David Wise (author)

David Wise (May 10, 1930 – October 8, 2018) was an American journalist and author who worked for the ''New York Herald-Tribune'' in the 1950s and 1960s, and published a series of non-fiction books on espionage and US politics as well as several spy novels. His book ''The Politics of Lying: Government Deception, Secrecy, and Power'' (1973) won the George Polk Award (Book category, 1973), and the George Orwell Award (1975).

Early life

Wise was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York.

Education

In 1951, Wise graduated from Columbia University, where he was editor-in-chief of the ''Columbia Daily Spectator''.

Career

In 1951, Wise joined the ''New York Herald-Tribune'' and became the paper's White House correspondent in 1960. He was chief of the paper's Washington, D.C. bureau from 1963 to 1966.''SoHo Journal''
Author David Wise To Discusses New Book At AFIO Luncheon
In 1970–71 he was a Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and in 1977–79, he lectured in political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was later a commentator on intelligence issues for CNN for six years.

''The Invisible Government''

Beginning in 1962 with an examination of the Lockheed U-2, Wise published a series of non-fiction books, the first three with Thomas B. Ross. Their book ''The Invisible Government'' (1964), exposed the role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in foreign policy. This included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, as well as CIA-sponsored coup d'états in Guatemala (Operation PBSuccess) and Iran (Operation Ajax). It also exposed the CIA's attempts to overthrow President Sukarno in Indonesia, along with covert operations that were taking place in Laos and Vietnam. ''The Invisible Government'' also revealed the name and existence of the National Security Council's covert operations sub-committee, known as the ''303 Group'', which led to its renaming to the ''40 Committee''.

Wise and Ross charged that the CIA considered buying up the entire printing of ''The Invisible Government'', but that the plan was rejected when the book's publisher, Random House, pointed out that if that happened they would have to print a second edition.
confidential CIA review of ''The Invisible Government''
which was declassified in 1995, declared that:

"In Great Britain, which is second to none in its devotion to liberty, there exists an Official Secrets Act under which the authors would have been tried and sentenced to prison. … That much of this material has been printed before does not reduce the value to the Soviets of having it gathered in one volume under such genuine American auspices."

Later work

Wise's book ''The Politics of Lying: Government Deception, Secrecy, and Power'' (1973) won the George Polk Award (Book category, 1973), and the George Orwell Award (1975). Later works include ''Cassidy's Run: The Secret Spy War Over Nerve Gas'' (2000) on Operation Shocker, and ''Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America'', (2002), on Robert Hanssen.

Wise also published several novels, including ''Spectrum'' (1981), based on the 1965 The Apollo Affair.

Personal life

On October 8, 2018, Wise died from pancreatic cancer in Washington, D.C. He was 88 years old.

Works

Articles

* "Is Anybody Watching the CIA?" ''Inquiry'' (Nov. 27, 1978), pp. 17-21.

Books

* ''The U-2 Affair'', with Thomas B. Ross. Random House (1962).
* ''The Invisible Government'', with Thomas B. Ross. Random House (1964).
* ''The Espionage Establishment'', with Thomas B. Ross. Random House (1967).
* ''The Politics of Lying: Government Deception, Secrecy, and Power''. Random House (1973).
* ''The American Police State: The Government Against the People''. Random House (1976).
* ''Spectrum''. Viking Press (1981). novel.
* ''The Children's Game''. Doubleday (1983). novel.
* ''The Samarkand Dimension''. St. Martin's/Marek (1987). novel.
* ''The Spy Who Got Away''. Random House (1988).
* ''Molehunt: The Secret Search for Traitors that Shattered the CIA''. Random House (1992).
* ''Nightmover: How Aldrich Ames Sold The CIA To The KGB For $4.6m''. (1995).
* ''Cassidy's Run: The Secret Spy War Over Nerve Gas''. Random House (2000).
* '' Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America''. Random House (2002).
* ''Democracy Under Pressure: An Introduction to the American Political System'', with Milton C. Cummings, Jr. (2004).
* ''Tiger Trap: America's Secret Spy War with China''. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2011).

Awards

* 1973 George Polk Award (Book category), for ''The Politics of Lying''
* 1975 Orwell Award, for ''The Politics of Lying''

References

External links

*

David Wise at goodreads.com

Literary agent Sterling Lord discusses his representation of ''Invisible Government''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wise, David
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
American political writers
American historians of espionage
Historians of the Central Intelligence Agency
American spy fiction writers
New York Herald Tribune people
George Polk Award recipients
American male novelists
American male non-fiction writers
University of California, Santa Barbara faculty
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Writers from Manhattan
Novelists from New York (state)
Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Washington, D.C.
1930 births
2018 deaths