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 defected and became an outspoken opponent of communism. He is best known for his testimony about the perjury and espionage of Alger Hiss. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2115x2790, 568 KB) (Note: high resolution version from http://memory. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2115x2790, 568 KB) (Note: high resolution version from http://memory. ... is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ... Alger Hiss testifying Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was a U.S. State Department official involved in the establishment of the United Nations. ...

Youth and education

Chambers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and spent much of his youth in Brooklyn and Long Island, New York. His parents were Laha Whittaker and James Chambers, an illustrator and part of the New York-based "Decorative Designers" group, largely students of Howard Pyle. He grew up in a household which he himself described as troubled by parental separation and the long-term presence of a mentally ill grandmother.^[1] For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... This article is about the island in New York State. ... This article is about the state. ... Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853-November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and writer, primarily of books for young audiences. ...

After graduating from high school in 1919, he worked at a variety of jobs before enrolling in Columbia University in 1921. Classmates included Louis Zukofsky, Lionel Trilling (who later made him a main character in his novel Middle of the Journey) and Meyer Schapiro. In the intellectual environment of Columbia he gained friends and respect. His professors and fellow students found him a talented writer and believed he might become a major poet or novelist.^[2] Historian Kathryn Olmsted has described him as being, at this time in his life, "brilliant, disturbed, idealistic, dysfunctional."^[3] Early in his sophomore year, Chambers wrote a play entitled "A Play for Puppets" for Columbia's literary magazine The Morningside, which he edited. The work was deemed blasphemous by many students and administrators, and the controversy spread to New York City newspapers. Disheartened over the furor, Chambers decided to leave the college. For other uses, see High school (disambiguation). ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Alma Mater Columbia University is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. ... The cover of the 1978 edition of Zukofskys long poem A. Louis Zukofsky (January 23, 1904 – May 12, 1978) was one of the most important second-generation American modernist poets. ... Lionel Trilling (July 4, 1905 – November 5, 1975) was an American literary critic, author, and teacher. ... Meyer Schapiro was a 20th century art historian. ... For the black metal band, see Blasphemy (band). ...

Communism and espionage

In 1924, Chambers read Vladimir Lenin's Soviets at Work and was deeply affected by it. He now saw the dysfunctional nature of his family, he would write, as "in miniature the whole crisis of the middle class"; a malaise from which Communism promised liberation. Chambers's biographer Sam Tanenhaus wrote that Lenin's authoritarianism was "precisely what attracts Chambers… He had at last found his church." In 1925, Chambers joined the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) and wrote and edited for Communist periodicals, including The Daily Worker and The New Masses. Chambers combined his literary talents with his devotion to Communism, writing four short stories in 1931 about proletarian hardship and revolt. One of these was Can You Make Out Their Voices?, which has been described by critics as one of the best pieces of fiction to come out of the American Communist movement.^[4] This story was later published as the play Can You Hear Their Voices? (see Writings by Chambers, below), and staged across America and in many other countries. His other works during this time include the English translation of Felix Salten's 1923 novel Bambi, A Life in the Woods. Lenin redirects here. ... Sam Tanenhaus (born October 31, 1955) is an American author, historian and biographer. ... The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) is a Marxist-Leninist political party in the United States. ... The Daily Worker was a newspaper published by the Communist Party USA, a Comintern affiliated organization in New York, beginning in 1924. ... History of the New Masses Magazine (The Masses and The Liberator Magazine) During the the First World War, most of the people who worked for the believed that the USA should remain neutral. ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is called a proletarian. ... Felix Salten (September 6, 1869 – October 8, 1945) was an Austrian writer. ... Bambi, ein Leben im Walde (Bambi, A Life in the Woods) is a book by Felix Salten, first printed in 1923. ...

In 1931, Chambers married Esther Shemitz (1900-1986^[5]), a young artist and fellow Communist whom he had encountered at a party-organized textile strike in 1926; the couple would eventually have a son and a daughter.

The Ware Group

In 1932, Chambers was recruited to join the Communist underground and began his career as a spy, working for a GRU apparatus headed by Alexander Ulanovsky, aka Ulrich. Afterward, his main controller in the underground was Josef Peters (whom CPUSA General Secretary Earl Browder later replaced with Rudy Baker). Peters introduced Chambers to Harold Ware, head of the Ware group, a Communist underground cell in Washington that reportedly included:^[6] For other uses, see GRU (disambiguation). ... Alexander Petrovich Ulanovsky (aka Ulrich, William Berman, Nathan Sherman) (1895-1968?) was the chief illegal rezident for Soviet Military Intelligence (GRU) in the United States from 1931 until 1934. ... Josef Peters or Joseph Peters also Joszef Peter, more commonly known as J. Peters used a variety of names in work for the secret apparatus of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) undeground in the 1930s and 40s. ... The term General Secretary (alternatively First Secretary) denotes a leader of various unions, parties or associations. ... Earl Russell Browder (May 20, 1891–June 27, 1973) was an American socialist and leader of the Communist Party USA. // Early years Browder was born in Wichita, Kansas. ... Rudy Baker became head of the CPUSAs underground secret apparatus in 1938 succeeding J. Peters. ... Hal Ware, son of Ella Reeve Bloor. ...

• Henry Collins, employed at the National Recovery Administration and later the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA).
• Lee Pressman, assistant general counsel of the AAA.
• Alger Hiss, attorney for the AAA and the Nye Committee; he moved to the Department of State in 1936, where he became an increasingly prominent figure.
• John Abt, chief of Litigation for the AAA from 1933 to 1935, assistant general counsel of the Works Progress Administration in 1935, chief counsel on Senator Robert La Follette, Jr.'s LaFollette Committee from 1936 to 1937 and special assistant to the United States Attorney General, 1937 and 1938.
• Charles Kramer, employed at the Department of Labor National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
• Nathan Witt, employed at the AAA; later moved to the NLRB.
• George Silverman, employed at the Railroad Retirement Board; later worked with the Federal Coordinator of Transport, the United States Tariff Commission and the Labor Advisory Board of the National Recovery Administration.
• Marion Bachrach, sister of John Abt; office manager to Representative John Bernard of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party.
• John Herrmann, author; assistant to Harold Ware; employed at the AAA; courier and document photographer for the Ware group; introduced Chambers to Hiss.
• Nathaniel Weyl, author; would later defect from Communism himself and give evidence against party members.
• Donald Hiss, brother to Alger Hiss; employed at the Department of State.
• Victor Perlo, chief of the Aviation Section of the War Production Board, later joined the Office of Price Administration Department of Commerce and the Division of Monetary Research at the Department of Treasury.

Apart from Marion Bachrach, these people were all members of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal administration. Chambers worked in Washington as an organizer among Communists in the city and as a courier between New York and Washington for stolen documents which were delivered to Boris Bykov, the GRU Illegal Rezident (a Soviet spymaster who resides in the US undercover, rather than as an embassy employee). NRA Blue Eagle poster. ... The United States Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) (P.L. 73-10 of May 12, 1933) restricted production during the New Deal by paying farmers to reduce crop area. ... Lee Pressman (fl. ... A General Counsel is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government department. ... Alger Hiss testifying Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was a U.S. State Department official involved in the establishment of the United Nations. ... The Nye Committee studied the causes of United States involvement in World War I between 1934 and 1936. ... John J. Abt (1904–1991) was an American lawyer and politician. ... WPA Graphic The Works Progress Administration (later Work Projects Administration, abbreviated WPA), was created on May 6, 1935 by Presidential order (Congress funded it annually but did not set it up). ... LaFollette Civil Liberties Committee or more formally, Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee Investigating Violations of Free Speech and the Rights of Labor (1933-1941) began as an inquiry into a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) investigation of methods used by employers in certain industries to avoid collective bargaining with... Charlse Kramer, orignally Charles Krevitsky was an economist for who worked for the United States Senate Subcommittee on War Mobilization and also the United States governments Office of Price Administration during World War II. Before the war he worked for the Department of Labor National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). ... The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. ... The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the United States Government charged with conducting elections for union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. ... Nathan Witt was hired by the New Deal Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) in the early 1930s. ... Abraham George Silverman graduated from Harvard was considered a brilliant mathemetician and statistician who went to work in Washington D.C. in the early days of the President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal in the Railroad Retirement Board. ... The Railroad Retirement Board (or RRB) was an agency of the United States government created in the 1930s which established a retirement benefit program for the countrys railroad workers. ... NRA Blue Eagle poster. ... Marion Bachrach was the sister of John Abt and also a member of the Ware group, a group of government employees in the New Deal administration of President Franklin Roosevelt who were also members of the secret appartus of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) in the 1930s. ... John Theodore Herrmann was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1900. ... Nathaniel Weyl (born 20 July 1910, died 13 April 2005) was the son of Walter Weyl, an editor of the New Republic. ... Donald Hiss was the younger brother of Alger Hiss. ... Victor Perlo was a member of the Ware group, and later headed a Washington DC cell of Soviet operatives. ... The War Production Board (WPB) was established in 1942 by executive order of Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... FDR redirects here. ... The New Deal was the title President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to the series of programs he initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of providing relief, recovery, and reform (3 Rs) to the people and economy of the United States during the Great Depression. ... Boris Yakovlevich Bukov, also Boris Bykov (Sasha) Regiment Comissar (15 November 1935). ... For other uses, see GRU (disambiguation). ...

Other covert sources

Using the codename "Karl" or "Carl," Chambers served during the mid-1930s as a courier between various covert sources and Soviet intelligence. In addition to the Ware group mentioned above, other sources that Chambers dealt with allegedly included:^[7]

• Noel Field, employed at the Department of State.
• Harold Glasser, Assistant Director, Division of Monetary Research, United States Department of the Treasury.
• Ward Pigman, employed at the National Bureau of Standards; Labor and Public Welfare Committee.
• Vincent Reno, a mathematician at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Proving Ground.
• Julian Wadleigh, economist with the Department of Agriculture and later the Trade Agreements section of the United States Department of State.
• Harry Dexter White, Director of the Division of Monetary Research at the Secretary of the Treasury.

Noel Field, an American citizen, worked in the Western European Division of the United States Department of State in the 1930s. ... Department of State redirects here. ... 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. ... The U.S. Treasury building today. ... Frnaklin Vincent Reno was a mathematician and civilian employee at the United States Army Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland in the 1930s. ... Aberdeen is a city in Harford County, Maryland, United States. ... Henry Julian Wadleigh, former employee of Dean Acheson in the United States Department of State in the 1940s. ... 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. ...

Defection

Chambers carried on his espionage activities from 1932 until 1937 or 1938, but his faith in Communism was waning. He became increasingly disturbed by Josef Stalin's Great Purge, which began about 1936. He was also fearful for his own life, having noted the murder in Switzerland of Ignatz Reiss, a high-ranking Soviet spy who had broken with Stalin, and the disappearance of his friend and fellow spy Juliet Poyntz in the United States. Poyntz had vanished in 1937, shortly after she had visited Moscow and returned disillusioned with the Communist cause due to the Stalinist Purges.^[8] (Russian, in full: Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Ста́лин [Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin]; December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953) was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s to his death in 1953 and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1953... The Great Purge (Russian: , transliterated Bolshaya chistka) refers collectively to several related campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the 1930s, which removed all of his remaining opposition from power. ... Juliet Stuart Poyntz (November 25, 1886–1937?) was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and a founding member of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA). ...

In his last years as a spy for the Soviets, Chambers ignored several orders that he travel to Moscow, worried that he might be "purged." He also started holding back some of the documents he collected from his sources. He planned to use these, along with several rolls of microfilm photographs of documents, as a "life preserver" that would convince the Soviets that they could not afford to kill him.

In 1938, Chambers broke with Communism and took his family into hiding, storing the "life preserver" at the home of his nephew and his parents. Initially he had no plans for giving information on his espionage activities to the U.S. government. His espionage contacts were his friends, and he had no desire to inform on them.

Early revelations

Although he broke with the Communist party in 1937 or 1938 (his later accounts would vary) the 1939 Hitler-Stalin non-aggression pact was reportedly the final straw in turning Chambers against the Soviet Union. He saw the pact as a betrayal of Communist values, and was also afraid that the information he had been supplying to the Soviets would be made available to Nazi Germany.^[9] Molotov signs the German-Soviet non-aggression pact. ...

In September of 1939, at the urging of anti-Communist, Russian-born journalist, Isaac Don Levine, Chambers and Levine met with Assistant Secretary of State Adolf Berle at Berle's home. Chambers was afraid that he would be found out by Soviet agents who had penetrated the government if he were to meet at the State Department. Levine had told Chambers that Walter Krivitsky had begun informing to American and British authorities concerning Soviet agents who held posts in both governments. Chambers agreed to reveal what he knew on the condition of immunity from prosecution.^[10] At the meeting, Chambers named eighteen current and former government employees as spies or Communist sympathizers. Many of the names he mentioned held relatively minor posts or were already widely suspected of being Communists. Other names were more significant and surprising, however: Alger Hiss, Donald Hiss and Laurence Duggan, all respected midlevel officials in the State Department; Lauchlin Currie, a special assistant to Franklin Roosevelt. Another member of the ring was said to be working on a top secret bombsight project at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Adolf Augustus Berle Jr. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), often referred to as FDR, was the 32nd (1933–1945) President of the United States. ...

There was little immediate result to Chambers's confession. He chose not to produce his envelope of evidence at this time, and Berle thought his information was tentative, unclear and uncorroborated. Berle took the information to the White House, but the President dismissed it, apparently with little objection from Berle.^[11] Berle notified the FBI of Chambers's information in March of 1940. In February of 1941 the Soviet defector Walter Krivitsky was found dead in his hotel room. The death was ruled a suicide, but it was widely speculated that Krivitsky had been killed by Soviet intelligence. Worried that the Soviets might try to kill Chambers too, Berle again told the FBI about his interview with Chambers, but the FBI took no immediate action. Although Chambers was interviewed by the FBI in May of 1942 and June of 1945, it wasn't until November 1945, when Elizabeth Bentley defected and corroborated much of Chambers's story, that the FBI began to take him seriously.^[12] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Elizabeth Bentley, 1948 Elizabeth Terrill Bentley (January 1, 1908- November 18, 1963) was an American who was a spy for the Soviet Union from 1938 until 1945. ...

TIME Magazine

Meanwhile, after living in hiding for a year, Chambers had joined the staff of TIME Magazine in 1939. Starting at the back of the magazine, reviewing books and film with James Agee, he eventually rose to the rank of a senior editor. While at TIME, Chambers became known as a staunch anti-Communist, sometimes enraging his writers with the changes he made to their stories.^[13] Some colleagues, led by Richard Lauterbach and Theodore White, tried to have publisher Henry Luce remove him, but Luce was also a staunch anti-Communist and respected Chambers' skill as a writer and editor. (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... James Rufus Agee (November 27, 1909 – May 16, 1955) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, screenwriter, journalist, poet, and film critic. ... Anti-communism is opposition to communist ideology, organization, or government, on either a theoretical or practical level. ... Neiman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. ... Theodore White on a book cover Theodore Harold White (May 6, 1915 – May 9, 1986) was an American political journalist, historian, and novelist, best known for his acclaimed accounts of the 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972 presidential elections. ... Luce with wife Clare Boothe Luce (1954) Henry Robinson Luce (pronounced like loose) (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an influential American publisher. ...

By early 1948, Chambers had become one of the best known writer-editors at TIME. First came his scathing commentary "The Ghosts on the Roof" (March 5, 1945) on the Yalta Conference (where, ironically, Hiss was a major participant). His cover-story essays profiled Marian Anderson, Arnold Toynbee, Rebecca West, and Reinhold Niebuhr. The cover story on Marion Anderson (December 30, 1947) proved so popular that the magazine broke its rule of non-attribution in response to readers' letters: "Most TIME cover stories are written and edited by the regular staffs of the section in which they appear. Certain cover stories, that present special difficulties or call for a special literary skill, are written by Senior Editor Whittaker Chambers."^[14] Chambers was at the height of his career when the Hiss case broke later that year. The Big Three at the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. ... Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897 – April 8, 1993),[1] was an American contralto, perhaps best remembered for her performance on Easter Sunday, 1939 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. // Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... This page is about the economic historian Arnold Toynbee; for the universal historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee see this article. ... Dame Rebecca West, DBE (December 21, 1892–March 15, 1983), whose real name was Cicely (she later changed it to Cicily) Isabel Fairfield, was a British-Irish feminist and writer famous for her novels and for her relationship with H. G. Wells. ... Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was a Protestant theologian best known for his study of the task of relating the Christian faith to the reality of modern politics and diplomacy. ...

It was during this period after his defection that Chambers and his family became members of Pipe Creek Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, about twelve miles from his Maryland farm. Quaker redirects here. ...

The Hiss case

Chambers testifies before HUAC as Alger Hiss (circled) listens

On August 3, 1948, Chambers was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Here he gave the names of individuals he said were part of the underground "Ware group" in the late 1930s, including Alger Hiss. He thus once again named Hiss as a member of the Communist Party, but didn't yet make any accusations of espionage. In subsequent HUAC sessions, Hiss testified and initially denied that he knew Chambers, but on seeing him in person (and after it became clear that Chambers knew details about Hiss's life), said that he had known Chambers under the name "George Crosley". Hiss denied that he had ever been a Communist, however. Since Chambers still presented no evidence, the committee had initially been inclined to take the word of Hiss on the matter. However, committee member Richard Nixon received secret information from the FBI which had led him to pursue the issue. When it issued its report, HUAC described Hiss's testimony as "vague and evasive." Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... HUAC hearings House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC or HCUA) (1938–1975) was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ...

"Red Herring"

The country quickly became divided over the Hiss-Chambers issue. President Truman, not pleased with the allegation that the man who had presided over the United Nations Charter Conference was a Communist, dismissed the case as a "red herring."^[15] In the atmosphere of increasing anti-communism that would be later be termed McCarthyism, many conservatives saw the Hiss case as emblematic of the Democrat's laxity towards Communist infiltration and influence in the State Department. Many liberals saw the Hiss case as part of the desperation of the Republican party to regain the office of president, having been out of power for 16 years. In response, Democrats pointed to Truman's anti-communist foreign policy exemplified by his Truman Doctrine to show he was as anti-communist as the Republicans, if not more so. Truman also enacted Executive Order 9835, which initiated a program of loyalty reviews for federal employees in 1947. For other persons named Harry Truman, see Harry Truman (disambiguation). ... UN and U.N. redirect here. ... Look up red herring in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A 1947 comic book published by the Catechetical Guild Educational Society warning of the dangers of a Communist takeover. ... The Truman Doctrine was a proclamation by U.S. president Harry S. Truman on March 12, 1947. ... Page one of Executive Order 9835, signed by Harry S. Truman in 1947. ...

"Pumpkin Papers"

Hiss filed a $75,000 libel suit against Chambers on October 8, 1948. Under pressure from Hiss's lawyers, Chambers finally retrieved his envelope of evidence and presented it to the HUAC after they subpoenaed them. It contained four notes in Alger Hiss's handwriting, sixty-five typewritten copies of State Department documents and five strips of microfilm, some of which contained photographs of State Department documents. The press came to call these the "Pumpkin Papers" referring to the fact that Chambers had briefly hidden the microfilm in a hollowed out pumpkin. These documents indicated that Hiss knew Chambers long after mid 1936, when Hiss said he had last seen "Crosley," and also that Hiss had engaged in espionage with Chambers. Chambers explained his delay in producing this evidence as an effort to spare an old friend from more trouble than necessary. Until October, 1948, Chambers had repeatedly stated that Hiss had not engaged in espionage, even when he testified under oath. Chambers' was forced to testify at the Hiss trials that he had committed perjury several times, which tended to impugn Chambers's credibility. is the 281st day of the year (282nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1975, the Justice Department released the contents of the "Pumpkin Papers," which showed that of the five rolls of microfilm that Nixon had described as evidence of the "most serious series of treasonable activities … in the history of America," one roll is completely blank and information on two more rolls are faintly legible copies of Navy Dept documents relating to such subjects as life rafts, parachutes and fire extinguishers, information which was obtainable at the time from the open shelves at the Bureau of Standards,^[16] and two other rolls are photographs of State Department documents which were introduced as evidence at the two Hiss trials in 1949 and 1950.^[17]

Perjury

Hiss could not be tried for espionage at this time, because the evidence indicated the offence had occurred over ten years prior to that time, and the statute of limitations for espionage was five years. Instead, Hiss was indicted for two counts of perjury relating to testimony he had given before a federal grand jury the previous December. There he had denied giving any documents to Whittaker Chambers, and testified he hadn't seen Chambers after mid 1936. A statute of limitations is a statute in a common law legal system that sets forth the maximum period of time, after certain events, that legal proceedings based on those events may be initiated. ... Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. ... In the American common law legal system, a grand jury is a type of jury which determines if there is enough evidence for a trial. ...

Hiss was tried twice for perjury. The first trial, in June of 1949, ended with the jury deadlocked eight to four for conviction. In addition to Chambers's testimony, a government expert testified that other papers typed on a typewriter belonging to the Hiss family matched the secret papers produced by Chambers. An impressive array of character witnesses appeared on behalf of Hiss: two U. S. Supreme Court justices, Felix Frankfurter and Stanley Reed, former Democratic presidential nominee John W. Davis and future Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson. Chambers, on the other hand, was attacked by Hiss's attorneys as "an enemy of the Republic, a blasphemer of Christ, a disbeliever in God, with no respect for matrimony or motherhood."^[15] In the second trial, Hiss's defense produced a psychiatrist who characterized Chambers as a "psychopathic personality" and "a pathological liar."^[18] The second trial ended in January of 1950 with Hiss found guilty on both counts of perjury. He was sentenced to five years in prison. Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ... For the Indian newspaper editor and British politician, see Stanley Reed Stanley Forman Reed (December 31, 1884 – April 2, 1980) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1938 to 1957. ... John W. Davis John William Davis (April 13, 1873 — March 24, 1955) was an American politician and lawyer. ... Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965) was an American politician, noted for intellectual demeanor and advocacy of liberal causes in the Democratic party. ...

After the Hiss case

Chambers had resigned from TIME in December 1948. After the trial, William F. Buckley, Jr. initiated the magazine National Review and Chambers briefly worked there as senior editor (perhaps most famously writing a scathing review of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged).^[19] He also wrote for Fortune and Life magazines. This article is about the conservative journalist and commentator. ... National Review (NR) is a biweekly magazine of political opinion, founded by author William F. Buckley, Jr. ... Ayn Rand (IPA: , February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982), born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (Russian: ), was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher,[1] known for creating a philosophy she named Objectivism and for writing the novels We the Living, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged and the... For the film, see Atlas Shrugged (film). ... Fortune magazine is Americas second longest-running business magazine after Forbes magazine. ... Philippe Halsmans famous portrait of Marilyn Monroe Life generally refers to two American magazines: A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936; A publication created by Time founder Henry Luce in 1936, with a strong emphasis on photojournalism. ...

In 1952, Chambers's book Witness was published to widespread acclaim. The book was a combination of autobiography, an account of his role in the Hiss case and a warning about the dangers of Communism and liberalism. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. called it one of the greatest of all American autobiographies, and Ronald Reagan credited the book as the inspiration behind his conversion from a New Deal Democrat to a conservative Republican.^[15] Witness was a bestseller for more than a year and helped pay off Chambers' legal debts. Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Jr. ... Reagan redirects here. ...

Chambers died of a heart attack on July 9, 1961, at the age of sixty. He had suffered from angina since the age of thirty-eight and had had several heart attacks previously. 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. ... is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... angina tonsillaris see tonsillitis. ...

His second book, Cold Friday, was published posthumously in 1964 with the help of Duncan Norton Taylor. The book predicted that the fall of Communism would start in the satellite states surrounding the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe. There were people who predicted the December 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. ... Satellite state or client state is a political term that refers to a country which is formally independent but which is primarily subject to the domination of another, larger power. ... Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium orange),members of the Warsaw pact (light orange), and other former Communist regimes not aligned with Moscow (lightest orange). ...

Recent evidence

At Chambers's first testimony before HUAC, he implicated Harry Dexter White as well as Alger Hiss as a covert member of the Communist party. White died shortly thereafter, so the case didn't receive the attention that the charges against Hiss did. Transcripts of coded Soviet messages decrypted through the Venona project, revealed in 1995, have added evidence regarding White's covert involvement with Communists and Soviet intelligence. Venona evidence regarding Alger Hiss is less conclusive, though it was sufficient for a bipartisan Commission on Government Secrecy, headed by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan to conclude "The complicity of Alger Hiss of the State Department seems settled. As does that of Harry Dexter White of the Treasury Department."^[20] 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. ... 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. ... 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. ...

Legacy

Chambers's book Witness is on the reading lists of the Heritage Foundation, The Weekly Standard, and the Russell Kirk Center. He is regularly cited by conservative writers such as Heritage's president Edwin Feulner. The Heritage Foundation is one of the most prominent conservative think tanks in the United States. ... The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative [1] magazine published 48 times per year. ... Russell Kirk Russell Kirk (1918, Plymouth, Michigan – 29 April 1994, Mecosta, Michigan), was an American political theorist, historian, social critic, and man of letters, best known for his influence on 20th century American conservatism. ... Edwin J. Feulner (born August 12, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois) is a founder and current President of the Heritage Foundation and was a recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1989. ...

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Chambers the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his contribution to "the century's epic struggle between freedom and totalitarianism."^[21] In 1988, Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel granted national landmark status to the Pipe Creek Farm.^[22] In 2001, members of the George W. Bush Administration held a private ceremony to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Chambers's birth. Speakers included William F. Buckley Jr.^[23] Reagan redirects here. ... The Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States and is bestowed by the President of the United States (the other award which is considered its equivalent is the Congressional Gold Medal, which is bestowed by an... Categories: 1935 births | U.S. Secretaries of Energy | U.S. Secretaries of the Interior | People stubs ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the forty-third and current President of the United States of America, originally inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ...

In 2007, John Chambers revealed that a library containing his father's papers should open in 2008 on the Chambers farm in Maryland. He indicated that the facility will be available to all scholars and that a separate library, rather than one within an established university, is needed to guarantee open access.^[24] 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

Associated people

• Alger Hiss
• Richard Nixon
• Harry S. Truman
• Boris Bykov
• Elizabeth Bentley
• Joseph McCarthy

Alger Hiss testifying Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was a U.S. State Department official involved in the establishment of the United Nations. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... For other persons named Harry Truman, see Harry Truman (disambiguation). ... Boris Yakovlevich Bukov, also Boris Bykov (Sasha) Regiment Comissar (15 November 1935). ... Elizabeth Bentley, 1948 Elizabeth Terrill Bentley (January 1, 1908- November 18, 1963) was an American who was a spy for the Soviet Union from 1938 until 1945. ... This article is about the U.S. senator from Wisconsin (1947-1957). ...

Biographers

• Allen Weinstein
• Sam Tanenhaus
• William F. Buckley, Jr.
• Ralph de Toledano

Allen Weinstein is the Archivist of the United States. ... Sam Tanenhaus (born October 31, 1955) is an American author, historian and biographer. ... This article is about the conservative journalist and commentator. ... Ralph de Toledano (August 14, 1916 - February 3, 2007) was a major figure in the conservative movement in the United States throughout the second half of the 20th century. ...

Related topics

• McCarthyism
• American conservatism
• History of Soviet espionage in the United States
• Venona

A 1947 comic book published by the Catechetical Guild Educational Society warning of the dangers of a Communist takeover. ... American conservatism is a constellation of political ideologies within the United States under the blanket heading of conservative. ... // Browder, Golos and Peters By the mid to late 1920s, there were three elements of Soviet power operating in the United States, despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations, the Comintern, military intelligence or GRU, and the forerunner of the KGB, the GPU. The Comintern was the dominant arm, though... The VENONA project was a long-running and highly secret collaboration between the United States intelligence agencies and the United Kingdoms MI5 that involved the cryptanalysis of Soviet messages. ...

Notes and references

Main references

Notes Sam Tanenhaus (born October 31, 1955) is an American author, historian and biographer. ... Allen Weinstein is the Archivist of the United States. ...

Books on the Hiss-Chambers case is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year (86th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 138th day of the year (139th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 218th day of the year (219th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

Film on or including the Hiss-Chambers case Alistair Cooke should not be confused with Alastair Cook, English cricketer. ... Allen Weinstein is the Archivist of the United States. ... Athan George Theoharis (born August 3, 1936) is a professor emeritus of History at Marquette University. ...

Chambers and Soviet espionage Nixon is a 1995 film directed by Oliver Stone for Cinergi Pictures that tells the story of the political and personal life of former President Richard Nixon. ... The year 1995 in film involved some significant events. ... William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946), known simply as Oliver Stone, is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director and screenwriter. ... // Events The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name. ... Jeff Bleckner (born August 12, 1943) is an American theatre and television director. ... The year 1980 in film involved some significant events. ... North by Northwest (1959) is a comic thriller by Alfred Hitchcock produced at MGM. It was premiered in the San Sebastian International Film Festival. ... See also: 1958 in film 1959 1960 in film 1950s in film 1960s in film years in film film Events The Three Stooges make their 180th and last short film, Sappy Bullfighters. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 â€“ April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ...

Fiction or Partial Fiction John Earl Haynes is a historian who is a specialist in 20th Century political history in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress; he is known for his books on the subject of the American Communist and anti-Communist movements, and on Soviet espionage in America (many written jointly... Harvey E. Klehr (born December 25, 1945) is a professor of politics and history at Emory University; he is known for his books on the subject of the American Communist movement, and on Soviet espionage in America (many written jointly with John Earl Haynes). ... Christopher Maurice Andrew (born 23 July 1941) is a British historian and professor with a special interest in international relations and in particular the history of intelligence services. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Writings by Chambers

Books and Plays

Online Clare Boothe Luce (April 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American editor, playwright, social activist, politician, journalist, and diplomat. ...

Collections

Important Magazine Articles Ralph de Toledano (August 14, 1916 - February 3, 2007) was a major figure in the conservative movement in the United States throughout the second half of the 20th century. ...

The Big Three at the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. ... Saul Alinsky off the cover of Let Them Call Me Rebel: Saul Alinsky, His Life and Legacy by Sanford D. Horwitt. ... Arnold Joseph Toynbee (April 14, 1889 - October 22, 1975) was a British historian whose twelve-volume analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations, A Study of History, 1934-1961, was a synthesis of world history, a metahistory based on universal rhythms of rise, flowering and decline. ... Dame Rebecca West, DBE (December 21, 1892–March 15, 1983), whose real name was Cicely (she later changed it to Cicily) Isabel Fairfield, was a British-Irish feminist and writer famous for her novels and for her relationship with H. G. Wells. ... Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897 – April 8, 1993),[1] was an American contralto, perhaps best remembered for her performance on Easter Sunday, 1939 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. // Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was a Protestant theologian best known for his study of the task of relating the Christian faith to the reality of modern politics and diplomacy. ... Ayn Rand (IPA: , February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982), born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (Russian: ), was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher,[1] known for creating a philosophy she named Objectivism and for writing the novels We the Living, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged and the...

External links

• WhittakerChambers.net.
• August 3, 1948 Testimony of Whittaker Chambers before HUAC.
• August 17, 1948 Testimony of Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss before HUAC.
• Time Magazine's review of Witness. TIME (June 9, 1952).
• Douglas, Ann. Review of Sam Tanenhaus's Whittaker Chambers: A Biography.
• Schlesinger, Arthur (1997). Review of Sam Tanenhaus's Whittaker Chambers: A Biography. New York Times.
• Langer, Elinor (1999). Review of Sam Tanenhaus's Whittaker Chambers: A Biography. The Nation.
• Obituary of Whittaker Chambers. TIME (July 21, 1961).
• Scott, Janny (November 16, 1996). Obituary of Alger Hiss. New York Times.
• Linder, Douglas. The Alger Hiss Trials: An Account. "Famous Trials". University Of Missouri-Kansas City School Of Law.
• Sempa, Francis P. (2001). Whittaker Chambers: A Centenary Reflection. American Diplomacy.
• Edwards, Lee (2001). Whittaker Chambers: Man of Courage and Faith. The Heritage Foundation.
• Buckley, William F. (2005). Witness and Friends; Remembering Whittaker Chambers. National Review Online.
• Cryer, Dan (2005). "We're a long way from the end of this"; An Interview with Tony Hiss. Salon.com.
• Kramer, Hilton (1997). Whittaker Chambers: the judgment of history. The New Criterion.
• Isserman, Maurice. Disloyalty As a Principle: Why Communists Spied.
• Navasky, Victor (1997). Allen Weinstein's Docudrama. A review of Weinstein's "Perjury". The Nation.
• Schrecker, Ellen (1999). The Spies Who Loved Us?. A discussion of Weinstein and "The Haunted Wood". The Nation.
• Fox, John F., Jr. (2005). In the Enemy’s House: Venona and the Maturation of American Counterintelligence. FBI. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
• Benson, Robert L.. The Venona Story. National Security Agency. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
• Martin, David (2007). FDR Winked at Soviet Espionage.

Video on Chambers Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... “TIME” redirects here. ... June 9 is the 160th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (161st in leap years), with 205 days remaining. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... The Nation (ISSN 0027-8378) is a weekly [1] U.S. periodical devoted to politics and culture, self-described as the flagship of the left. ... “TIME” redirects here. ... is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Ellen Wolf Schrecker, Ph. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

• American Writers: Whittaker Chambers. C-SPAN American Writers Series. C-SPAN (2002).

• YouTube.com Red Spy Films. Chambers Farm, Secret Doc. 1948/12/06 (1948) time: 00:00:51
• RAM Whittaker Chambers on "close friends"
• RAM Alger Hiss Story - Chambers on the "tragedy of history"
• RAM Alger Hiss defends himself

Photos This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

• 1931 Whittaker Chambers
• 1939 Whittaker Chambers
• 1948 Whittaker Chambers before HUAC
• 1950 Whittaker Chambers reading of Hiss guilty verdict
• 1961 Whittaker Chambers near the time of his death