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| | [[Image:Craigwhitephoto.jpg|right|thumb|Harry Dexter White]] | | [[Image:Craigwhitephoto.jpg|right|thumb|Harry Dexter White]] |
| − | '''Harry Dexter White''' (October 9, 1892 – August 16, 1948) was an [[United States|American]] economist and senior [[U.S. Department of Treasury]] official. He was the first head of the [[International Monetary Fund]], played an important role in formation of the [[World Bank]] and was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] secret agent. Unlike other [[Comintern]] operatives such as [[Alger Hiss]] or [[Julius Rosenberg]], White died before he could be brought to trial. Consequently, Harry Dexter White's case has not been publicly scrutinized as closely as the Hiss and Rosenberg cases, yet in some respects, White's subversion of US [[foreign policy]] may have been even more damaging. | + | '''Harry Dexter White''' (October 9, 1892 – August 16, 1948) was an [[United States|American]] economist and senior [[U.S. Department of Treasury]] official. He was the first head of the [[International Monetary Fund]], played an important role in formation of the [[World Bank]] and was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] secret agent. White succeeded in subverting American policy to favor Soviet interests over U.S. interests. Unlike other [[Comintern]] operatives such as [[Alger Hiss]] or [[Julius Rosenberg]], White died before he could be brought to trial. Consequently, Harry Dexter White's case has not been publicly scrutinized as closely as the Hiss and Rosenberg cases, yet in some respects, White's subversion of US [[foreign policy]] may have been even more damaging. |
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| | ==New Dealer== | | ==New Dealer== |
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| − | In 1934, [[Jacob Viner]], a professor at the [[University of Chicago]] working at the [[U.S. Treasury Department]], wrote to White offering him a job in the US Treasury. In his early years White concentrated on the relationship that gold and silver had to currency management. He also became an expert on Japanese and Chinese monetary policy. As early as 1935 White agreed to pass on Treasury documents for [[Whitaker Chambers]] to photograph and return. | + | In 1934, [[Jacob Viner]], a professor at the [[University of Chicago]] working at the [[U.S. Treasury Department]], wrote to White offering him a job in the US Treasury. In his early years White concentrated on the relationship that gold and silver had to currency management. He also became an expert on Japanese and Chinese monetary policy. As early as 1935 White agreed to pass on Treasury documents for [[Whitaker Chambers]] to photograph and return. In the latter half of the thirties met with [[John Maynard Keynes]] and other leading economists. |
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| − | In the latter half of the thirties met with [[John Maynard Keynes]] and other leading economists. After Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], Treasury Secretary [[Henry Morgenthau]] gave White the responsibility to "take supervision over and assume full responsibility for Treasury's participation in all economic and financial matters...in connection with the operation of the Army and Navy and the civilian affairs in the foreign areas in which our armed forces are operating or are likely to operate." | + | In December 1941 after Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], Treasury Secretary [[Henry Morgenthau]] gave White the responsibility to "take supervision over and assume full responsibility for Treasury's participation in all economic and financial matters...in connection with the operation of the Army and Navy and the civilian affairs in the foreign areas in which our armed forces are operating or are likely to operate" and to act as liaison between the Treasury and the [[State Department]] on all matters having a bearing on foreign relations. White was also given "responsibility for the management and operation of the [[Exchange Stabilization Fund]] without a change in its procedures." |
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| − | Philosophically, White was a Keynesian [[New Deal]]er. As a dedicated [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|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.
| + | Another of White's value to Soviet intelligence was his ability to place in the Treasury Department individuals the [[Greg Silvermaster|Silvermaster ring]] wanted to have assigned in the department. Among them were [[Lud Ullman]], [[William Henry Taylor]], and [[Sonia Steinman Gold|Sonia Gold]]. |
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| | After the war, White was closely involved with setting up what were called the [[Bretton Woods system|Bretton Woods]] institutions - the [[International Monetary Fund]] and the World Bank. These institutions were intended to prevent some of the economic problems that occurred after the [[World War I|First World War]]. | | After the war, White was closely involved with setting up what were called the [[Bretton Woods system|Bretton Woods]] institutions - the [[International Monetary Fund]] and the World Bank. These institutions were intended to prevent some of the economic problems that occurred after the [[World War I|First World War]]. |
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| − | In December 1941, after the [[Pearl Harbor]], White was appointed assistant to [[Henry Morgenthau]], the Treasury secretary, to act as liaison between the Treasury and the [[State Department]] on all matters having a bearing on foreign relations and "responsibility for the management and operation of the [[Exchange Stabilization Fund]] without a change in its procedures."
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| − | One of his most valuable assets was his ability to place in the Treasury Department individuals the [[Greg Silvermaster|Silvermaster ring]] wanted to have assigned in the department. Among them were [[Lud Ullman]], [[William Henry Taylor]], and [[Sonia Steinman Gold|Sonia Gold]].
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| | ==Policy subversion== | | ==Policy subversion== |
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| | ===Betrayal of the Kuomintang=== | | ===Betrayal of the Kuomintang=== |
| | [[Chiang Kai-shek]] himself would claim that White and his staff sabotaged his government's economic policies. | | [[Chiang Kai-shek]] himself would claim that White and his staff sabotaged his government's economic policies. |
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| | + | Senator William Jenner's Interlocking Subversion in Government Departments Investigation by the [[Senate Internal Security Subcommittee]] looked extensively into the problem of unauthorized, uncontrolled and often dangerous power exercised by non-elected officials, specifically Harry Dexter White. Part of its report looked into the implementation of Roosevelt administration policy in [[China]] and was published as the ''Morgenthau Diary''. <ref>[http://www.archives.gov/legislative/guide/senate/chapter-13-judiciary-1947-1968.html#103 Guide to the Records of the U.S. Senate at the National Archives, Records of the Morgenthau Diary Study, 1953-65].</ref> The Report stated, |
| | + | {{Cquote|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 [[Lud Ullman|William Ludwig Ullman]], [[Irving Kaplan]], and [[Victor Perlo]]. White, Coe, Glasser, Kaplan, and Perlo were all identified as participants in the Communist conspiracy….<ref>United States Government Printing Office, Report on the Morgenthau Diaries prepared by the Subcommittee of the Senate Committee of the Judiciary appointed to investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and other Internal Security Laws, Introduction, by Dr. Anthony Kubek, Professor of History at Dallas University, November 1967, two volumes, v.i., pg. 80.</ref>}} |
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| | ===Transfer of Occupation Currency Plates=== | | ===Transfer of Occupation Currency Plates=== |
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| | In a memorandum dated 15 October 1950 White was conclusively identified in the [[Venona]] papers as a Soviet agent code named "Jurist". <ref>Posthumous [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/FBI_Memorandum_identifying_Harry_Dexter_White_as_agent_Jurist| FBI Memorandum conclusively identifies Harry Dexter White as KGB Agent Jurist] (1950).</ref>Venona cyphers quote him as saying he was willing for any self-sacrifice on behalf of the [[MGB]], but was afraid that his activities, if exposed, might lead to a political scandal and have an effect on the 1944 Presidential election. In 1953 [[J. Edgar Hoover]] convinced [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Herbert Brownell, Jr.|Brownell]] that White was a spy. White's bronze bust was ignominiously removed to the IMF's basement. | | In a memorandum dated 15 October 1950 White was conclusively identified in the [[Venona]] papers as a Soviet agent code named "Jurist". <ref>Posthumous [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/FBI_Memorandum_identifying_Harry_Dexter_White_as_agent_Jurist| FBI Memorandum conclusively identifies Harry Dexter White as KGB Agent Jurist] (1950).</ref>Venona cyphers quote him as saying he was willing for any self-sacrifice on behalf of the [[MGB]], but was afraid that his activities, if exposed, might lead to a political scandal and have an effect on the 1944 Presidential election. In 1953 [[J. Edgar Hoover]] convinced [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Herbert Brownell, Jr.|Brownell]] that White was a spy. White's bronze bust was ignominiously removed to the IMF's basement. |
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| − | ==Morganthau Diary==
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| − | Senator William Jenner's Interlocking Subversion in Government Departments Investigation by the [[Senate Internal Security Subcommittee]] looked extensively into the problem of unauthorized, uncontrolled and often dangerous power exercised by non-elected officials, specifically Harry Dexter White. Part of its report looked into the implementation of Roosevelt administration policy in [[China]] and was published as the ''Morgenthau Diary''. <ref>[http://www.archives.gov/legislative/guide/senate/chapter-13-judiciary-1947-1968.html#103 Guide to the Records of the U.S. Senate at the National Archives, Records of the Morgenthau Diary Study, 1953-65].</ref> The Report stated,
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| − | {{Cquote|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 [[Lud Ullman|William Ludwig Ullman]], [[Irving Kaplan]], and [[Victor Perlo]]. White, Coe, Glasser, Kaplan, and Perlo were all identified as participants in the Communist conspiracy….<ref>United States Government Printing Office, Report on the Morgenthau Diaries prepared by the Subcommittee of the Senate Committee of the Judiciary appointed to investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and other Internal Security Laws, Introduction, by Dr. Anthony Kubek, Professor of History at Dallas University, November 1967, two volumes, v.i., pg. 80.</ref>}}
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| | 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. <ref>[http://time-proxy.yaga.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,823119,00.html Time Magazine, ''The White Case Record'', Nov. 30, 1953].</ref>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. <ref>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/moynihan/foreword.html Chairman's Forward, Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy] (1997).</ref> Long after his death, the Justice Department publicly disclosed the existence of [[incontrovertible evidence|conclusive evidence]] confirming White had indeed been involved in espionage activities. White's family however, still protests his innocence. | | 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. <ref>[http://time-proxy.yaga.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,823119,00.html Time Magazine, ''The White Case Record'', Nov. 30, 1953].</ref>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. <ref>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/moynihan/foreword.html Chairman's Forward, Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy] (1997).</ref> Long after his death, the Justice Department publicly disclosed the existence of [[incontrovertible evidence|conclusive evidence]] confirming White had indeed been involved in espionage activities. White's family however, still protests his innocence. |