| − | '''Alger Hiss''' (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was a high-ranking [[U.S. State Department]] official<ref>"Alger Hiss, a former [http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2000/nr00-02.html high-ranking State Department official]"; and "[[#refBogdanor08|one of America's leading diplomats]]..."</ref> and Secretary-General of the [[United Nations]] founding conference.<ref>"The Secretary-General of the Conference was Alger Hiss... Secretary-General: Alger Hiss" [[#refUN46|UN 1946-47]]: 14, 48 (PDF 15, 49)</ref> He was [[#refHissAppellate|convicted of perjury]] in 1950 after [[#refBentleyGJ|denying involvement]] in [[USSR|Soviet]] [[espionage]]. Hiss partisans and many on the [[ideological]] [[left]] for many years hotly disputed the jury’s verdict in the case,<ref>Francis P. Sempa, "[http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2001_07-09/sempa_chambers/sempa_chambers.html Whittaker Chambers: A Centennary Reflection]," ''American Diplomacy'', July 2001. Hiss portrayed himself as a "liberal" rather than a communist, referring to "[http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/liberalism.html liberals like myself]," writing that he had acquired a "liberal outlook" as a student, which was "strengthened and given focus at the Harvard Law School"; his work for Justice Holmes "increased my liberal convictions"; etc. He also had "[[#refBogdanor08|strong ties]] to the [http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Alger+Hiss Democratic Party]." Thus for decades, many [[liberals]] and [[Democratic Party|Democrats]] portrayed Hiss as an [http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryAmerican/Since1945/?view=usa&ci=9780195182552 innocent victim of McCarthyism], the victim of an [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/11.html elaborate frame-up], railroaded by [http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/history.html the demagoguery] of [[Richard Nixon]] and the [[House Committee on Un-American Activities]]. Cf. Tony Judt, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qjPwuBv-0PUC Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century]'' (Penguin Group, 2008), ISBN 1594201366, p. 301</ref> putting forward a variety of conspiracy theories.<ref>For an overview of these (mutually-contradictory) conspiracy theories see the appendix, "Conspiracy Theories," in [[#refWeinstein78|Weinstein 1978]].</ref> The '''[[Legacy of Alger Hiss#Scholarly consensus|overwhelming consensus]]''' among historians today is that Hiss was guilty, as confirmed by the unanimous report of the bipartisan Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy 1997.<ref>"The complicity of Alger Hiss of the State Department [in Soviet espionage] seems settled." (Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, ''Secrecy'' [Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1997], [http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/commissions/secrecy/pdf/12hist1.pdf Appendix A - Secrecy: A Brief Account of the American Experience], p. A-37 [PDF p. 39]) The commission's chairman, Senator [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]], a [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E5DC103EF930A15751C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all liberal Democrat], wrote, "Hiss was indeed a [[USSR|Soviet]] agent and appears to have been regarded by [[Moscow]] as its most important."(Daniel Patrick Moynihan, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FWq-5a5tqH0C Secrecy: The American Experience]'' [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998] ISBN 0300077564, p. 146)</ref> | + | '''Alger Hiss''' (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was a high-ranking [[U.S. State Department]] official<ref>"Alger Hiss, a former [http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2000/nr00-02.html high-ranking State Department official]"; and "[[#refBogdanor08|one of America's leading diplomats]]..."</ref> and Secretary-General of the [[United Nations]] founding conference.<ref>"The Secretary-General of the Conference was Alger Hiss... Secretary-General: Alger Hiss" [[#refUN46|UN 1946-47]]: 14, 48 (PDF 15, 49)</ref> He was [[#refHissAppellate|convicted of perjury]] in 1950 after [[#refBentleyGJ|denying involvement]] in [[USSR|Soviet]] [[espionage]]. Hiss partisans and many on the [[ideological]] [[left]] for many years hotly disputed the jury’s verdict in the case,<ref>Francis P. Sempa, "[http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2001_07-09/sempa_chambers/sempa_chambers.html Whittaker Chambers: A Centennary Reflection]," ''American Diplomacy'', July 2001. Hiss portrayed himself as a "liberal" rather than a communist, referring to "[http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/liberalism.html liberals like myself]," writing that he had acquired a "liberal outlook" as a student, which was "strengthened and given focus at the Harvard Law School"; his work for Justice Holmes "increased my liberal convictions"; etc. He also had "[[#refBogdanor08|strong ties]] to the [http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Alger+Hiss Democratic Party]." Thus for decades, many [[liberals]] and [[Democratic Party|Democrats]] portrayed Hiss as an [http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryAmerican/Since1945/?view=usa&ci=9780195182552 innocent victim of McCarthyism], the victim of an [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/11.html elaborate frame-up], railroaded by [http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/history.html the demagoguery] of [[Richard Nixon]] and the [[House Committee on Un-American Activities]]. Cf. Tony Judt, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qjPwuBv-0PUC Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century]'' (Penguin Group, 2008), ISBN 1594201366, p. 301</ref> putting forward a variety of conspiracy theories.<ref>For an overview of these (mutually-contradictory) conspiracy theories see the appendix, "Conspiracy Theories," in [[#refWeinstein78|Weinstein 1978]].</ref> The '''[[Legacy of Alger Hiss#Scholarly consensus|overwhelming consensus]]''' among historians today is that Hiss was guilty, as confirmed by the unanimous report of the bipartisan Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy in 1997.<ref>"The complicity of Alger Hiss of the State Department [in Soviet espionage] seems settled." (Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, ''Secrecy'' [Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1997], [http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/commissions/secrecy/pdf/12hist1.pdf Appendix A - Secrecy: A Brief Account of the American Experience], p. A-37 [PDF p. 39]) The commission's chairman, Senator [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]], a [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E5DC103EF930A15751C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all liberal Democrat], wrote, "Hiss was indeed a [[USSR|Soviet]] agent and appears to have been regarded by [[Moscow]] as its most important."(Daniel Patrick Moynihan, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FWq-5a5tqH0C Secrecy: The American Experience]'' [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998] ISBN 0300077564, p. 146)</ref> |