - .
? But Helms' first exposure. to con-
gressional heat Occurred only' 18 days
after he took office as chief in 1966. He
.signed a letter to the St. Louis Globe
to Adm. Reborn, they could "easily andf... Democrat praising one of Its editorials
adequately, staff a university." Speak- ? titled "Brickbats for Fulbright," which
: ing a hundred languages and dialects;
.they included economists, cartogra-
?' .phers, psychiatrists, agronomists,'chem-
ists, anthropologists and foresters; their
.activities Included maintaining listen-
ing posts And operating broadcasting
. facilities, airlines, space satellites, pub.
liaising houses, .philanthropiC founda-
tions, and training bases for insurgent
, or counterinsurgent forces. As. has ,
? since become evident, the CIA's insur- . !drafted by an assistant, without giving
gent activities amounted to a good deal it his full. attention. He said he had
. more than that. It admitted recruiting,..
? made a mistake and it 'would not hap-
-'training, equipping, paying, supplying ? t pen again. . .. .
- and advising a 30,000-man fighting '' ' Asked about the "mistake," the as-
ght,Dick had
person I had
the following
ies were Eu-
;econd-genera-
2r, a natural-
?eferred to as
,polls," was a
rather. Dick
on ? American.
fact that the
?oup of ama-
tely freighted
re World 'War
)f flee 'of Stra-
uite accepted
although his
vas little dif-
?*of. the group
e work came, '
him a? * good ?
re and the rel-
it. Profession- ,.
called them. ?
dfather w a's
er 'and impor-
ew York who.
n Basel, Switz-.
r Bank for,In-
precursor .of
rns' paternal
ran Lutheran
brothers, Row-
nt in Geneva,
Los, an execu-
ing firm; and
n Hawn, mar-
mrstown, New
Idest child of
leen a . happy
while his fa-
?
Unit 'of the War Department and then
the Central Intelligence Group. Upon
Its formation he moved naturally into
the CIA. According to Time magazine,
Helms' public record for the next five
years is "a total blank," but colleagues
say he was not posted out of the coun-
try. He surfaced in 1952 as deputy to
the deputy director of the CIA's plans
the- varied and complex functions of
, the CIA, which has been said to be
"."filled with young men whose fathers
won't trust them with the family busi-
ness." In fact, at the time Helms Was
? chief, half of CIA's corps of analysts
,possessed advanced degrees, 30 ,per
cent of them doctorates and, according'
employed ephithets and expressed, sat-
isfaction at the Senate's refusal to 'add
'three members of the Senate. Foreign
Relations Committee to the seven-Man
?
"watchdog" subcommittee of the Sen.
'ate Armed Services' and Appropria-
..tions Committee, which keeps tabs on
'the CIA. The letter ,set off a storm in
,the Senate. Helms apologized and ex-
.,
:plained that he had signed the letter,
division, the "black' division that han-- . force of "irregulars". (many from . sistant in question?Col. Stanley J.
dies undercover operations. In 1962 he i
became deputy director for plans, i Thailand)?the 'thief offensive troops, . Grogan, CIA press officer at the timee
n
in the "secret war" in-Laos. The admis- . and 'soon thereafter .retired?said,
1965 deputy director of the agency?'
it being generally .understood that he , sion caused Arkansas' Sen. Williani I' "Helms didn't do that! I did." Asked if
. Fulbright to say, "The CIA has become ': ?? Helms?whom Grogan calls "Hel-ums"
would succeed Vice Admiral William ,
Raborn as chief after
Helms fulfilled his'
after a short period: , another Defense Department." ? ' ?had read the letter, Grogan replied,
and in 196q . . ?
A former. CIA man in 'clandestine ??? "Sure he did." Then he amended his
,
college classmates' expectations of him
operations says of Dick Helms: "He's ?answer: "I don',t think he read it. He.
?
by reaching the top, being named di- cautious.
I've known himsigned it. That wasn't the only, letter I
rector of Central Intelligence and, on-
,want, ,
some of. these things done, but if they wrote that day that he signed. I wrote
comitantly, chairman of the United c
have to be done he'd rather have them ,:about 30 of them." Old hand Grogan,
??
States Intelligence within the CIA... Like any g000.. remembered himself as telling his new
-..,___...,,,,_..,...?_____.........._7s Intelligenee Board, :tandem ...,,,.....,,,,,.,....,_....,h,,.ri..;?;chief Helms.."You. can Say I wrote it.
... . . . . ..
Declassified and Approved For Release @50-Yr 2014/02/21 : CIA-RDP84-00161R000400210008-9
Declassified and Approved For Release @ 50-Yr 2014/02/21 : CIA-RDP84-00161R000400210008-9
repfitation:?Ttrani the' time he
became head of the CIA Until Ail Of
4971;'when he broke' Cover by address-
iirOnlie American Society of ,Newspa-
fP'k.VEilifors, he had not made a 'single ?
'Vie,efi Open to journalistic coverage.
Be' 'hat called publicity "intoxicating,"
Vold 'the 'congressional committee
tit ;unanimously .approved his nomi- ,
iirifien as chief of the "silent service"
'that he thotight silence should begin
Scitk him. That was in 1966, grid by
Wen:ambition had carried Dick Helms ' ?
gong way;' ?:
Down, Back .and tip
-AGE' 24; its 'yeast had 'led him .
..t.iftake otherwise inconiprehen-
stblee; 'Step' downward and backward,
aytd-aWay from. excitement in his al-
, fe'SaY 'enviable journalistic 'career. As ,
Vtitif all hi i . ventures, the. decision
'Oedied?to' be' paying off handsomely'
4,;fien 'World War II came along. ? That:.
watershed -in his life and the,.
at which the ? contradictions' in.
hl lieture became visible. To' under-
stend?Them, it is necessary to look at
outh who was graduated from'':
.Wifilams College, in .the 'Little Ivy
aline, in 1935. ? ? ? ?
ret".NOt :only was he Phi Beta' Kappa, 1
iiieSident,of his class,' president of the ?
senior honor-society, editor of-the
iliitOpriper arid editor of the yearbook,
ha' he was voted the third most brit-
linntmen in his class, third most popu-
lar; second mostversatile, the one who
had done most for the college and best
exerhOlified its traditions, the best pol-
itician, the most respected and most
likely' to succeed.. His stated goal: to
run his own newspaper.: .. ?
S. intelligence ?chief; .Dick ?
Itelros ran what is.sald to be the most
expensive newspaper with the smallest
circulation in, the world, the.,Presi- .
clent's,daily top-secret intelligence re-
port. It is the intelligence community's '
"qujntessential end product, the final
distillation" of the expenditure of $6.2'
hillichi, .the annual total. Intelligence ?
hirdget, according to Wisconsin's Sena-
Prozz,nire.. ..;
;Tina. form of Journalism was not, ?
lirimriv.er,. what the outgoing young .
licInts'..had in mind: when he. lefts Wil7
llahjstown, ,so plainly :destined ior.,a
1140,b1 'prominence and .visibility; That
. N.J., he had moved to Europe in his
..'teens when his father'?. an engineer
and Aleoa executive who ? retired early
* ? got an' assignment.on the Continent.
Dick attended the posh.. Le, Rosey
School (alma . meter of the Shah' of
Persia)' in R011e/Gstaad, Switzerland,
.and the Realgymnasium .of .Ftelbbrg/
? .?
' Breisgati in Germany; came back to
America for college 'and,.'after gradua-
tion, returned to Europe.-:
If Heinle downward step puzzled' his
.Indianapolis Times colleagues,' it
caused no stir. that can now he recalled
'among his colleagues .in 'Berlin. One,
fond. of?.the popular: young Helms, had
failed even to find the' step .exireine.,
until questioned about, it 33, years'
later:, "Why, I, suppose he wanted to
learn advertising, the whole newspaper
business." Extreme or not, In Indianap-
olis Dick Helms Once again- began fash-
'toning his usual pattern of auceess:' He
joined the Literary 'club arid, 'on the'
basis -Of his Interview' ith:'HItlei, he
lectured, ladies' cluba.'Despite his eaPi-
talizing on it then :recent ',ear's
Helms'' recollection of the 'ClitUrn:
? stances of that Interview bechnie rioter
-.bly deficient. In the very ? spare fact
sheet that the CIA' releases :on his' ca
-
Jeer, the. explint IS referred to With
pride: "Mr. 'Helms interviewed- Hitler, '
and ids 'stork ','Hitler 'add "Mira: inc.',.
was 'Published in The Indianapolis
..Although Helrai never claimed that
it was an exclusive interview,' the int: 1,
Pression persisted and persists that It
wasl Reporters who asked 'Obeid'
;ter he became CIA chief, Met with eVa-,.. ?
aion. Two correspondents in Berlin
with Helms, when asked about it .re-
cently, expressed astonishment that
? ;anything so rare as an interview with .'
? Hitler could have escaped their atten-
tion. The ..fact: that' Hitler'. occaslonally..,%,
granted iriterVievii to .:stich:
...guished journalists as:Dorothy 'Thdritp .
son and Anne O'Hare*McCormick 'Was'
news in .itself :every` time it happened:,
Actually,. Helms'. dispatch was the re- ?.
? sult of a group interview given to for-
eign . correspondents .covering.
rural. Nazi Party 'conclave Nurem- ,?
burg. ' . ? ? ?
:By 1939 Dick Helms was national
, vertising. manager of The, Indianapolis
Times. 'In. 1939 he, married Julia ..13retz,-
man Shields, the:divorced wife of,air:In':
.? .
diana, millionaire with two:::chliclieicet
WA": aliVe7 'there %Eire ?verYing . posts exce
reports: One' Is that Herman Helms others in g
made a fortune in the stock market of' ' ? He had,
the 1920s; another that he lost It there; one of his r
still another Is that there was McGar-,
rah money. A woman who knew the
family in Europe described the Helmses
as- "comfortable," but "sald:' :"Monty?
Well, 'they certainly 'weren't plastered
with it." Of their youth' in America
Gates Helms .saYs, "It was all that
'South Orange Implies: conventional
upper-middle Class, well educated, well
traveled, interested in good, schools
and sports, and with a. social life con-
tering around the country club.' To
this day, country-club life is essential
to Richard Helms. ,
Helms' Second Family ? '? ??
rreIREE MONTHS . after: Helms' dl-
.. ? vorce from Julia became final in
September 1968, and a year and a half
after...they..parted, -Helms married for,
the secohd time?and for .the second rr HROUG
dren of. her ownf Cynthia Ratcliff Mc.' 1: On the
time he married a divorcee .with chit-
? . There are
Kelvie. ' The McKelvies and Helinses .
had been cordial friends; seeing a:lot ? ha had Mt
.? later cane(
of , each other, MeKelvie is
? an orthopedic surgeon. . jted-haired, and
m regretj
ourn
per," she 1
"worked I
ranks," ber
professions
chief. (By
lawyer,)
stimulating
career dip
James wet
State Dope
It was 1.1-
motion of
the morale
The previa
Caned chi
downgradit
sult 'of the
Helms had
'had disass(
Because'
: ,her own.,,:,
The First?HelmseS,
Over the y
spy stories
. quit finally
?
into the tyf
the best o:
? "The Spy Yr
?
'It was repo:
that Helms
? apy stories
"TO?those ?
of clandesti
: 'able as is ti
Mg. A sam
. explaining ?
"It was ron
hurt except
.erted a ron
ing someth
the attenclar
reward and
narrow rest
? ..." "You
; Stewart Air
tine operat
War II that
Ways the m
? Some
tive arm Of
. , , , . ? ... , ? .,.,, .,. ;., . ..,..? .,. :, . ...... . .. .? ration of pl;
?-::.13ritish,born; Cynthia:McKelvie Helms, '. Not all it
F:`,..50,1s.good-looking but; as an:acquaint- .: Kenneth 13,
.,..,:aince says, !filo glamor girl." '. .? : ,. ? . ? ? . cist and a ?
In 'Washington; Richard and Cynthia '"Nine-tenth
?Helms 'lived in :a two-bedroom apart,' foreign-lan;
'Mrs.Helms while her. husband still di- ' onage, and .; in Washingi
t ment' in a: high-rise. -bulding and; said',
... rected ..the: CIA,. they invariably re-,, , gence. it's I
?
''turned to It,. If, they had- been', out; by ? ; is based on
.r.11:15, as Helms. was :apt to. receive . :In his di:
phone..calls? at any time . of .night and .: chairman ,
.. . "He's got to be in a. fit state . to make a Board, urn
! decision; ;it's always a. crisis." ., .... . - setup, Rich
? Into'--Clafideatiiie. Work'. ';-: . ? , "Mr. Intelli
? ? . : ; . , ? . . .. . . ... , As board c:
Av-T.ITH: TH.E.. APPROACH . of, World : six intellige
. VI' War II, the Indianapolis episode. 'were indep
in Helms' life ended as abruptly as It ,' dome. In ad.
. :began. He..was commissioned.lieutenant ?...,. principle wt
TT IS IMPOSSIBLE to contemplate
.I Richard Helms without contemplat-
ing his first wife, Julia: Their -mar-
riage lasted nearly 30 years,'and they,
have a son, Dennis, now married and
an attorney for the city of New York.
? Julia Helms is a highly talented and
intelligent woman of exquisite taste
who in her own estimation is "very in-,
' tense and rather demanding." Realis-
tic,. good-looking still, at once, tender:
and tough, rich, confident, without. any .
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Declassified and Approved For Release @ 50-Yr 2014/02/21 : CIA-RDP84-00161R00040021.0008-9
arc varYing.
?man Helms
:k market of
lost it there;
was McGar-
ho knew the
the Helmses
Id: ' "Money?
n't plastered
in America
ras all that
conventional
iucated, well
mod schools
cial life cen-
ry club." To
is essential
?
'Y
T Helms' di-
:arne final in
ar and a half
. married for
r the second
:ee with chil-
i Ratcliff Mc,
and Helinses
seeing a lot
MeKelvle. is
.Red?baired,
: ,:'? ?
piists exceeded in importance ny sew
othera in government. ? ? . ? ?? ?
He had, in his own phrase and in .
one of his rare self-directed comments, '
"worked his way up through the ?
ranks," becoming the first intelligence
professional to become intelligence '
chief.?(By profession, Allen Dulles was
a lawyer.) To the ranks this was as
stimulating as the appointment of a
career 'diplomat to the Court of St...
James would be to. members of the ?
State Department. .. ? . ? ? ?? ???
"It was the secOnd time that the pro-
motion of Richard Helms had rallied
the?morale of 'the intelligence agency: .
The previous ? time was" when . he
named chief of plans following the
downgrading the CIA received as a' re-.
sult 'of the Bay 'of Pigs,. a fiasco that
Helms had opposed and from which.he ,
had disassociated' himself.' ?
?
Because it's Secret'?
he doesn't approve up to a point, then
he carries out his orders." John Maury
said, "He is less adventuresome than
his predecessor as chief of plans. With
Dick in charge we might not have had
a 11,3, of Pigs, but neither would we.
have had a strategic satellite." ? ?
. ?
' Not to Make Policy
SPEAKING :FOR HIMSELF, Helms
convinced his congressional exam..
? iners at the time of his confirmation
? that the CIA would not attempt to
make policy and that he, as the Presi- .
.1'11 take all the responsibility, but" seri:
?
ators are not sacred. I will not apolo-
gize to Mike Mansfield?whom I like?
and those other senators. They have to
take the gaff as well as give it." Helms
'did the, apologizing and parlayed it
? into better congressional relations. .
An Unblemished Star ;
A. LTHOUGH HELMS at first appeared
11. to have dropped his anchor in
, Congress instead of in the executive
branch, and was ' viewed ? as an
? "institutional 'man"' rather than a
,"presidential man," by 1971 his star
was bright with both arms of govern-
ment.? The CIA had been able?and
',.happy?to disavow responsibility for
the faulty intelligence leading to 'the
,''raid on the p.risonerless Sontay prison
camp, and for the failure to 'predict
massive North Vietnamese resistance
to the 'South Vietnamese invasion of
? Laos., In November of 1971; more than
? A year :before Helms was superseded
by Arthur Schlesinger and his vaunted
'reorganization of the intelligence net-
work, ...a no-longer-mentioned,.. long-
awaited and far-reaching intelligence
reorganization took place under Rich-,
ard Helms. He was given "an enhanced
'.'leadership role" with governmentwide
:responsibilities and the. power?never
. before given to an 'intelligence chief?
rpHROUGHOUT HIS 'Vise Helms was
1' 'on the operations .side of the CIA: ? .?
There are indications that. his wife Ju-
1,1a had little 'patience with what she?
' later ? called "the James. Bond ? 'tuff" ?
and 'regretted 'Helms' ? turning away
from journalism:' "I'll buy you a pa, ?
per," she had tossed .out at one time..:
Over the years she tried to read the
spy stories of which be was ,fond, but ?
quit finally and in distaste by, throwing...,.
into.the wastebasket what 'is .probably
,the best of ,the lot, John' Le Carre's
? "The Spy Who Came in From.the Cold."
?
'It was reported in?The:New.York Times'c
, that. Helms and his present Wife
? Spy stories aloud to each. Other. ?.',
-To.those?unaffected? by it, the opiate
of clandestine operations is as inexplic-
...able as .is the opiate of. mountain climb.
leg. A sampling of remarks aimed at ?
explaining the lure ? of spying includes:
'It was romantic, sexy and ,nobody got ?
.hurt except the bad guys . "It ex-
"grted a romantic pull was do-
ing something of' responsibility with.
? the attendant excitement of. danger and
reward and without being held to the
narrow responsibility of a puritan life
.
? .
?
. ? ? ?
'dent's principal intelligence advisor,,' .
Would not use his role to do so. He had' ."
been known. to say 'before his, rise, '
"I'm sorry, Mr. President,. but that's a'. "
Policy matter an.d policy is not my ;
field.". Harry Howe Ranson, professor.'
; of political science at Vanderbilt Uni-
versity, argues the opposite point: that
the intelligence .establishments "exert
? undue influence on policy" because.'
'"America's high 'government offi;
cials do not adequately monitor secret
operations." Ranson says that former
Secretary of State. Dean Acheson 'ad-
vised President Truman when the CIA ?
. was created that "neither the Presi-'?
to review and thus affect the 'budgets
of all of'..the nation's foreign-intelli,
, gence-gathering agencies. ?
. Much of Helms' previous operational
'work 'was turned over to his deputy,
.Lt. Gen. Robert E. Cushman, now com-
mandant of the Marine Corps. Gen.,
?
Cushman .had been Richard Nixon's
military aide during his vice presiden-
'tial years.
? By law, only one of the two top CIA
posts could be held:.by the . military:
Both could be held by civilians, but
custom and deference to the Armed
Services Committee always divided the
honors. As the first intelligence profes-
sional in the top job, Helms had no
outside.source of strength and said, "I..
am the easiest min in Washington to
fire. I have 'no political,. military or in-
?, Stewart'Alsop .has said of' hiS*.clandes-
tine operations in France in :World ?
War .11 that "It Was great fun, in some, ??
Ways the most fun I've ever had in my s'
- life." Some 'men' feet they are "an ac- :-
nye arm of policy."' All feel the exhila- '
? ration of playing for big stakes. ? ??
:Kelvie Helms, ? , Not all intelligence work seems so: ??,
is an acquaint- . Kenneth 'Downs, "a 'Washington publi-
irl." ' ? : : ? . ' cist and a onetime OSS 'officer, says:' :
?d and Cynthia . "Nine-tenths of the ,work Is. reading . .
edroom apart, foreign-language papers and journals ..
ding and, said ? . in Washington. The other tenth is espi- ?
isband still di- ?nage, and it yields far less intelli- .
invariably re- , gence. it's a lousy job, too, because it ?
I been out; by ? is based on betrayal of trust.", ' ??
ipt to' receive In his dual role as CIA chief and
: .of .night and .? chairman of the U:S. Intelligence ?
tate .to make a Board; under' the old . intelligence
crisis." .. ,.,, . ? setup,' Richard Helms 'was not just ?
"Mr: Intelligence": He wore two hats.'
'cor,k":-:".,? ? As board chairman, he presided over '
%CH of, World : six intelligence-gathering agencies that
napolis episode. were Independent and competing fief- -.
abruptly as it . doms. In addition to the' CIA, which in'
oned.lieutenant .,?.principle w.as..paramount among them,,
b
'dent, the National . Security Council, ;? dustrlal ? ?,ase."
?,
'nor anyone else would be, in a position ? '
to knew what it was doing, or to con:.
trot it.' " Ranson predicts. that prelifer; ?
kiting technology will increase the In-' '
flnenee of intelligence organizations'.
and "in some circumstances control do-'
cision-making." ?
Some of Hein& expressed opinions
' are: "We arc, after all, a part of this' .
democracy and. we believe in it. We ?
?
would not want to see our work distort ?.,
?'its values and its principles. We pro- .'
pose to adapt intelligence to American'
society, not vice versa : In a free so-",
ciety there is a limit to what a clandes-'-?
' tine, service. can do. It cannot substi- .?
?tute for the government in a Bay of.
Pigs." He told, a congress.oni ...?
committee: "In our society,even a clan,
destine .outlit, can not stray far. from
the norms. If we get . . the public, .
the press ? or the Congress. against us,
,we can't hack it." Insofar as the.,
'printed record shows, during his ; ten,
ure Helms was scrupulous In presen0.
?
Declassified and Approved For Release @ 50-Yr 2014/02/21 : CIA-RDP84-00161R0004nn9i nnnp_a