Harry Dexter White (left)
and John Maynard Keynes (right) at
the Bretton Woods Conference

Harry Dexter White (October 1892 – August 16, 1948) was an American economist and senior U.S. Treasury department official. He was a primary mover behind the Bretton Woods agreement and the formation of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. A number of sources, including the FBI and Soviet archives, maintain that he engaged in espionage activity for the Soviet Union. Download high resolution version (500x630, 95 KB) This work is copyrighted. ... Download high resolution version (500x630, 95 KB) This work is copyrighted. ... John Maynard Keynes (right) and Harry Dexter White at the Bretton Woods Conference John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, CB (pronounced canes, IPA ) (5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946) was a British economist whose ideas, called Keynesian economics, had a major impact on modern economic and political theory as well... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... The United States Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department, a treasury, of the United States government established by an Act of U.S. Congress in 1789 to manage the revenue of the United States government. ... The Bretton Woods system of international economic management established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the major industrial states. ... The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that oversees the global financial system by observing exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering financial and technical assistance when requested. ... Logo of the World Bank The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages: BIRD), better known as the World Bank, is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by WWII. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ...

Early life

The son of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, White was born in Boston, Massachusetts. As a young man, he served in the U.S. Army, fighting in France during World War I. He did not begin his university studies until age 30, first at Columbia University, then at Stanford, where he earned a first degree in economics. After completing a Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University at 38 years of age, White taught four years at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Harvard University Press published his Ph.D. thesis in 1933, as The French International Accounts, 1880–1913. The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, Athens of America, The Hub (of the Universe)1 Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County  - Mayor Thomas M. Menino (D) Area    - City  89. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Robert Nivelle Herbert Henry Asquith Sir Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States. ... The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University (or simply Stanford), is a private university located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and approximately 20 miles northwest of San José in an unincorporated area of Santa Clara County. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) , is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Founded in 1636,[1] Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning still operating in the United States. ... Lawrence University, located in Appleton, Wisconsin, is a private undergraduate college founded in 1847. ... Appleton is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, on the Fox River, 100 miles (161 km) north of Milwaukee. ... The Harvard University Press is a publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected in academic publishing. ...

Political activities

Outwardly, White was a Keynesian New Deal Democrat, though he had an affinity for those on the extreme left. As Senator William Jenner wrote after 1953 hearings on subversion in government departments, White hired Communist Party members and promoted them within the government. As head of the independently-funded Office of Monetary Research, White was able to hire staff without the normal civil service regulations or background enquiries. Some of those he hired had previously experienced security-clearance trouble in other government positions.^[1] Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: New Deal For other uses of old Deal and The New Deal, see New Deal (disambiguation). ... Vanity Fair cartoon. ...

As a dedicated Rooseveltian internationalist, his energies were directed at continuing the Grand Alliance and maintaining peace through a liberal trade regime. He believed that powerful, multilateral institutions could avoid the mistakes of Versailles and prevent another worldwide depression. His political views were close to that of Henry A. Wallace and he was considered a progressive. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Multilateralism is an international relations term that refers to multiple countries working in concert. ... The Palace of Versailles, where the treaty was signed. ... The Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn which started in October of 1929 and lasted through most of the 1930s. ... Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was the 33rd Vice President of the United States (1941–45), the 11th Secretary of Agriculture (1933–40), and the 10th Secretary of Commerce (1945–46). ...

Treasury Department

In 1934, Jacob Viner, a professor at the University of Chicago working at the Treasury Department, offered White a position at the Treasury, which he accepted. Within a few years, White met with John Maynard Keynes and other leading international economists. Jacob Viner (May 3, 1892 - September 12, 1970) was a noted economist. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ... The United States Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department, a treasury, of the United States government established by an Act of U.S. Congress in 1789 to manage the revenue of the United States government. ... John Maynard Keynes (right) and Harry Dexter White at the Bretton Woods Conference John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, CB (pronounced canes, IPA ) (5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946) was a British economist whose ideas, called Keynesian economics, had a major impact on modern economic and political theory as well...

After the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, White was appointed assistant to Henry Morgenthau, Jr., the Secretary of the Treasury, to act as liaison between the Treasury and the State Department on all matters bearing on foreign relations. He was also made responsible for the "management and operation of the Exchange Stabilization Fund without a change in its procedures." White eventually came to be in charge of international matters for the Treasury, with access to extensive confidential information about the economic situation of the USA and its wartime allies. Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Husband Kimmel (USN), Walter Short (USA) Chuichi Nagumo (IJN), Mitsuo Fuchida (IJNAS), Shigekazu Shimazaki (IJNAS) Strength 8 battleships, 8 cruisers, 29 destroyers, 9 submarines, ~50 other ships, ~390 planes 6 aircraft carriers, 9 destroyers, 2 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 8... Henry Morgenthau Jr. ... The United States Secretary of the Treasury is the finance minister of the Federal Government of the United States. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... The Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF) is a branch of the United States Treasury Department which manages a portfolio of domestic and foreign currencies for the purpose of foreign exchange intervention. ...

According to Henry Morgenthau's son, White was the principal architect behind the Morgenthau Plan.^[2] The Morgenthau postwar plan, as authored by White, was to take all industry out of Germany, eliminate its armed forces, and convert the country into an agricultural community, in the process eliminating most of Germany's economy and its ability to defend itself if attacked. A version of the plan, limited to turning Germany into "a country primarily agricultural and pastoral in its character", was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the Second Quebec Conference in September 1944. However, someone in White's department with access to details of the plan leaked it to the press, and White himself provided an advance copy to Soviet intelligence.^[3] Public protests forced Roosevelt to publicly backtrack. The Nazis and Josef Goebbels were ecstatic at the revelations, using the Morgenthau Plan as a propaganda coup to encourage their troops and citizens to fight on and to nullify emerging German criticism of the war and arguments for a separate peace with Western governments. White's actions also benefited the Soviet Union, virtually ensuring that the Nazi government or successors could not negotiate a separate peace with the West. The Morgenthau Plan showing the planned partitioning of Germany into a North State, a South State, and an International zone. ... FDR redirects here. ... Churchill redirects here. ... The Second Quebec Conference (codenamed OCTAGON) was a high level military conference held during World War II between the British and United States governments. ...

White was the senior American official at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference, which he and Keynes dominated. The Soviet Union was among the nations represented at that conference. After the war, White was closely involved with setting up what were called the Bretton Woods institutions - the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. These institutions were intended to prevent some of the economic problems that occurred after World War I, and help ensure that capitalism became the dominant post-war economic system. As late as November 1945, White continued to argue for improved relations with the Soviet Union.^[4] White later became a director and U.S. representative of the IMF. The Bretton Woods system of international economic management established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the major industrial states. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately[1] owned and operated for profit, and in which distribution, production and pricing of goods and services are determined in a largely free market. ...

On June 19, 1947, White abruptly resigned from the International Monetary Fund, vacating his office the same day.

Accusations of espionage

On July 31, 1948 Elizabeth Bentley told the House Committee on Un-American Activities that White had been involved in espionage activities on behalf of Soviet Union during World War II,^[5] and had passed sensitive Treasury documents to Soviet agents. Bentley said White's colleagues passed information to her from him. In her testimony and in later interviews, she insisted that White, acting on instructions from the Soviet Union, pressured the Treasury Department to give the Soviet Union plates for printing German occupation currency. Bentley's currency plate story is suspicious on several levels: (1) such materials are tightly controlled, (2) the debate over to release the plates was "public" (within the context of the interested parties), and (3) while the plates were in fact turned over to the Soviets in 1944, Bentley did NOT mention them in her 1948 testimony but then did feature them in her 1953 testimony. July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 153 days remaining. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Elizabeth Terrill Bentley (1905-1963) was an American former spy for the Soviet Union who eventually defected to the United States and provided the Truman administration and the House Committee on Un-American Activities with the names of several people she claimed were spies for the USSR. A gradudate of... The House Committee on Un-American Activities or HUAC (1945-1975) was an investigating committee of the United States House of Representatives. ... Espionage (spying) is a practice of obtaining information about an organization or a society that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. ...

Whittaker Chambers, an admitted former Soviet espionage agent, subsequently testified on August 3 of his association with White in the Communist underground secret apparatus up to 1938.^[6] Chambers claimed he received documents from White, and identified White's handwriting on documents he had saved from his days as a courier for Americans spying for the Soviets. Chambers also stated that White was the least productive of his contacts. Whittaker Chambers, 1948 Jay Vivian (David Whittaker) Chambers (April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer, editor, Communist party member and spy for the Soviet Union who turned defector. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ...

On August 13, 1948, White testified before HUAC. Recovering from a series of heart attacks, he denied being a Soviet agent. Three days later, he was dead of a heart attack. August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... A myocardial infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque slowly builds up in the inner lining of a coronary artery and then suddenly ruptures, totally occluding the artery and preventing blood flow downstream. ...

Senator William Jenner's Interlocking Subversion in Government Departments Investigation by the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (SISS) looked extensively into the problem of unauthorized and uncontrolled powers exercised by non-elected officials, specifically White. Part of its report looked into the implementation of Roosevelt administration policy in China and was published as the Morgenthau Diary.^[7] The report stated, William Ezra Jenner (July 21, 1908–March 9, 1985) was a U.S. Republican politician from the State of Indiana. ... The Senate Internal Security Subcommittee or more commonly know as SISS was a key player in the role of finding communists during the McCarthy era in America. ...

"The concentration of Communist sympathizers in the Treasury Department, and particularly the Division of Monetary Research, is now a matter of record. White was the first director of that division; those who succeeded him in the directorship were Frank Coe and Harold Glasser. Also attached to the Division of Monetary Research were William Ludwig Ullman, Irving Kaplan, and Victor Perlo. White, Coe, Glasser, Kaplan, and Perlo were all identified as participants in the Communist conspiracy ..."

The committee also heard testimony by Henry Morgenthau’s speechwriter, Jonathan Mitchell, that White had tried to persuade him that the Soviets had developed a system that would supplant capitalism and Christianity. The United States Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department, a treasury, of the United States government established by an Act of U.S. Congress in 1789 to manage the revenue of the United States government. ... CCP Chairman Mao Zedong with Israel Epstein (first left), Anna Louise Strong (third left), Frank Coe (second right), and Solomon Adler (first right). ... Harold Glasser was an economist in the United States Department of the Treasury and spokesman on the affairs of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) `throughout its whole life and he had a `predominant voice in determining which countries should receive aid. ... William Ludwig Ullmann born in Springfield Missouri in 1908 attended Drury College (now Drury University), graduated Harvard Business School with an MBA in 1935. ... Irving Kaplan worked in the United States Department of the Treasury and for the Foreign Economic Administration. ... Victor Perlo was a member of the Ware group, and later headed a Washington DC cell of Soviet operatives. ... In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of persons united in the goal of usurping or overthrowing an established political power. ... Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately[1] owned and operated for profit, and in which distribution, production and pricing of goods and services are determined in a largely free market. ... // Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ...

In 1953, Senator Joseph McCarthy and Attorney General Herbert Brownell, Jr. alleged that Truman had known White was a Soviet spy when he appointed him to the IMF.^[8] However, this has now been refuted by declassified documents through the Freedom of Information Act which attest President Truman and the White House had not known of the existence of the Venona project.^[9] Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin between 1947 and 1957. ... Herbert Brownell, Jr. ... Nearly sixty countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation, which sets rules on governmental secrecy. ... The Venona project was a long-running and highly secret collaboration between intelligence agencies of the United States and United Kingdom that involved the cryptanalysis of messages sent by several intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union. ...

Venona project revelations

Two years after his death, in a memorandum dated 15 October 1950, White was positively identified by the FBI, through evidence gathered by the Venona project, as a Soviet source, code named "Jurist".^[10] Years later, the Justice Department publicly disclosed the existence of the Venona project which deciphered Soviet cable traffic naming White as 'Jurist', a Soviet intelligence source. As reported in the FBI Memorandum on White: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... The Venona project was a long-running and highly secret collaboration between intelligence agencies of the United States and United Kingdom that involved the cryptanalysis of messages sent by several intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union. ... The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. ...

You have previously been advised of information obtained from [Venona] regarding Jurist, who was active during 1944. According to the previous information received from [Venona] regarding Jurist, during April, 1944, he had reported on conversations between the then Secretary of State Hull and Vice President Wallace. He also reported on Wallace's proposed trip to China. On August 5, 1944, he reported to the Soviets that he was confident of President Roosevelt's victory in the coming elections unless there was a huge military failure. He also reported that Truman's nomination as Vice President was calculated to secure the vote of the conservative wing of the Democratic Party. It was also reported that Jurist was willing for any self-sacrifice in behalf of the MGB but was afraid that his activities, if exposed, might lead to a political scandal and have an effect on the elections. It was also mentioned that he would be returning to Washington, D. C., on August 17, 1944. The new information from [Venona] indicates that Jurist and Morgenthau were to make a trip to London and Normandy and leaving the United States on August 5, 1944.

White also acted on behalf of the Soviet Union in determining policy for the printing of occupation currency for Germany. White pushed strongly to give the USSR the currency plates to allow them to print German occupation currency, an action that cost the United States government hundreds of millions of dollars when the Soviets flooded the country with occupation banknotes that were used to purchase American goods. A memorandum found in Soviet archives from Gaik Ovakimian, head of the NKVD's American desk, notes that "following our instructions," White "attained the positive decision of the Treasury Department to provide the Soviet side with the plates for engraving German occupation marks." This internal MGB memorandum confirmed the claims of Elizabeth Bentley.^[11] Haik Badalovich Ovakimian (Hayk Hovakimyan), Major General, USSR (11 August 1898, Nakhichevan - 1967), better known as the puppetmaster in intelligence circles, was a leading Soviet NKVD spy in the United States. ...

Another example of White acting as an agent of inflence for the Soviet Union was his obstruction of a proposed $200 million loan to Nationalist China in 1943 at a time when inflation was spiraling out of control. ^[12]

Other Venona decrypts revealed further damaging evidence against White, including White's suggestions on how to meet and pass information to his Soviet handler. Venona Document #71 contains decryptions of White's discussions on being paid for his work for the Soviet Union.^[13][14]

In 1997, the bipartisan Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy, chaired by Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, stated in its findings, In a two-party system (such as in the United States), bipartisan refers to any bill, act, resolution, or any other action of a political body in which both of the major political parties are in agreement. ... Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, also called the Moynihan Secrecy Commission, was a bipartisan commission in the United States created under Title IX of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 (P.L. 103-236) to conduct an investigation into all matters in any... Daniel Patrick Pat Moynihan (March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was a United States Senator, Ambassador, and eminent sociologist. ...

The complicity of Alger Hiss of the State Department seems settled. As does that of Harry Dexter White of the Treasury Department.^[15]

Further evidence of White’s complicity as a Soviet agent was gleaned from Soviet archives and KGB operative Alexander Vassilev. In a book by Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America — the Stalin Era, Vassiliev, a former Soviet journalist and KGB operative, reviewed Soviet archives dealing with White's actions on behalf of the Soviet Union. White assisted Harold Glasser, a Treasury executive and NKVD spy, “in obtaining posts and promotions at Treasury while aware of his Communist ties.” Because of White’s backing, Glasser survived an FBI background check. In December 1941 the Secret Service forwarded a report to Harry White indicating that it had evidence Glasser was involved in Communist activities. White never acted on the report. Glasser continued to serve in the Treasury Department, and soon began recruiting other agents and preparing briefing reports on Treasury personnel and other potential espionage agents for the NKVD. After America became involved in World War II, Glasser received appointments to several higher-level positions in the government on White's approval.^[16] Alger Hiss in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary (Photos courtesy of the Federal Bureau of Prisons) Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was a U.S. State Department official involved in the establishment of the United Nations. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... Harold Glasser was an economist in the United States Department of the Treasury and spokesman on the affairs of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) `throughout its whole life and he had a `predominant voice in determining which countries should receive aid. ...

According to Soviet archives, White's other MGB code names were “Lawyer,” “Richard,” and “Reed.” In order to protect their source, Soviet intelligence repeatedly changed White's code name.

White's family still protests his innocence.^[17]

Notes

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... August 3 is the 215th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (216th in leap years), with 150 days remaining. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days remaining. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

References

• Boughton, James M. (2001). The Case Against Harry Dexter White: Still Not Proven (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-10-03.
• Craig, R. Bruce (2004). Treasonable Doubt: The Harry Dexter White Spy Case. University Press of Kansas, 496. ISBN 0-7006-1311-0. 
• Haynes, John Earl; Klehr, Harvey (2000). Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08462-5. 
• Haynes, John Earl; Klehr, Harvey (2003). In Denial: Historians, Communism, & Espionage. Encounter Books. ISBN 1-893554-72-4. 
• Schecter, Jerrold and Schecter, Leona (2002). Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History. Potomac Books. ISBN 1-57488-327-5. 
• Vassiliev, Alexander (2005). Alexander Vassiliev’s Notes on Anatoly Gorsky’s December 1948 Memo on Compromised American Sources and Networks. Retrieved on 2006-10-03.
• Weinstein, Allen and Vassiliev, Alexander (1999). The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America--The Stalin Era. Modern Library. ISBN 0-375-75536-5. 

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

External links

• IMF: Biography of White.
• FBI Venona file pg.17
• FBI Silvermaster file, p.27
• Time magazine:
  • Nov. 23, 1953, "One Man's Greed."
  • Nov. 30, 1953, "The White Case Record."
• Wikisource:FBI Memorandum identifying Harry Dexter White as agent Jurist