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Line 292: − + − After the fall of Soviet Communism in 1991, former President Nixon and the director of his presidential library, John H. Taylor, petitioned the new Russian President Boris Yeltsin to open the Soviet archives relating to the Hiss-Chambers case. Meanwhile Hiss and his lawyer<ref> Dmitri Volkogonov, Letter to ''Nezavisimaya Gazeta'', November 1992, quoted in John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage'' (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2003) ISBN 159403088X, p. 167</ref> appealed to retired Soviet Army General Dmitri Volkogonov and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) for confirmation that Lowenthal's "client, Alger Hiss," had never been "an agent of the NKVD."<ref>Julius Kobyakov, [http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-diplo&month=0310&week=b&msg=xPNOEFLppoOgkkWbtl1dQw&user=&pw= Lowenthal and Alger Hiss], Diplomatic History (H-DIPLO) Discussion List, Humanities and Social Sciences Net Online (H-Net), October 10, 2003</ref> (This despite the fact that the evidence implicates Hiss as an agent of the GRU, not the NKVD.)<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—the Stalin Era'', (New York: Random House, 1999), ISBN 0375755365, p. 44; Robert L. Beisner, ''Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) ISBN 0195045785, p. 711, note 1; John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, "[http://hnn.us/articles/37456.html#fr2 Hiss Was Guilty]," History News Network (George Mason University), April 16, 2007; Jeffrey T. Richelson, ''A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 1997) ISBN 019511390XG, p. 95; Tennent H. Bagley, ''Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games'' (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2007) ISBN 0300121989, p. 272; John R. Schindler, "[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page61.html Hiss in VENONA: The Continuing Controversy]," Center for Cryptologic History Symposium, 27 October 2005; Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, ''The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors'' (Washington: Regnery Publishing, 2001) ISBN 0895262258, p. 140; John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage'' (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2003) ISBN 159403088X, p. 150; G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 167; Tom Post, "[http://www.newsweek.com/id/147373 'He Was Never A Soviet Spy']," ''Newsweek'', November 9, 1992</ref> Volkoganov said Hiss wanted to prove that he was never a “paid, contracted” spy.<ref>Serge Schmemann, “[http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/17/world/russian-general-retreats-on-hiss.html Russian General Retreats on Hiss],” ''The New York Times'', December 17, 1992</ref> (As critics observed, Hiss was never accused of being a paid, contracted spy, <ref> Max Frankel, [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/books/reading-alger-hiss-s-mind.html?pagewanted=all "Reading Alger Hiss's Mind]," ''The New York Times'', February 29, 2004; Matthew Richer, "[http://www.mmisi.org/ma/46_04/richer.pdf The Ongoing Campaign of Alger Hiss: The Sins of the Father]," ''Modern Age'', Vol. 46, No. 4 (Fall 2004), p. 312 (PDF p. 6)</ref> but an ideologically-motivated one.) <ref>Susan Jacoby, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=nLU0z6PlTHAC Alger Hiss and the Battle for History]'' (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2009) ISBN 0300121334, p. 184; </ref> − − Volkogonov, as ''apparatchik'' in charge of Soviet military history under the Communists<ref>Amos Perlmutter, "Western journalists slow to report General Dmitri Volkogonov's explanation of his exoneration of convicted spy Alger Hiss," ''National Review'', January 18, 1993</ref> had written with official blessing<ref> David Remnick, "The Stalin Tragedy Comes Home; With Official Blessings, a Soviet Historian Works on a Biography," ''The Washington Post'', June 30, 1988, p. B1</ref> a 1988 biography of Stalin in which he defended Stalin's claim that a majority in the Baltics favored incorporation into the Soviet Union in August 1940, described Stalin's invasion of Poland as "largely justified," blamed the West for the Cold War,<ref>Steven M. Miner, "The Incubus of Despotism," ''The Washington Post'', September 15, 1991</ref> and accepted the claim that Stalin's purges were provoked by Trotskyist and Nazi agents.<ref>Walter Laqueur, ''The Long Road to Freedom: Russia and Glasnost'' (New York: C. Scribner's, 1989) ISBN 0684190303, p. 68</ref> − − At a 1992 press conference, Lowenthal released to the media a statement from Volkogonov claiming that "Alger Hiss was never an agent of the intelligence services of the Soviet Union." Hiss dubbed this a "final verdict," adding, "I can't imagine a more authoritative source than the files of the old Soviet Union." Lowenthal said Volkogonov was apparently "willing to stake his reputation as a general, historian and politician" on this statement.<ref>David Margolick, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE3DE113BF93AA15753C1A964958260 After 40 Years, a Postscript on Hiss: Russian Official Calls Him Innocent]," ''The New York Times'', October 29, 1992</ref> Lowenthal showed reporters a videotape of an interview he did with Volkogonov, prompting "an extraordinary, emotional reaction from the world's press," according to one account. "Some reporters gulped back tears."<ref>Alex Kershaw, "Framed: The Rehabilitation of Alger Hiss," ''[http://www.guardian.co.uk/ The Guardian]'', January 9, 1993, pp.6-10</ref> − − The CBS Morning News reported that Hiss was "apparently exonerated."<ref>George F. Will, "[http://www.newsweek.com/id/115963/output/print 'Exoneration' Of Alger Hiss]," ''Newsweek'', February 26, 2008</ref> On NBC's ''Today'', co-host Scott Simon said, "This week's revelations about Alger Hiss may help us remember how vulnerable something as real as a reputation may be... So Mr. Hiss may have lived long enough to feel vindicated, but no one lives so long that they have years to give away to suspicions and mistakes."<ref>"[http://www.mrc.org/mediawatch/1992/watch19921201.asp Sticking Up for Hiss]," ''MediaWatch'' (Media Research Center), December 1992</ref> CNN's Gary Tuchman asked why "Hiss's own government has not exonerated him." ''The New Yorker'' ran a seven-page essay by Tony Hiss on "My Father's Honor."<ref>George F. Will, "[http://www.newsweek.com/id/115963/output/print 'Exoneration' Of Alger Hiss]," ''Newsweek'', February 26, 2008; cf. G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, pp. 214-216</ref> − − But when questioned Volkogonov admitted that he spent only two days in the Foreign Intelligence Archive,<ref>Serge Schmemann, “[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10611FE385C0C748DDDAB0994DA494D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fH%2fHiss%2c%20Alger Russian General Retreats on Hiss],” ''The New York Times'', December 17, 1992</ref> and that he had not actually examined any archives. Instead, according to the former director of the U.S. Information Agency's Office to Counter Soviet Disinformation and Active Measures,<ref>J. Michael Waller, ''Fighting the War of Ideas Like a Real War: Messages to Defeat the Terrorists'' (Morrisville, N.C.: Lulu.com, 2007) ISBN 0615144632, p. 45, n. 36</ref> he asked Yevgeny Primakov,<ref>Ion Mihai Pacepa, "[http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23725 A Terrorist State in the G8?]," ''[[Human Events]]'', December 3, 2007</ref> head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (formerly the KGB), to provide him with the information.<ref>Herbert Romerstein, ''Human Events'', November 28, 1992</ref> Volkogonov said that Primakov said that employees of the foreign intelligence archive said that "A. Hiss was not registered in the documents as a recruited agent."<ref>Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, ''The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors'' (Washington: Regnery Publishing, 2001) ISBN 0895262258, p. 140</ref> − − According to the Director of Cold War Studies at Harvard University, Volkogonov admitted that he had "not seen anything from the GRU archive" and that without going through the files there, there was "no basis for saying anything that would shed greater light on the question of Hiss.”<ref>Mark Kramer, [http://www.thenation.com/bletters/20070430/navasky "The Hiss Case and General Volkogonov: A Comment on Victor Navasky's Article]," ''The Nation'', April 17, 2007</ref> “I looked only through what the KGB had,” said Volkogonov. “The Ministry of Defense also has an intelligence service, which is totally different,” admitted Volkogonov. "There's no guarantee... that it was not in other channels….”<ref>Serge Schmemann, “[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10611FE385C0C748DDDAB0994DA494D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fH%2fHiss%2c%20Alger Russian General Retreats on Hiss],” ''The New York Times'', December 17, 1992</ref> − − Asked if he had examined the files of the Comintern, Volkogonov admitted, “I have not had the opportunity to see these documents.”<ref>Reed Irvine, Ed., “[http://www.aim.org/publications/aim_report/1992/11b.html Media Bites on Hiss Hoax],” ''AIM Report'', November B 1992</ref> In addition, even in the KGB archive, “many documents have been destroyed,” admitted Volkogonov. “There's no guarantee that [Hiss’ file] was not destroyed.”<ref>Serge Schmemann, “[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10611FE385C0C748DDDAB0994DA494D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fH%2fHiss%2c%20Alger Russian General Retreats on Hiss],” ''The New York Times'', December 17, 1992</ref> − − “What I saw gives no basis to claim a full clarification,” concluded Volkogonov. “[Hiss’] attorney, Lowenthal, pushed me hard to say things of which I was not fully convinced.”<ref>Serge Schmemann, “[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10611FE385C0C748DDDAB0994DA494D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fH%2fHiss%2c%20Alger Russian General Retreats on Hiss],” ''The New York Times'', December 17, 1992</ref> Volkogonov added that he felt he had been "deceived" by Lowenthal.<ref>[http://www.thenation.com/bletters/20070430/navasky Mark Kramer, “The Hiss Case and General Volkogonov: A Comment on Victor Navasky's Article],” Web Letters, ''The Nation'', April 17, 2007</ref> − − Finally, after almost a month, ''The New York Times'', which had devoted half a page to Volkogonov's alleged "vindication" of Hiss, gave one column to his retraction.<ref>Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, ''The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors'' (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2001) ISBN 0895262258, p. 141</ref> − − == Corroboration from Soviet archives == − According to [[Library of Congress]] [[Cold War]] historian John Earl Haynes,<ref>John Earl Haynes, [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page66.html Cover Name, Cryptonym, CPUSA Party Name, Pseudonym, and Real Name Index: A Research Historian’s Working Reference]</ref> Alger Hiss’s known cryptonyms were "Jurist"<ref>Harvey Klehr, John E. Haynes and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qCAVQ_cdomcC Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America]'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009) ISBN 0300123906, pp. 6-7; Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—the Stalin Era'', (New York: Random House, 1999), ISBN 0375755365, p. 6</ref> or "Lawyer"<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—the Stalin Era'', (New York: Random House, 1999), ISBN 0375755365, p. 43</ref> ("Advocate"<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Random House, 1997)</ref> or "Advokat")<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''Witness'' (Washington: Regnery Publishing, 1952)</ref> during his time at the [[United States Department of Justice]] (1935-36), "Ales"<ref>Venona decrypts (e.g., [http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/venona/1945/30mar_kgb_interviews_gru_agent.pdf Venona 1822 Washington to Moscow 30 March 1945]); Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—the Stalin Era'' (New York: Random House, 1999); Eduard Mark, "Who Was ‘Venona’s’ ‘Ales’? Cryptanalysis and the Hiss Case," ''Intelligence and National Security'' 18, no. 3 (Autumn 2003)</ref> in 1945, and "Leonard" in the "Gorsky memo."<ref>[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page48.html KGB file 43173] vol. 2 (v) pp. 49-55</ref> − − ==Venona, Hiss' Death and the Battle for History== − In October 1996, the [[CIA]] and [[NSA]] released the [[Venona project|Venona]] decrypts, including the "Ales" transmission of March 30, 1945.<ref>John Ehrman, "[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/winter_spring01/article01.pdf A Half-Century of Controversy: The Alger Hiss Case]," ''Studies in Intelligence'' (Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency), Winter-Spring 2001, No. 10, pp. 9-10</ref> The following month, on November 15, 1996, Alger Hiss died. His original Associated Press obituary said that Hiss proclaimed vindication "when a Russian general in charge of Soviet intelligence archives declared that Hiss had never been a spy, but rather a victim of Cold War hysteria and the McCarthy Red-hunting era."<ref>L. Brent Bozell III, "[http://www.mediaresearch.org/BozellColumns/newscolumn/1996/col19961121.asp Hiss Obituaries Prove Network Laziness]," Creators Syndicate, November 21, 1996</ref> That night, NBC's Tom Brokaw said, "Hiss considered vindication a declaration by a Russian General, who controlled the KGB archives, saying that Hiss had never been a spy."<ref>Wes Vernon, "[http://www.aim.org/aim-report/aim-report-media-wont-give-up-on-red-spy-alger-hiss-july-b/ Media Won’t Give Up on Red Spy Alger Hiss]," ''AIM Report'', July B (July 19, 2007)</ref> ABC's Peter Jennings said Hiss "protested his innocence until the very end and last year we reported that the Russian President Boris Yeltsin said that KGB files had supported Mr. Hiss's claim."<ref>Brent Baker, [http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/1996/cyb19961118.asp CyberAlert (Media Research Center), Vol. One, No. 115] (November 18, 1996)</ref> MSNBC anchor Brigitte Quinn said, "In 1987 [sic], a Russian general declared that Hiss was never a spy, but a victim of Cold War hysteria." None of these stories mentioned Volkogonov's retraction. Three days passed before Brokaw corrected the record; four days for Jennings (who belatedly admitted that the source was not Yeltsin, but Volkogonov).<ref>Brent Baker, [http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/1996/cyb19961122.asp CyberAlert (Media Research Center), Vol. One, No. 116] (November 22, 1996)</ref> − − Meanwhile, Volkogonov had also died and retired KGB General Julius N. Kobyakov (whom Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes write "insists that Hiss was not a spy, while nostalgically applauding the greatness of the KGB and lamenting the fall of the USSR")<ref>Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes, "Professors of Denial: Ignoring the truth about American Communists," ''The Weekly Standard'', Volume 010, Issue 25, March 21, 2005</ref> had claimed that it was not Volkogonov but he who had actually searched the Soviet files.<ref>Julius Kobyakov, [http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-diplo&month=0310&week=b&msg=xPNOEFLppoOgkkWbtl1dQw&user=&pw= Lowenthal and Alger Hiss], Diplomatic History (H-DIPLO) Discussion List, Humanities and Social Sciences Net Online (H-Net), October 10, 2003</ref> − − Like Volkogonov, Kobyakov admitted that he had not even seen the GRU files ("No, I did not examine Soviet military archives"); instead, he took the GRU's word for their contents ("I wrote a letter to the GRU and received the relevant answer"). What was that answer? Kobyakov isn't telling: "That of course was, and, I believe, still is a classified correspondence." Why correspondence about 60- or 70-year-old files of a regime that no longer exists is classified, he did not say—although he did mention that he strongly disapproved of the post-Communist government allowing researchers access to Soviet archives, adding, "fortunately they had no access to the files I worked with."<ref>Julius N. Kobyakov, "[http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-diplo&month=0310&week=c&msg=/%2bj6%2bNHkqbEMRV0ioyVHUQ&user=&pw= Alger Hiss]," H-DIPLO (Humanities and Social Sciences Net Online), October 16, 2003</ref> − − Kobyakov also said that former KGB General-Lieutenant Vitaly Pavlov,<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,809717-1,00.html Artist in Brooklyn]," ''Time'', August 19, 1957</ref> who ran Soviet intelligence work in North America in the late 1930s and early 1940s for the NKVD, claimed that Hiss never worked for the USSR as one of his agents.<ref>Julius N. Kobyakov, "[http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-diplo&month=0310&week=c&msg=/%2bj6%2bNHkqbEMRV0ioyVHUQ&user=&pw= Alger Hiss]," Humanities and Social Sciences Net, October 16, 2003. According to the [http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/16/technology/online-the-hiss-defense-doesn-t-rest.html?&pagewanted=all personal Web site] of Hiss' son Tony, Pavlov [http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/pavlov.html denounced] Soviet defectors Guzenko, Golitsyn, Levchenko and Gordievsky as "traitors," and their revelations as "fabrications."</ref> That is hardly surprising, note scholars, since the evidence implicates Hiss as an agent of the GRU, not the NKVD.<ref>Robert L. Beisner, ''Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) ISBN 0195045785, p. 711, note 1; John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, "[http://hnn.us/articles/37456.html#fr2 Hiss Was Guilty]," History News Network (George Mason University), April 16, 2007; John R. Schindler, "[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page61.html Hiss in VENONA: The Continuing Controversy]," Center for Cryptologic History Symposium, 27 October 2005; John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage'' (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2003) ISBN 159403088X, p. 150; Jeffrey T. Richelson, ''A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 1997) ISBN 019511390XG, p. 95; Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 167; Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, ''The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors'' (Washington: Regnery Publishing, 2001) ISBN 0895262258, p. 140; Tom Post, "[http://www.newsweek.com/id/147373 'He Was Never A Soviet Spy']," ''Newsweek'', November 9, 1992</ref> − − After the Volkogonov fiasco, Russian officials stripped Soviet archives of all files regarding Hiss and Chambers, reported the editor of the ''New York Times Book Review''.<ref>Sam Tanenhaus, ''Whittaker Chambers: A Biography'' (New York: Random House, 1997) ISBN 0375751459, p. 600; cf. Rachel Donadio, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/books/review/Donadio.t.html?pagewanted=print The Iron Archive]," ''The New York Times'', April 22, 2007</ref> In an interview with PBS ''Nova'', aired in 2002, former KGB agent Alexander Vassiliev said, "The Rosenbergs, Theodore Hall and Alger Hiss did spy for the Soviets, and I saw their real names in the documents, their code names, a lot of documents about that. How you judge them is up to you. To me they're heroes."<ref>"[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2904_venona.html Secrets, Lies and Atomic Spies]," ''Nova'' (PBS), February 5, 2002</ref>
moved material to new article: Alger Hiss and the Volkogonov Affair
In 1974, the [[Watergate]] scandal forced [[Richard M. Nixon|President Nixon]] to resign, giving "some credence to a wide spectrum of conspiracy theories involving fake typewriters, phony microfilm, and various collusions among the FBI, Nixon, HUAC, the CIA, the radical right, and the KGB."<ref>"[http://www.historynet.com/the-alger-hiss-spy-case.htm/4 The Alger Hiss Spy Case]," HistoryNet.com</ref> In 1975, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court granted Hiss' petition for readmittance to the State Bar of Massachusetts, although the court's ruling stated "nothing we have said here should be construed as detracting one iota from the fact that in considering Hiss's petition we consider him to be guilty as charged."<ref>''[http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/368/368mass447.html In the Matter of Alger Hiss'', 368 Mass. 447], 1975; [http://books.google.com/books?id=xcA2AAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 333 N.E.2d 429]; [http://www.loris.net/onken/nationalcases/Masshiss(goodmercycase).htm 1975 Mass. LEXIS 1014]</ref> In 1981, Bard College established an Alger Hiss Distinguished Professorship<ref>[http://dlib.nyu.edu/eadapp/transform?source=tamwag/haury.xml&style=tamwag/tamwag.xsl&part=body Guide to the Agnese Nelms Haury Papers], Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, New York University</ref> in Social Studies, formerly held by socialist<ref>Kovel advocates what he calls "ecosocialism," which he defines as Marxian communism—the "realization" of what he calls "'first-epoch' socialism" (that is, "neither more nor less than the original announcement of the ''Communist Manifesto''")—not in pursuit of "unfettered productivity' ''a la'' Marx, but to further fetter productivity in the interest of environmentalism. Joel Kovel, "[http://www.joelkovel.org/messages.html#socialism A Socialism for the Next Epoch]," On Ecology and Socialism. Congres Marx International Paris, September 29, 2001</ref> Joel Kovel,<ref>[http://www.joelkovel.org/joelkovel.html About Joel Kovel]</ref> who declared that America's obsession with anti-Communism during the Cold War led the U.S. to become “the enemy of humanity.”<ref>Steven G. Marks, "[http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/in-denial-by-john-earl-haynes-and-harvey-klehr-9668 In Denial by John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr]," ''Commentary'', October 2003</ref> By the time Nixon died in 1994, ''Foreign Policy'' magazine could assign the task of reviewing his posthumous book, ''Beyond Peace'', to his embittered foe, [[George McGovern]], who took the opportunity to avenge his humiliating landslide defeat by Nixon, writing without explanation, "The evidence that Hiss was a security risk to the United States simply is not convincing."<ref>George McGovern, "[http://www.foreignpolicy.com/Ning/archive/archive/096/65.PDF Nixon: The Last Word]," ''Foreign Policy'', Fall 1994</ref> Despite the mountains of evidence against him that only increased as incriminatory Soviet bloc documents came to light following the collapse of Communism, Hiss continued for the rest of his life to claim innocence.
In 1974, the [[Watergate]] scandal forced [[Richard M. Nixon|President Nixon]] to resign, giving "some credence to a wide spectrum of conspiracy theories involving fake typewriters, phony microfilm, and various collusions among the FBI, Nixon, HUAC, the CIA, the radical right, and the KGB."<ref>"[http://www.historynet.com/the-alger-hiss-spy-case.htm/4 The Alger Hiss Spy Case]," HistoryNet.com</ref> In 1975, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court granted Hiss' petition for readmittance to the State Bar of Massachusetts, although the court's ruling stated "nothing we have said here should be construed as detracting one iota from the fact that in considering Hiss's petition we consider him to be guilty as charged."<ref>''[http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/368/368mass447.html In the Matter of Alger Hiss'', 368 Mass. 447], 1975; [http://books.google.com/books?id=xcA2AAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 333 N.E.2d 429]; [http://www.loris.net/onken/nationalcases/Masshiss(goodmercycase).htm 1975 Mass. LEXIS 1014]</ref> In 1981, Bard College established an Alger Hiss Distinguished Professorship<ref>[http://dlib.nyu.edu/eadapp/transform?source=tamwag/haury.xml&style=tamwag/tamwag.xsl&part=body Guide to the Agnese Nelms Haury Papers], Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, New York University</ref> in Social Studies, formerly held by socialist<ref>Kovel advocates what he calls "ecosocialism," which he defines as Marxian communism—the "realization" of what he calls "'first-epoch' socialism" (that is, "neither more nor less than the original announcement of the ''Communist Manifesto''")—not in pursuit of "unfettered productivity' ''a la'' Marx, but to further fetter productivity in the interest of environmentalism. Joel Kovel, "[http://www.joelkovel.org/messages.html#socialism A Socialism for the Next Epoch]," On Ecology and Socialism. Congres Marx International Paris, September 29, 2001</ref> Joel Kovel,<ref>[http://www.joelkovel.org/joelkovel.html About Joel Kovel]</ref> who declared that America's obsession with anti-Communism during the Cold War led the U.S. to become “the enemy of humanity.”<ref>Steven G. Marks, "[http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/in-denial-by-john-earl-haynes-and-harvey-klehr-9668 In Denial by John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr]," ''Commentary'', October 2003</ref> By the time Nixon died in 1994, ''Foreign Policy'' magazine could assign the task of reviewing his posthumous book, ''Beyond Peace'', to his embittered foe, [[George McGovern]], who took the opportunity to avenge his humiliating landslide defeat by Nixon, writing without explanation, "The evidence that Hiss was a security risk to the United States simply is not convincing."<ref>George McGovern, "[http://www.foreignpolicy.com/Ning/archive/archive/096/65.PDF Nixon: The Last Word]," ''Foreign Policy'', Fall 1994</ref> Despite the mountains of evidence against him that only increased as incriminatory Soviet bloc documents came to light following the collapse of Communism, Hiss continued for the rest of his life to claim innocence.
==The Volkogonov affair==
==See Related Article: [[Alger Hiss and the Volkogonov Affair]]
==See Related Article: [[Legacy of Alger Hiss]]==
==See Related Article: [[Legacy of Alger Hiss]]==