Kermit Roosevelt

Kermit "Kim" Roosevelt, Jr. (February 16, 1916 – June 8, 2000), was the grandson of American president Theodore Roosevelt, and the mastermind of CIA Operation Ajax that orchestrated the coup against Mohammed Mossadegh and returned Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, from self-imposed exile to Iran's Peacock Throne in August 1953. Image File history File links Kermit_Kim_roosevelt. ... Image File history File links Kermit_Kim_roosevelt. ... February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Soldiers surround the Parliament building in Tehran on August 19, 1953. ... Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh Mohammed Mossadegh ( )(Persian: ‎ ​, also Mosaddegh or Mosaddeq) (19 May 1882 - 5 March 1967) was the democratically elected[1] prime minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953. ... Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (Persian: ‎ - Mohammad Rezâ Pahlavi) (October 26, 1919, Tehran – July 27, 1980, Cairo), styled His Imperial Majesty, and holding the monarchial titles of Shāhanshāh (King of Kings) and Aryamehr (Light of the Aryans), was the ruler of Iran from September 16, 1941 until... The Peacock Throne, called Takht-e-Tavous (Persian: تخت طائوس) in Persian, is the name originally of a Mughal throne, later used to describe the thrones of the Persian emperors from Nader Shah Afshari to Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. ...

Early life and father's death

Kim was born in Buenos Aires in 1916, the eldest son of Kermit Roosevelt and Belle Wyatt Roosevelt. At that time, his father was assistant manager for Buenos Aires' National City. He had two brothers, Joseph Willard Roosevelt and Dirck Roosevelt, and a sister also named Belle. Kim graduated from Harvard University. Coordinates: Found 1536, 1580 Mayor Jorge Telerman Area    - City 203 km²  (78. ... Kermit Roosevelt, explorer, author and soldier, accompanied his father on expeditions to Africa and the Amazon Kermit Roosevelt I (October 10, 1889–June 4, 1943) was a son of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ...

When Kermit, Jr. was only twenty-seven, his father -- a talented writer, decorated World War I soldier, businessman, explorer, and companion of his own father, Theodore Roosevelt, on two of his most famous expeditions to Africa and the Amazon -- died in Alaska. He had been stationed there by the U.S. Army in part to give him a useful assignment in the face of chronic alcoholism; Kermit, Sr. had battled chronic depression since his father's death in 1919, saying at that point that he had nothing to live for. In fact his cousin, then-president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had intervened to get him re-admitted to the U.S. Army after an earlier medical discharge. Despite such efforts on his behalf, he continued to struggle with depression and alcoholism. Kermit Roosevelt committed suicide in 1943. The suicide was a closely guarded family secret for many years. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ... 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. ...

Head of Operation Ajax

By the early 1950s, Kermit, Jr. was a successful senior officer in the CIA's Middle Eastern division. At that time, there was a political crisis centered in Iran that commanded the focused attention of British and American intelligence outfits. In 1951, the Iranian parliament, under the leadership of the nationalist movement of Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, voted unanimously to nationalize the oil industry. This shut out the immensely profitable Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), which was a pillar of Britain's economy and political clout. A month after that vote, Mossadegh was named prime minister of Iran. In response to nationalization, Britain placed a massive embargo on Iranian oil exports, which only worsened the already fragile economy. Neither the AIOC nor Mossadegh was open to compromise in this period, with Britain insisting on a restoration of the AIOC and Mossadegh only willing to negotiate on the terms of its compensation for lost assets. The U.S. president at the time, Harry S. Truman, was categorically unwilling to join Britain in planning a coup against Mossadegh, and Britain felt unable to act without American cooperation, particularly since Mossadegh had shut down their embassy in 1952. Truman's successor, Dwight Eisenhower, was finally persuaded by arguments that were anti-Communist rather than primarily economic, and focused on the potential for Iran's Communist Tudeh Party to capitalize on political instability and assume power, aligning Iran and its immense oil resources with the Soviet bloc. Coup plans which had stalled under Truman were immediately revived by an eager intelligence corps, with powerful aid from the brothers John Foster Dulles (Secretary of State) and Allen Welsh Dulles (CIA director), after Eisenhower's inauguration in 1953. 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Nationalism is an ideology that creates and sustains a nation as a concept of a common identity for groups of humans. ... Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh Mohammed Mossadegh ( )(Persian: ‎ ​, also Mosaddegh or Mosaddeq) (19 May 1882 - 5 March 1967) was the democratically elected[1] prime minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953. ... The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) was founded in 1909, as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Iran. ... Harry S Truman (May 8, 1884–December 26, 1972) was the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953); as Vice President, he succeeded to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Dwight David Ike Eisenhower (October 14, 1890–March 28, 1969), American soldier and politician, was the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961) and supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II, with the rank of General of the Army. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... The Tudeh Party of Iran (f. ... Soviet redirects here. ... John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (February 2, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American statesman who served as Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. ... Allen W. Dulles Allen Welsh Dulles (April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was the first civilian Director (1953-1961) of the Central Intelligence Agency and a member of the Warren Commission. ...

On June 19, 1953, Roosevelt slipped across the border under his CIA cover as "James Lockridge." He was put up in the capitol, Teheran, in a place rented by British intelligence. As Mr. Lockridge, he became a regular at the Turkish Embassy where he played tennis. No one suspected that "Mr. Lockridge" was the grandson of the 26th US President but he came close to blowing his cover. When playing tennis and making some frustating mistake he would cry out, "Oh Roosevelt!" Puzzled by this, his friends asked him about this interesting way of expressing his annoyance with his game. He explained that as loyal member of the Republican party back in the States, that every Republican had nothing but scorn and hatred for Franklin Delano Roosevelt and that he despised the man so much that he took to using FDR's name as a curse. 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. ...

It is well-documented that under Roosevelt's direction, the CIA and British intelligence funded and led a coup d'etat to overthrow the prime minister with the help of military forces loyal to the Shah through Operation Ajax. [1] The plot hinged on orders signed by the Shah to dismiss Mossadegh as prime minister and replace him with General Fazlollah Zahedi, a choice agreed on by the British and Americans. Despite the high-level coordination and planning, the coup initially failed and the Shah fled Iran. After a brief exile in Italy, however, the Shah was brought back again, this time through a second coup which was successful. The deposed Mossadegh was arrested, given a show trial, and placed in solitary confinement for three years in military prison, followed by house arrest for life. Zahedi was installed to succeed prime minister Mossadegh. The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... Soldiers surround the Parliament building in Tehran on August 19, 1953. ... Muhammad Fazlollah Zahedi (1897-1963) was an Iranian general and politician. ...

After that coup, the Shah is alleged to have said to Kim, "I owe my throne to God, my people, my army - and to you." The CIA-backed coup remains extremely controversial. It had overthrown Iran's immensely popular, independent-minded Prime Minister and the democratically elected government. On the other hand, the coup's defenders often argue that Communism in Iran was permanently destroyed and the country was stable and friendly to the West for several decades. A prime minister is the most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... Democracy (literally rule by the people, from the Greek demos, people, and kratos, rule) is a form of government for a nation state, or for an organization in which all the citizens have an equal vote or voice in shaping policy. ... An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. ...

In the long term, the Shah's rule became despotic and would prove to fire the movement of Iranian religious exiles that led to the Shah's overthrow by the Shi'a Muslim cleric, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 in the Iranian Revolution. After the deposed Shah was granted admission to the U.S., Iranian militants held 66 American diplomats hostage in what would become known as the Iran Hostage Crisis. Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini ( ) (Persian: روح الله موسوی خمینی Arabic: روح الله الموسوي الخميني) (May 17, 1900[1] – June 3, 1989) was a Shi`i Muslim cleric and marja, and the political leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution of Iran which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. ... Protestors take to the street in support of Ayatollah Khomeini. ... A blindfolded American hostage is paraded by members of the radical Muslim Student Followers of the Imams Line. ...

Roosevelt tells his story

Twenty-six years later, Kim Roosevelt took the unusual step of writing a book about how he and the CIA carried out the operation. He called his book Countercoup to press home the idea that the CIA coup was staged only to prevent a takeover of power by the Iranian Communist Party (Tudeh) closely backed by the Soviet Union. He also may have meant to imply that the exile of the Shah constituted the initial coup, and that he was merely restoring the rightful leader to power.

Roosevelt was certainly arguing that Mossadegh had to be removed to prevent a communist takeover of Iran because of his seizure of the oil industry and his other Socialist reforms as well as his cooperation with the Tudeh Party. This view was shared by many in the Intelligence community, although most notably the head of the CIA station in Iran resigned rather than participate in the coup. Many outside the intelligence community, including some in the Truman administration, had felt that Mossadegh should be kept in power to prevent a Communist takeover.

There is some speculation that Kim Roosevelt may have been part of a British plot to maintain an anglophile alliance with the United States. He remained convinced that the coup had been just and noble until his death in 2000. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

Books

• Arabs, Oil, and History: The Story of the Middle East (1949, reprint(?) Kennikat Press, 1969) ISBN 0-8046-0532-7.
• Countercoup: The Struggle for the Control of Iran (McGraw-Hill, 1979) ISBN 0-07-053590-6.
• Kinzer, Stephen (2004). All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-26517-9.

External links

• The Secret CIA History of the Iran Coup - U.S. National Security Archives
• What Kermit Roosevelt Jr. Didn't Say - In Memory of August 19, 1953
• 50 Years After the CIA’s First Overthrow of a Democratically Elected Foreign Government
• How to Overthrow A Government: The 1953 U.S. Coup in Iran
• Time Obituary from 2000

Listening

• Interview with Stephen Kinzer about Iran coup, from NPR Fresh Air program