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[[Image:AlgerHissUNConference.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Secretary General Alger Hiss presides over the UN Charter Conference, 1945. At his right, Molotov]] That month, Hiss was promoted to become Director of the State Department Office of Special Political Affairs. Shortly thereafter, he was named [http://unyearbook.un.org/1946-47YUN/1946-47_P1_CH1.pdf Secretary-General] of the upcoming [[United Nations]] Charter Conference in San Francisco. "As Secretary-General, managing the agenda," reported ''Time'', Hiss "will have a lot to say behind the scenes about [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775560,00.html who gets the breaks].

[[Image:AlgerHissUNConference.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Secretary General Alger Hiss presides over the UN Charter Conference, 1945. At his right, Molotov]] That month, Hiss was promoted to become Director of the State Department Office of Special Political Affairs. Shortly thereafter, he was named [http://unyearbook.un.org/1946-47YUN/1946-47_P1_CH1.pdf Secretary-General] of the upcoming [[United Nations]] Charter Conference in San Francisco. "As Secretary-General, managing the agenda," reported ''Time'', Hiss "will have a lot to say behind the scenes about [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775560,00.html who gets the breaks].

On March 19, [[OSS]] Director [[William J. Donovan|"Wild Bill" Donovan]] offered Stettinius the services of OSS foreign experts to do research work or prepare studies for the conference. He said that if the [[State Department]] would provide the names of the foreign delegates and staff, OSS would "prepare information on all personnel concerned." Hiss "strongly opposed" this proposal, and "vigorously endorsed" the view that OSS "doing espionage work" at the conference would "seriously embarrass us." As a result, "American intelligence work at the conference was sharply limited."<ref>Edward R. Stettinius Jr., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=v9N3AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 The Diaries of Edward R Stettinius Jr , 1943-1946]'', edited by Thomas M. Campbell and George C. Herring (New York: New Viewpoints, 1975), ISBN 0531055701, p. 303</ref>

On March 19, [[William J. Donovan|"Wild Bill" Donovan]], director of the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (precursor of the [[CIA]]), offered Stettinius the services of [[OSS]] foreign experts to prepare research studies "on all personnel concerned" in the conference. Hiss "strongly opposed" this proposal, and "vigorously endorsed" the view that OSS "doing espionage work" at the conference would "seriously embarrass us." As a result, "American intelligence work at the conference was sharply limited."<ref>Edward R. Stettinius Jr., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=v9N3AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 The Diaries of Edward R Stettinius Jr , 1943-1946]'', edited by Thomas M. Campbell and George C. Herring (New York: New Viewpoints, 1975), ISBN 0531055701, p. 303</ref>

Meanwhile, "Vadim" ([[Anatoly Gorsky]],<ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=9TWUAQ7Xof8C The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB]'' (New York: Basic Books, 2000), ISBN 046500312, p. 90</ref> then chief of Soviet intelligence in the U.S.) wanted to meet with "Ales" at the conference, according to [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page63.html a cable] Vassiliev discovered in the Soviet archives. His notes indicate that "Ales" had worked with "Ruble" ([http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-hoac&month=0503&week=b&msg=ycrsVT7M1e2L9EECiLFskg&user=&pw= Harold Glasser]) as a member of a group run by "Karl" ([http://hnn.us/articles/11581.html#_ftnref5 Whittaker Chambers]). The cable adds that "'Ruble' gives 'Ales' an exceptionally good political reference as a member of the [[Communist Party|Comparty]].... completely aware that he is Communist in an illegal position, with all the ensuing consequences," and recommends (according to the notes) that he be approached at the UN conference by "Sergei" (NKVD agent [[Vladimir Pravdin]],<ref>Robert L. Benson, [http://www.nsa.gov/about/_files/cryptologic_heritage/publications/coldwar/venona_story.pdf The Venona Story] (Ft. George G. Meade. MD: National Security Agency Center for Cryptologic History), p. 31 (PDF p. 34)</ref> then under cover as head of the Soviet news agency TASS)<ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=9TWUAQ7Xof8C The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB]'' (New York: Basic Books, 2000), ISBN 046500312, p. 124; "Pravdin" was actually [http://www.powells.com/review/2004_02_12.html Rolland Abbiat, murderer of Ignace Reiss].</ref> or Gorsky, "alluding either to the password, or to '[[Harold Glasser|Ruble]]', or simply to [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page70.html 'Ales's' progressive attitudes]."

Meanwhile, "Vadim" ([[Anatoly Gorsky]],<ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=9TWUAQ7Xof8C The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB]'' (New York: Basic Books, 2000), ISBN 046500312, p. 90</ref> then chief of Soviet intelligence in the U.S.) wanted to meet with "Ales" at the conference, according to [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page63.html a cable] Vassiliev discovered in the Soviet archives. His notes indicate that "Ales" had worked with "Ruble" ([http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-hoac&month=0503&week=b&msg=ycrsVT7M1e2L9EECiLFskg&user=&pw= Harold Glasser]) as a member of a group run by "Karl" ([http://hnn.us/articles/11581.html#_ftnref5 Whittaker Chambers]). The cable adds that "'Ruble' gives 'Ales' an exceptionally good political reference as a member of the [[Communist Party|Comparty]].... completely aware that he is Communist in an illegal position, with all the ensuing consequences," and recommends (according to the notes) that he be approached at the UN conference by "Sergei" (NKVD agent [[Vladimir Pravdin]],<ref>Robert L. Benson, [http://www.nsa.gov/about/_files/cryptologic_heritage/publications/coldwar/venona_story.pdf The Venona Story] (Ft. George G. Meade. MD: National Security Agency Center for Cryptologic History), p. 31 (PDF p. 34)</ref> then under cover as head of the Soviet news agency TASS)<ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=9TWUAQ7Xof8C The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB]'' (New York: Basic Books, 2000), ISBN 046500312, p. 124; "Pravdin" was actually [http://www.powells.com/review/2004_02_12.html Rolland Abbiat, murderer of Ignace Reiss].</ref> or Gorsky, "alluding either to the password, or to '[[Harold Glasser|Ruble]]', or simply to [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page70.html 'Ales's' progressive attitudes]."

After the conference, Stettinius resigned to become the first [[U.S.]] Ambassador to the [[United Nations]]. His successor as [[Secretary of State]], [http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/byrnes-james.htm James F. Byrnes], was immediately "faced with the problem of [http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unationsday/docs/johnson10june85.pdf what he would do with Alger]," who was already under FBI suspicion. Byrnes had been "pushed out" of planning the UN conference, according to Stettinius, after [[FDR]] had signaled "that Alger Hiss and I should handle this entirely ourselves."<ref>Edward R. Stettinius Jr., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=v9N3AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 The Diaries of Edward R Stettinius Jr , 1943-1946]'', edited by Thomas M. Campbell and George C. Herring (New York: New Viewpoints, 1975), ISBN 0531055701, p. 249</ref> Byrnes said that despite his categorical instructions not to recommend any U.S. citizen for posts in the UN Secretariat, Hiss recommended several dozen federal employees<ref>Subcommittee on Internal Security, Committee on the Judiciary, U. S. Senate, [http://ia360607.us.archive.org/1/items/interlockingsubv16unit/interlockingsubv16unit_bw.pdf Interlocking Subversion in Government Departments], Part 16 (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1953), p. 1072 (PDF p. 12)</ref>&mdash;[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238/pg_3/ members of Communist cells] in the government, whose jobs were at risk under a tightened security program. [http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=27810 Stalinist] [http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/the-friends-of-dalton-trumbo-11468 screen writer] [http://www.reason.com/news/show/29095.html Dalton] [http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=9274 Trumbo] boasted that he had been Stettinius' [http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=32073 ghost-writer] at the conference.<ref>"To Elsie McKeough," Helen Manfull, Ed., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=uJpbAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Additional Dialogue: Letters of Dalton Trumbo, 1942-1962]'' (New York: M. Evans and Company, 1970), p. 37</ref> Press accounts attributed the hiring of Trumbo (who would become infamous in 1947 as one of the "Hollywood Ten") [http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19500703&id=SrILAAAAIBAJ&sjid=elUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1706,274693 to Hiss].<ref>Ralph de Toledano and Victor Lasky, ''[http://www.americandeception.com/index.php?action=downloadpdf&photo=/PDFsml_AD/Seeds_Of_Treason-Ralph_de_Toledano_and_Victor_Lasky-1950-278pgs-POL.sml.pdf&id=343&PHPSESSID=b964065077a1de19538c4c7b1cf9e825 Seeds of Treason: The True Story of the Hiss-Chambers Tragedy]'', (NY: Funk and Wagnalls, 1950), ASIN B0007DS43A p. 110</ref>

After the conference, Stettinius resigned to become the first [[U.S.]] Ambassador to the [[United Nations]]. His successor as [[Secretary of State]], [http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/byrnes-james.htm James F. Byrnes], was immediately "faced with the problem of [http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unationsday/docs/johnson10june85.pdf what he would do with Alger]," who was already under FBI suspicion. Byrnes had been "pushed out" of planning the UN conference, according to Stettinius, after [[FDR]] had signaled "that Alger Hiss and I should handle this entirely ourselves."<ref>Edward R. Stettinius Jr., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=v9N3AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 The Diaries of Edward R Stettinius Jr , 1943-1946]'', edited by Thomas M. Campbell and George C. Herring (New York: New Viewpoints, 1975), ISBN 0531055701, p. 249</ref> Byrnes said that despite his categorical instructions not to recommend any U.S. citizen for posts in the UN Secretariat, Hiss recommended several dozen federal employees<ref>Subcommittee on Internal Security, Committee on the Judiciary, U. S. Senate, [http://ia360607.us.archive.org/1/items/interlockingsubv16unit/interlockingsubv16unit_bw.pdf Interlocking Subversion in Government Departments], Part 16 (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1953), p. 1072 (PDF p. 12)</ref>&mdash;[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238/pg_3/ members of Communist cells] in the government, whose jobs were at risk under a tightened security program. [http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=27810 Stalinist] [http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/the-friends-of-dalton-trumbo-11468 screen writer] [http://www.reason.com/news/show/29095.html Dalton] [http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=9274 Trumbo] boasted that he had been Stettinius' [http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=32073 ghost-writer] at the conference.<ref>"To Elsie McKeough," Helen Manfull, Ed., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=uJpbAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Additional Dialogue: Letters of Dalton Trumbo, 1942-1962]'' (New York: M. Evans and Company, 1970), p. 37</ref> Press accounts attributed the hiring of Trumbo (who would become infamous in 1947 as one of the "Hollywood Ten") [http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19500703&id=SrILAAAAIBAJ&sjid=elUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1706,274693 to Hiss].<ref>Ralph de Toledano and Victor Lasky, ''[http://www.americandeception.com/index.php?action=downloadpdf&photo=/PDFsml_AD/Seeds_Of_Treason-Ralph_de_Toledano_and_Victor_Lasky-1950-278pgs-POL.sml.pdf&id=343&PHPSESSID=b964065077a1de19538c4c7b1cf9e825 Seeds of Treason: The True Story of the Hiss-Chambers Tragedy]'', (NY: Funk and Wagnalls, 1950), ASIN B0007DS43A p. 110</ref>

[[Image:Hisscharter.jpg|thumb|300 px|left|Hiss arrives in Washington from San Francisco with UN Charter in fireproof safe with parachute. ''Image courtesy United States Air Force'']]According to a State Department [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=E9146EC9-A031-4F77-9691-F4C7F1ACA9F4 internal security probe] of Hiss ordered by Byrnes (and made public in 1993),<ref>Sam Tanenhaus, "New Reasons to Doubt Hiss," ''Wall Street Journal'', November 18, 1993</ref> in February 1945, Hiss requested top-secret files from the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (precursor of the CIA) on British, Soviet, French and Chinese internal security policies, as well as Far East policy.<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, pp. 361-362</ref> FBI surveillance at this time found that Hiss also developed "a keen interest in atomic energy," and other matters relating to military intelligence,<ref>Sam Tanenhaus, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=WNp4AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Whittaker Chambers: A Biography]'' (New York: Random House, 1997) ISBN 0375751459, pp. 519; John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=M8p00bTFvRkC Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America]'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300077718, p. 172; Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'', New York: Random House, (ed. 1997), pp. 321-322.</ref>&mdash;all of which was [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page63.html well outside] the purview of his office.<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 363</ref> Loy Henderson, director of the State Department Office of Near East Affairs (NEA), quietly ordered members of NEA to keep confidential materials and information from Hiss.<ref>H. W. Brands, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=L6V4AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Inside the Cold War: Loy Henderson and the Rise of the American Empire, 1918-1961]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991) ISBN 0-19-506707-X, pp. 297-298</ref>

[[Image:Hisscharter.jpg|thumb|300 px|left|Hiss arrives in Washington from San Francisco with UN Charter in fireproof safe with parachute. ''Image courtesy United States Air Force'']]According to a State Department [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=E9146EC9-A031-4F77-9691-F4C7F1ACA9F4 internal security probe] of Hiss ordered by Byrnes (and made public in 1993),<ref>Sam Tanenhaus, "New Reasons to Doubt Hiss," ''Wall Street Journal'', November 18, 1993</ref> in February 1945, Hiss requested top-secret files from the [[OSS]] on British, Soviet, French and Chinese internal security policies, as well as Far East policy.<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, pp. 361-362</ref> FBI surveillance at this time found that Hiss also developed "a keen interest in atomic energy," and other matters relating to military intelligence,<ref>Sam Tanenhaus, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=WNp4AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Whittaker Chambers: A Biography]'' (New York: Random House, 1997) ISBN 0375751459, pp. 519; John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=M8p00bTFvRkC Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America]'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300077718, p. 172; Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'', New York: Random House, (ed. 1997), pp. 321-322.</ref>&mdash;all of which was [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page63.html well outside] the purview of his office.<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 363</ref> Loy Henderson, director of the State Department Office of Near East Affairs (NEA), quietly ordered members of NEA to keep confidential materials and information from Hiss.<ref>H. W. Brands, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=L6V4AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Inside the Cold War: Loy Henderson and the Rise of the American Empire, 1918-1961]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991) ISBN 0-19-506707-X, pp. 297-298</ref>

In April, at the [[San Francisco]] conference, [[Soviet]] [[UN]] [[Ambassador]] [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947456,00.html Andrei Gromyko] had nominated Hiss temporary Secretary General (and thus a [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,164282,00.html candidate for] the [http://www.gresham.ac.uk/printtranscript.asp?EventId=635 first permanent Secretary General]) of the United Nations.<ref>Frank J. Rafalko, ed., "Counterintelligence in World War II, 1940-47," [http://www.ncix.gov/issues/CI_Reader/Vol2/Vol2Chap1.pdf ''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). 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." Stephen J. Whitfield, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=irSQLb4xiJ8C 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., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=v9N3AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 The Diaries of Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., 1943-1946]'' (New York: New Viewpoints, 1975) ISBN 0531055701, p. 416 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." Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 361</ref>

In April, at the [[San Francisco]] conference, [[Soviet]] [[UN]] [[Ambassador]] [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947456,00.html Andrei Gromyko] had nominated Hiss temporary Secretary General (and thus a [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,164282,00.html candidate for] the [http://www.gresham.ac.uk/printtranscript.asp?EventId=635 first permanent Secretary General]) of the United Nations.<ref>Frank J. Rafalko, ed., "Counterintelligence in World War II, 1940-47," [http://www.ncix.gov/issues/CI_Reader/Vol2/Vol2Chap1.pdf ''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). 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." Stephen J. Whitfield, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=irSQLb4xiJ8C 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., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=v9N3AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 The Diaries of Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., 1943-1946]'' (New York: New Viewpoints, 1975) ISBN 0531055701, p. 416 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." Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 361</ref>