Changes

That same month, at the San Francisco conference, Soviet UN Ambassador [[Andrei Gromyko]] nominated Hiss to be temporary secretary general of the United Nations.<ref>Frank J. Rafalko, ed., [http://www.ncix.gov/issues/CI_Reader/Vol2/Vol2Chap1.pdf "Counterintelligence in World War II, 1940-47," ''A Counterintelligence Reader: An American Revolution Into the New Millennium'', Vol. 2, Ch. 1] (Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive), p. 110 (PDF p. 111)</ref> As one scholar notes, "It was astonishing for a Soviet diplomat to propose an American for what was then the UN's highest and most sensitive diplomatic post."<ref>Stephen J. Whitfield, ''The Culture of the Cold War'' (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996) ISBN 0801851955, p. 28</ref> In London that September, Gromyko repeated to Stettinius, now the new U.S. Ambassador to the UN, that he "would be very happy to see Alger Hiss appointed temporary secretary general."<ref>Thomas M. Campbell and George C. Herring, eds., ''The Diaries of Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., 1943-46'' (New York: New Viewpoints, 1975) ISBN 0531055701, p. 416</ref> As Weinstein notes, "The endorsement of a leading American official by the Russians remains practically unique in the annals of Soviet-American diplomacy at this time."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 361</ref> The same day Gromyko reiterated his endorsement of Hiss to Stettinius in London, Hiss proposed that the State Department create a new post, that of "special assistant for military affairs," linked to his Office of Special Political Affairs.<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300077718, p. 172</ref><ref>Sam Tanenhaus, ''Whittaker Chambers: A Biography'' (New York: Random House, 1997) ISBN 0375751459, p. 519</ref><ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Random House, 1997 ed.), pp. 321-322</ref>

That same month, at the San Francisco conference, Soviet UN Ambassador [[Andrei Gromyko]] nominated Hiss to be temporary secretary general of the United Nations.<ref>Frank J. Rafalko, ed., [http://www.ncix.gov/issues/CI_Reader/Vol2/Vol2Chap1.pdf "Counterintelligence in World War II, 1940-47," ''A Counterintelligence Reader: An American Revolution Into the New Millennium'', Vol. 2, Ch. 1] (Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive), p. 110 (PDF p. 111)</ref> As one scholar notes, "It was astonishing for a Soviet diplomat to propose an American for what was then the UN's highest and most sensitive diplomatic post."<ref>Stephen J. Whitfield, ''The Culture of the Cold War'' (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996) ISBN 0801851955, p. 28</ref> In London that September, Gromyko repeated to Stettinius, now the new U.S. Ambassador to the UN, that he "would be very happy to see Alger Hiss appointed temporary secretary general."<ref>Thomas M. Campbell and George C. Herring, eds., ''The Diaries of Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., 1943-46'' (New York: New Viewpoints, 1975) ISBN 0531055701, p. 416</ref> As Weinstein notes, "The endorsement of a leading American official by the Russians remains practically unique in the annals of Soviet-American diplomacy at this time."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 361</ref> The same day Gromyko reiterated his endorsement of Hiss to Stettinius in London, Hiss proposed that the State Department create a new post, that of "special assistant for military affairs," linked to his Office of Special Political Affairs.<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300077718, p. 172</ref><ref>Sam Tanenhaus, ''Whittaker Chambers: A Biography'' (New York: Random House, 1997) ISBN 0375751459, p. 519</ref><ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Random House, 1997 ed.), pp. 321-322</ref>

==Defections and Investigations==

==Defections and Investigations==

===Igor Gouzenko===

===Igor Gouzenko===

Two days before Hiss made that proposal, [[GRU]] code clerk [[Igor Gouzenko]] had defected from the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa, telling the FBI that one Lt. Kulakov in the office of the Soviet military attaché told him that he had learned in Moscow prior to his departure in May 1945 that an assistant to then U.S. Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius was a Soviet spy.<ref>Amy W. Knight, ''How the Cold War Began: The Igor Gouzenko Affair and the Hunt for Soviet Spies'' (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2006) ISBN 0786718161, p. 33</ref> Gouzenko suggested that the Bureau might identify the agent by determining who had advised Stettinius that the U.S. should turn over its atomic bomb to the UN Security Council.<ref>FBI letter: Hoover to Lyon, September 24, 1945, p. 5 (CIA file: Igor Gouzenko), reprinted in Robert Louis Benson and Michael Warner, eds., ''[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/venona-soviet-espionage-and-the-american-response-1939-1957/14.gif Venona: Soviet Espionage and The American Response]'' (Washington: National Security Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 1996), p. 67</ref> Stettinius' aide at the time was Alger Hiss.<ref>G. Edward White, ''Alger Hiss's Looking-Glass War'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) , p. 49</ref> Following up on Gouzenko's revelations, Raymond Murphy of the State Department again interviewed Chambers, who repeated that Hiss' assignment was "to mess up policy."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 366</ref>

Two days before Hiss proposed the creation of a "special assistant for military affairs," [[GRU]] code clerk [[Igor Gouzenko]] had defected from the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa, telling the FBI that one Lt. Kulakov in the office of the Soviet military attaché told him that he had learned in Moscow prior to his departure in May 1945 that an assistant to then U.S. Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius was a Soviet spy.<ref>Amy W. Knight, ''How the Cold War Began: The Igor Gouzenko Affair and the Hunt for Soviet Spies'' (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2006) ISBN 0786718161, p. 33</ref><ref>FBI letter: Hoover to Lyon, September 24, 1945, p. 5 (CIA file: Igor Gouzenko), reprinted in Robert Louis Benson and Michael Warner, eds., ''[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/venona-soviet-espionage-and-the-american-response-1939-1957/14.gif Venona: Soviet Espionage and The American Response]'' (Washington: National Security Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 1996), p. 67</ref> Stettinius' aide at the time was Alger Hiss.<ref>G. Edward White, ''Alger Hiss's Looking-Glass War'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) , p. 49</ref> Following up on Gouzenko's revelations, Raymond Murphy of the State Department again interviewed Chambers, who repeated that Hiss' assignment was "to mess up policy."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 366</ref>

Canadian Prime Minister [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]] wrote that acting under-secretary of state for external affairs Robertson told him that Gouzenko’s documents disclosed that “everything was much worse than we would have believed…. Stettinius [had] been surrounded by spies, etc….”<ref>[http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/smileymi/Global%20History%2012/a_short_essay_on_the_cold_war.htm William Lyon Mackenzie King, diary entry for September 7, 1945]. "Mr. Smiley's World of Social Studies and English Page" (Halifax Regional School Board Teacher Webspace)</ref>

Canadian Prime Minister [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]] wrote that acting under-secretary of state for external affairs Robertson told him that Gouzenko’s documents disclosed that “everything was much worse than we would have believed…. Stettinius [had] been surrounded by spies, etc….”<ref>[http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/smileymi/Global%20History%2012/a_short_essay_on_the_cold_war.htm William Lyon Mackenzie King, diary entry for September 7, 1945]. "Mr. Smiley's World of Social Studies and English Page" (Halifax Regional School Board Teacher Webspace)</ref>

Two days later, Hiss testified, denying that he ever even knew Chambers, in a statement Secretary of State [[Dean Acheson]] helped write.<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 17</ref> Hiss "asked the committee to disregard the evidence and follow its emotions:

Two days later, Hiss testified, denying that he ever even knew Chambers, in a statement Secretary of State [[Dean Acheson]] helped write.<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 17</ref> Hiss "asked the committee to disregard the evidence and follow its emotions:

{{cquote|it is ''inconceivable'' that there could have been on my part, during fifteen years or more in public office… any departure from the highest rectitude<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,859675,00.html Publican & Pharisee]," ''Time'', May. 26, 1952</ref> without its becoming known.<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811892.html The Case of Alger Hiss]," ''Time'', February 13, 1950</ref> It is ''inconceivable'' that the men with whom I was intimately associated during those fifteen years should not know my true character better than this accuser. It is ''inconceivable'' that… [etc.]<ref>Tennent H. Bagley, ''Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games'' (Yale University Press, 2007) ISBN 0300121989, p. 274</ref> (emphases in original)}}

{{cquote|it is ''inconceivable'' that there could have been on my part, during fifteen years or more in public office… any departure from the highest rectitude<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,859675,00.html Publican & Pharisee]," ''Time'', May. 26, 1952</ref> without its becoming known.<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811892.html The Case of Alger Hiss]," ''Time'', February 13, 1950</ref> It is ''inconceivable'' that the men with whom I was intimately associated during those fifteen years should not know my true character better than this accuser. It is ''inconceivable'' that… [etc.]<ref>Tennent H. Bagley, ''Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games'' (Yale University Press, 2007) ISBN 0300121989, p. 274</ref> (emphases in original)}}

That day, President Truman finally reviewed Hiss’ FBI file. Pronouncing Hiss “guilty as hell,” Truman told White House Special Counsel Samuel Rosenman, “We shouldn't just indict this son of a bitch. We should hang him.”<ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” ''Insight on the News'', January 27, 1997</ref> Five minutes later, Truman blustered to a press conference that the Hiss case was just an election-year “red herring.”<ref>Alonzo L. Hamby, ''Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998) ISBN 0195124979, p. 453</ref><ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,819396,00.html Off the Record]," ''Time'', January 18, 1954</ref><ref>See also [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/venona-soviet-espionage-and-the-american-response-1939-1957/22.gif (Harry S. Truman) to the Attorney General, 16 December 1948], Harry S. Truman Library, Tom Clark Papers, "Attorney General-- White House/President, 1948," box 83, reprinted (as Document 22) in Robert Louis Benson and Michael Warner, eds., ''[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/venona-soviet-espionage-and-the-american-response-1939-1957/14.gif Venona: Soviet Espionage and The American Response]'' (Washington: National Security Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 1996), p. 119</ref> When Rosenman later asked why he had lied, Truman explained, “You don't understand. The Republicans aren't after Alger Hiss. They're after me. I had to take the political view.”<ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” ''Insight on the News'', January 27, 1997</ref>

That day, President Truman finally reviewed Hiss’ FBI file. Pronouncing Hiss “guilty as hell,” Truman told White House Special Counsel Samuel Rosenman, “We shouldn't just indict this son of a bitch. We should hang him.”<ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” ''Insight on the News'', January 27, 1997</ref> Five minutes later, Truman blustered to a press conference that the Hiss case was just an election-year “red herring”<ref>Alonzo L. Hamby, ''Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998) ISBN 0195124979, p. 453</ref><ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,819396,00.html Off the Record]," ''Time'', January 18, 1954</ref><ref>See also [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/venona-soviet-espionage-and-the-american-response-1939-1957/22.gif (Harry S. Truman) to the Attorney General, 16 December 1948], Harry S. Truman Library, Tom Clark Papers, "Attorney General-- White House/President, 1948," box 83, reprinted (as Document 22) in Robert Louis Benson and Michael Warner, eds., ''[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/venona-soviet-espionage-and-the-american-response-1939-1957/14.gif Venona: Soviet Espionage and The American Response]'' (Washington: National Security Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 1996), p. 119</ref> (a characterization he would repeat as late as 1956).<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,893525,00.html The Old Familiar Fish]," ''Time'', September 17, 1956</ref> When Rosenman later asked why he had lied, Truman explained, “You don't understand. The Republicans aren't after Alger Hiss. They're after me. I had to take the political view.”<ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” ''Insight on the News'', January 27, 1997</ref> (That year, referring to Venona,<ref>Jerrold and Leona Schecter, ''Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History'' (Washington, DC: Brassey's Inc., 2002) ISBN 1574885227, p. 148</ref> Truman told Secretary of Defense James Forrestal there were "too many unknowns" in the partially decoded Soviet messages, <ref>Robert D. Novak, "[http://hnn.us/articles/1706.html Did Truman Know About Venona?]" ''The Weekly Standard'', June 2003</ref> saying, "Even if part of this is true, it would open up the whole red panic again.")<ref>William Rusher, "[http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.1375/article_detail.asp A Closer Look Under The Bed]," ''Claremont Review of Books'', Fall 2004</ref>

So strong was Hiss' denial that the committee wanted to drop the investigation.<ref>[http://www.usembassy.ru/files/All%20the%20President's%20Men.pdf American Values through Film] (English Language Office, Public Affairs section, U.S. Embassy, Moscow), p. 81 (PDF p. 82)</ref> But one member, freshman Congressman [[Richard M. Nixon]] (R-Calif.) insisted that either Chambers or Hiss was lying about whether they had known one another,<ref>Douglas O. Linder, "[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissaccount.html The Alger Hiss Trials: A Commentary]," The Alger Hiss Trials, 1949-50. Famous Trials (University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law)</ref> and he asked the committee to appoint him to head a subcommittee to find out which one.<ref>"[http://www.departments.dsu.edu/LIBRARY/archive/unamerican.htm House Un-American Activities Committee]," Mundt Archives (Dakota State University)</ref><ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, pp. 15-16</ref>

So strong was Hiss' denial that the committee wanted to drop the investigation.<ref>[http://www.usembassy.ru/files/All%20the%20President's%20Men.pdf American Values through Film] (English Language Office, Public Affairs section, U.S. Embassy, Moscow), p. 81 (PDF p. 82)</ref> But one member, freshman Congressman [[Richard M. Nixon]] (R-Calif.) insisted that either Chambers or Hiss was lying about whether they had known one another,<ref>Douglas O. Linder, "[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissaccount.html The Alger Hiss Trials: A Commentary]," The Alger Hiss Trials, 1949-50. Famous Trials (University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law)</ref> and he asked the committee to appoint him to head a subcommittee to find out which one.<ref>"[http://www.departments.dsu.edu/LIBRARY/archive/unamerican.htm House Un-American Activities Committee]," Mundt Archives (Dakota State University)</ref><ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, pp. 15-16</ref>

==Hiss' suit against Chambers==

==Hiss' suit against Chambers==

In a pre-trial "discovery" deposition for the suit, Hiss's attorneys told Chambers to produce "any correspondence, either typewritten or in handwriting" from Hiss. Chambers retrieved the packet he had given his wife's nephew in 1938, which had been hidden in a dumbwaiter shaft. Three days later, Chambers turned over to Hiss' attorneys 43 typewritten documents (65 pages) and five handwritten memoranda, some so sensitive that for security reasons they could not safely be made public, even a decade after having been written.<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissappellate.html ''United States v Alger Hiss'', 185 F. 2d 822] (Second Circuit Court of Appeals, December 7, 1950)</ref>Hiss conceded that the typed pages appeared to be copies of authentic State Department documents, and and admitted that four of the handwritten memos appeared to be in his handwriting.<ref>FBI "By Special Messenger": SAC, Washington Field to Hoover, December 1, 1948 (FBI file: Hiss Chambers, Vol. 1)</ref>

In a pre-trial "discovery" deposition for the suit, Hiss's attorneys told Chambers to produce "any correspondence, either typewritten or in handwriting" from Hiss. Chambers retrieved the packet he had given his wife's nephew in 1938, which had been hidden in a dumbwaiter shaft. Three days later, Chambers turned over to Hiss' attorneys 43 typewritten documents (65 pages) and five handwritten memoranda, some so sensitive that for security reasons they could not safely be made public, even a decade after having been written.<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissappellate.html ''United States v Alger Hiss'', 185 F. 2d 822] (Second Circuit Court of Appeals, December 7, 1950)</ref> Hiss conceded that the typed pages appeared to be copies of authentic State Department documents, and and admitted that four of the handwritten memos appeared to be in his handwriting.<ref>FBI "By Special Messenger": SAC, Washington Field to Hoover, December 1, 1948 (FBI file: Hiss Chambers, Vol. 1)</ref>

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Donegan told the FBI that Assistant Attorney General Alexander M. Campbell, head of the Criminal Division at Truman Justice, “now wants to institute perjury charges against Chambers” for not revealing the documents before this. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's handwritten addendum comments, “I wonder why they don't move against Hiss also.”<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, November 23, 1948 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 1)</ref> The Truman administration's determination to indict Chambers rather than Hiss was unusual, as two leading scholars of the case note:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Donegan told the FBI that Assistant Attorney General Alexander M. Campbell, head of the Criminal Division at Truman Justice, “now wants to institute perjury charges against Chambers” for not revealing the documents before this. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's handwritten addendum comments, “I wonder why they don't move against Hiss also.”<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, November 23, 1948 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 1)</ref> The Truman administration's determination to indict Chambers rather than Hiss was unusual, as two leading scholars of the case note:

Hiss was sentenced to five years in federal prison. Secretary of State Dean Acheson provoked outrage by commenting, ""Whatever the outcome of any appeal which Mr. Hiss or his lawyer may take, I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss." Eleanor Roosevelt added to the furor with her comment, "It seems rather horrible to condemn someone on the word of someone else who admits to guilt." ''Time'' magazine commented that she "obviously had not been paying much attention," being "unaware of, or determined to ignore, the corroborating evidence introduced by the Government."<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811795,00.html 'I Do Not Intend to Turn My Back']," ''Time'', February 6, 1950</ref>

Hiss was sentenced to five years in federal prison. Secretary of State Dean Acheson provoked outrage by commenting, ""Whatever the outcome of any appeal which Mr. Hiss or his lawyer may take, I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss." Eleanor Roosevelt added to the furor with her comment, "It seems rather horrible to condemn someone on the word of someone else who admits to guilt." ''Time'' magazine commented that she "obviously had not been paying much attention," being "unaware of, or determined to ignore, the corroborating evidence introduced by the Government."<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811795,00.html 'I Do Not Intend to Turn My Back']," ''Time'', February 6, 1950</ref>

Hiss appealed, but his conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissappellate.html ''United States v Alger Hiss'', 185 F. 2d 822] (Second Circuit Court of Appeals, December 7, 1950)</ref> and denied certiorari by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]. Hiss served 44 months of his five-year sentence in Lewisburg Federal Prison before being released in 1954.

Hiss appealed, but his conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissappellate.html ''United States v Alger Hiss'', 185 F. 2d 822] (Second Circuit Court of Appeals, December 7, 1950)</ref> and denied certiorari by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]. Hiss served 44 months of his five-year sentence in Lewisburg Federal Prison before being released in 1954.