D.M. Ladd, also known as D. Milton Ladd and "Mickey" Ladd (1903–1960), was a

special agent In the United States, a special agent is an official title used to refer to certain investigators or detectives of federal, military, tribal, or state agencies who primarily serve in criminal investigatory positions. Additionally, some special ...

and assistant (number 3 position) at the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI) to its director

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American attorney and law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau o ...

, who was "one of the earliest members" of the FBI.

Background

Daniel Milton Ladd was born on October 30, 1903, in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

. His parents were U.S. Senator Edwin F. Ladd and Rizpah Sprogle. He attended public school. Following his father's election to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1921, he moved to Washington, DC, where he attended the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

(GW). In 1925, he obtained A.B. from GW, where he played basketball and was a member of the District of Columbia Alpha chapter of the

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College, which is now the University of ...

fraternity. In 1928, after several years of night school, he obtained a law degree from GW.

Career

Ladd worked at his father's office initially, then helped run subway cars between

US Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...

office buildings. On November 5, 1925, having finished law school, Ladd joined the FBI as an agent. His first assignment was in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the 2 ...

, followed by

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Louisiana. In 1931, he became a special agent, assigned to St. Louis, Missouri; St. Paul, Minnesota; Chicago, Illinois; and Washington, DC, field offices. In 1939, Ladd became assistant director of the FBI's Technical Laboratory, AKA Identification Division and Laboratory. In 1941, Ladd became head of the Security Division, which in 1942 became the FBI's Domestic Intelligence Division (in the 21st Century known as "

counterintelligence Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's Intelligence agency, intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering informati ...

"). In this role, Ladd led investigations into Nazis (e.g.,

Operation Pastorius Operation Pastorius was a failed German intelligence plan for sabotage inside the United States during World War II. The operation was staged in June 1942 and was to be directed against strategic American economic targets. The operation was n ...

) during World War II and into Communists during WWII and the early

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

including major cases like the ''

Amerasia ''Amerasia'' was a journal of Far Eastern affairs best known for the 1940s "Amerasia Affair" in which several of its staff and their contacts were suspected of espionage and charged with unauthorized possession of government documents. Publicat ...

'' affair,

Hiss Hiss or Hissing may refer to: * Hiss (electromagnetic), a wave generated in the plasma of the Earth's ionosphere or magnetosphere * Hiss (surname) * ''Hissing'' (manhwa), a Korean manhwa series by Kang EunYoung * Noise (electronics) or electro ...

- Chambers Case, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg case as well as alleged spies Alexander Koral, Robert Talbott Miller,

William L. Uanna William Lewis "Bud" Uanna (May 13, 1909 – December 22, 1961) was an American security expert, who gained prominence as a security officer with the Manhattan Project, which built the first atomic bomb during World War II. Uanna was in charge o ...

, Harry Dexter White, and Duncan Chapin Lee Case and even movies stars like

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

and subjects such as

UFOs An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

. On May 5, 1949, Hoover appointed Ladd to the Number 3 position of Assistant to the Director, succeeding Edward Allen Tamm, as second only to

Clyde Tolson Clyde Anderson Tolson (May 22, 1900 – April 14, 1975) was an American law enforcement officer who was the second-ranking official of the FBI from 1930 until 1972, from 1947 titled Associate Director, primarily responsible for personnel and dis ...

. As Hoover's "assistant," Ladd's role was "supervision of all the FBI's investigative activities in both criminal and subversive fields." In 1954, Ladd retired from the FBI. In 1960, Ladd ran for Congress in the district for

Sanford, Florida Sanford is a city and the county seat of Seminole County, Florida, United States. It is located in Central Florida and its population was 61,051 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical ...

, the town where he was living.

Personal life and death

On June 15, 1937, Lad married Katharine Pfeiffer. On July 11, 1960, D.M. Ladd died in an automobile accident in Sanford, Florida; his wife survived the crash with injuries.

Legacy

At time of death, the ''

Washington Evening Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the ''Washington'' ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday ...

'' wrote: "Mr. Ladd never liked to talk about cases in which he participated. Although it was known that he had taken significant roles in the capture many of the leading gangsters in the '30s, he said on his retirement, 'I don't approve of people who go out and write books'." In 1998, the CIA released a report that in 1968 ''

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...

'' published an interview with Soviet spy

Kim Philby Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963, he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring that had divulged British secr ...

, who states that Ladd had made an "indelible impression" on Philby due to Ladd's conviction that

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

was a

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

agent."

References

{{reflist

External links

The

Ernie Lazar Ernie Lazar (born Ernest Clayton Jammes; April 16, 1945 – November 1, 2022) was an American researcher and a prolific Freedom of Information Act (United States), Freedom of Information Act petitioner who amassed a "vast digital and documentary a ...