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James Jesus Angleton (December 9, 1917 – May 11, 1987) was an American CIA officer who served as chief of the counterintelligence department of the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
from 1954 to 1975. According to Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms, Angleton was "recognized as the dominant counterintelligence figure in the non-communist world". Angleton served in the
Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...
, a wartime predecessor to the CIA, in Italy and London during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. After the war, he returned to Washington, D.C. to become one of the founding officers of the CIA. He was initially responsible for the collection of foreign intelligence and liaison with counterpart organizations in allied countries. In 1954, Allen Dulles promoted Angleton to chief of the Counterintelligence Staff. As chief, Angleton was significantly involved in the defection of Soviet KGB agents Anatoliy Golitsyn and Yuri Nosenko. Through Golitsyn, Angleton became convinced the CIA harbored a high-ranking Soviet mole and engaged in an intensive search. Whether this was a highly destructive witch hunt or appropriate caution remains a subject of intense historical debate. Investigative journalist Edward Jay Epstein agrees with the high regard in which Angleton was held by his colleagues in the intelligence business, and adds that Angleton earned the "trust of six CIA directors—including Gen.
Walter Bedell Smith General (United States), General Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith (5 October 1895 – 9 August 1961) was a senior officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forc ...
, Allen W. Dulles and Richard Helms. They kept Angleton in key positions and valued his work."


Early and personal life

James Jesus Angleton was born December 9, 1917, in
Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...
, the eldest of four children of James Hugh Angleton (1888–1973) and Carmen Mercedes Moreno (1898–1985). His parents met in Nogales, Arizona, while his father was a
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
officer serving under General John Pershing. Carmen Moreno was born in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, but was already a naturalized American citizen before she married James H. Angleton in December 1916. James Hugh Angleton joined the National Cash Register Corporation, rising through its ranks until in the early 1930s he purchased the NCR franchise in Italy. In Italy, he became head of the American Chamber of Commerce. Angleton's boyhood was spent in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. He studied as a boarder at Malvern College in England before attending
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
. As a Yale undergraduate, Angleton edited the Yale literary magazine ''Furioso'' with Reed Whittemore. ''Furioso'' published many of the best-known poets of the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
, including William Carlos Williams, E. E. Cummings and
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...
. Angleton carried on an extensive correspondence with Pound, Cummings and T. S. Eliot, among others, and was particularly influenced by William Empson, author of '' Seven Types of Ambiguity''. Angleton was trained in the
New Criticism New Criticism was a Formalism (literature), formalist movement in literary theory that dominated American literary criticism in the middle decades of the 20th century. It emphasized close reading, particularly of poetry, to discover how a work of l ...
at Yale by Maynard Mack and others, chiefly Norman Holmes Pearson, a founder of American Studies. He briefly studied law at
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
, but did not graduate.


World War II

In 1943, Angleton joined the U.S. Army. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Angleton served in the
Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...
(OSS) and led its Italian branch. He also served in London under Norman Holmes Pearson in the X-2 Counter Espionage Branch of the OSS. By February 1944, he was chief of the Italy desk for X-2 in London. While in London, Angleton met the famous double agent Kim Philby. In November 1944, Angleton was transferred to Italy as commander of Secret Counterintelligence Unit Z, which handled Ultra intelligence based on the British intercepts of German radio communications. By the end of the war, Angleton was head of X-2 for all of Italy. In this position, Angleton helped prevent the execution of Italian naval commander Junio Valerio Borghese, whose elite unit Decima MAS had collaborated with the Schutzstaffel during the war. Angleton was interested in the defense of installations such as ports and bridges and offered Borghese a fair trial in return for his collaboration. He dressed him up in an American uniform and drove him from Milan to Rome for interrogation by the Allies. Borghese was then tried and convicted by an Italian court of collaboration with the Nazi invaders but not of war crimes. Angleton remained in Italy after the war, establishing connections with other intelligence services and playing a major role in the 1948 Italian general election. The election was won by the US-backed Christian Democratic Party over the Soviet-backed Italian Communist Party. Angleton's tour in Italy as an intelligence officer is regarded by biographer Jefferson Morley as a critical turn not only in his professional life. His personal liaisons with Italian Mafia figures helped the CIA in the immediate postwar period.


Central Intelligence Agency

Upon his return to Washington after World War II, Angleton was employed by the various successor organizations to the OSS and eventually became one of the founding officers of the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
in 1947. In May 1949, he was made head of Staff A of the Office of Special Operations, where he was responsible for the collection of foreign intelligence and liaising with counterpart intelligence organizations in foreign countries. Beginning in 1951, Angleton was responsible for "the Israel desk" as liaison with
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
's Mossad and
Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...
agencies. Angleton retained an active interest in Israeli intelligence and maintained connections there throughout his career, believing that émigrés to Israel from the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...
nations could be a valuable source of information on their countries of origin. He also believed that Israeli foreign intelligence services could be used for proxy operations in third countries. For instance, Shin Bet was crucial in obtaining a transcript of
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...
's 1956 speech to the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...
Congress that denounced
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
. Author Samuel Katz has claimed that Angleton directed CIA assistance to the Israeli nuclear weapons program. As head of Staff A, Angleton worked particularly closely with Kim Philby, the apparent future head of MI6, who was also in Washington. The Israeli intelligence officer
Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek (; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978 Jerusalem ...
claimed years later that in 1950 he warned Angleton that Philby had been a Soviet agent in the 30s. In 1951, Philby's colleagues Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean defected to
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. Philby was expelled from Washington, suspected of having tipped them off based on decoded Soviet communications from the Venona project. Philby was confirmed to be a Soviet mole but eluded those sent to arrest him. He defected to Moscow in 1963. Philby called Angleton "a brilliant opponent" and a "fascinating" friend who seemed to be "catching on" before his defection. CIA employee William King Harvey, a former
FBI 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 ...
agent, had voiced his suspicions regarding Philby and others Angleton suspected were Soviet agents. In 1953, Allen Dulles became Director of Central Intelligence. He soon named Angleton chief of the Counterintelligence Staff, in which position Angleton served for the remainder of his career. Dulles also assigned Angleton responsibility for coordination with allied intelligence services. As chief of Counterintelligence, Angleton oversaw a ring of informants organized by Jay Lovestone, a trade union leader and former head of the Communist Party of the United States. It was informally called the "Lovestone Empire". Lovestone worked with foreign unions and used covert funds to establish a global system of anti-communist union organizers. During the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and Soviet-American détente, Angleton remained convinced of the necessity of the war. During this period, Angleton's counter-intelligence staff undertook a most comprehensive domestic covert surveillance project (called Operation CHAOS) under the direction of President Lyndon Johnson. The prevailing belief at the time was that the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s had foreign funding and support. None was found by them, although the Soviet Union did influence the movements. Angleton also believed that the strategic calculations underlying the resumption of relations with
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
were flawed based on a deceptive KGB staging of the Sino-Soviet split. He went so far as to speculate that
Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
might be under KGB influence.


Suspicion of infiltration

Angleton held a general belief that all secret intelligence agencies should be assumed to be penetrated by others, or at least that a reasonable chief of counterintelligence should assume so. Angleton's view was influenced by his direct experience with the manipulation of German intelligence during World War II, the Cambridge Five, and the success of American infiltration efforts in the Third World. In particular, Angleton's close association with Philby heightened Angleton's suspicions and led him to double-check "potential problems". Angleton's position in the CIA and his close relationship with Director Richard Helms in particular expanded his influence, and as it grew, the CIA split between Angletonians and anti-Angletonians. This conflict rose in particular regard to Anatoliy Golitsyn and Yuri Nosenko, who defected from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1961 and 1964, respectively. Golitsyn defected via
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
on December 15, 1961. He and his family flew with a CIA escort to Sweden and then to the United States, where he was interviewed by Angleton personally. Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin (2000). ''The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West.'' Gardners Books. . Golitsyn limited his initial debriefing to a review of photographs to identify KGB officers and refused to discuss KGB strategy. After Golitsyn raised the possibility of serious infiltration with MI5 in a subsequent debriefing, MI5 shared the concern with Angleton. He responded by asking Helms to allow him to take responsibility for Golitsyn and his further debriefing. Golitsyn ultimately informed on many famous Soviet agents, including the Cambridge Five, which led to their apprehension. Angleton identified Golitsyn as "the most valuable defector ever to reach the West". Walter Pincus, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', August 27, 2008
Yuri I. Nosenko, 81; KGB Agent Who Defected to the U.S.
/ref> However, other allegations Golitsyn made, including that Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...
was a Soviet agent and that the Sino-Soviet split was a "charade," were ultimately found to be false. Golitsyn also claimed that a mole who had been stationed in West Germany, was of Slavic descent, had a last name that might end in "sky" and definitely began with a "K", and operated under the KGB codename " Sasha". Angleton believed this claim, with the result that anyone who approximated this description fell under his suspicion. Angleton became increasingly convinced that the CIA was compromised by the KGB. Golitsyn convinced Angleton that the KGB had reorganized in 1958 and 1959 to consist mostly of a shell, incorporating only those agents whom the CIA and the FBI were recruiting, directed by a small cabal of puppet masters who doubled those agents to manipulate their Western counterparts. Although Golitsyn was a questionable source, Angleton accepted significant information obtained from his debriefing by the CIA. In 1964, Yuri Nosenko, a KGB officer based in
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, insisted he needed to defect to the United States because his role as a double agent had been discovered, and he was being recalled to Moscow. Mangold, Tom. ''Cold Warrior: James Jesus Angleton: The CIA's Master Spy Hunter''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991. . Nosenko was allowed to defect, although the CIA was unable to verify a KGB recall order. Golitsyn had said from the beginning that the KGB would try to plant defectors in an effort to discredit him. Under great duress, Nosenko failed two highly questionable lie detector tests but passed a third test monitored by several Agency departments. Judging his claim (as well as additional claims regarding Lee Harvey Oswald) to be improbable, Angleton permitted David Murphy, head of the Soviet Russia Division, to hold Nosenko in solitary confinement for over three years. This confinement included 16 months in a small attic with no windows, furniture, heat or air conditioning. Human contact was completely banned. Nosenko was given a shower once a week and had no television, reading material, radio, exercise, or toothbrush. Interrogations were frequent and intensive. Nosenko spent an additional four months in a ten-foot by ten-foot concrete bunker in Camp Peary. He was told that this condition would continue for 25 years unless he confessed to being a Soviet spy. Nosenko did not appear to have shaken Angleton's faith in Golitsyn, although Helms and J. Edgar Hoover thought otherwise. Hoover's objections are said to have been so vehement as to severely curtail counterintelligence cooperation between the FBI and CIA for the remainder of Hoover's service as FBI director. Nosenko was found to be a legitimate defector, a lieutenant colonel. He became a consultant to the CIA. Golitsyn, who had defected years before, was unable to provide concrete support for his views of the KGB. Angleton came into increasing conflict with the rest of the Agency, particularly the Directorate of Operations, over the efficacy of their intelligence-gathering efforts. He questioned this without explaining his broader views on KGB strategy and organization. In his 2022 book, ''Uncovering Popov's Mole'', researcher John M. Newman argues that Bruce Solie of the Office of Security was very probably the mole and that he misled Angleton, his protégé, into believing the traitor was in the Soviet Russia Division.


Suspicion of foreign leaders

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Angleton privately accused various foreign leaders of being Soviet spies. He twice informed the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...
that he believed
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Lester Pearson and his successor
Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...
were agents of the Soviet Union. Angleton accused Swedish
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until as ...
, West German
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and concurrently served as the Chancellor ...
, and British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...
of being assets for the Soviet Union. Australian journalist Brian Toohey claimed that Angleton considered Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam a "serious threat" to the US. Angleton was concerned after the Commonwealth police 1973 Murphy raids, raided Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, ASIO headquarters in Melbourne in 1973 at the direction of Attorney general#Australia, Attorney General Lionel Murphy. In 1974, Angleton sought to instigate the removal of Whitlam from office by having CIA station chief in Canberra, John Walker, ask Peter Barbour, then head of ASIO, to make a false declaration that Whitlam had lied about the raid in Parliament. Barbour refused to make the statement.


Church Committee and resignation

In 1973, William Colby was named Director of Central Intelligence by Richard Nixon. Colby reorganized the CIA in an effort to curb Angleton's influence and weaken the Counterintelligence branch, beginning by stripping him of control over the Israel desk. Colby demanded Angleton's resignation. Angleton came to public attention when the Church Committee (formally the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities) probed the CIA for information on domestic surveillance, specifically the operation known as HTLINGUAL, HT Lingual, as well as assassination plots and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, death of John F. Kennedy. In December 1974, Seymour Hersh published a story in ''The New York Times'' about domestic counter-intelligence activities against anti-war protesters and other domestic dissidents. Angleton's resignation was announced on Christmas Eve 1974, just as President Gerald Ford demanded Director Colby report on the allegations and various congressional committees announced that they would launch their own inquiries. Angleton told reporters from United Press International that he was resigning because "my usefulness has ended" and the CIA was getting involved in "police state activities". Three of Angleton's senior aides retired within a week after it was made clear that they would be transferred elsewhere in the Agency rather than promoted. The counterintelligence staff was reduced from 300 to 80 people. In 1975, Angleton was awarded the CIA's Distinguished Intelligence Medal. By this time, Angleton had been quietly rehired by the CIA at his old salary through a secret contract. Until September 1975, "operational issues remained solely the preserve of Angleton".


Aftermath

The late 1970s were generally a period of upheaval for the CIA. During George H. W. Bush's tenure as Director, President Ford authorized the creation of Team B, a project concluding that the Agency and the intelligence community had seriously underestimated Soviet strategic nuclear strength in Central Europe. Admiral Stansfield Turner, on his appointment as DCI by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, used Angleton as an example of the excesses in the Agency that he hoped to curb. He referred to this during his service and in his memoirs. Because of their suspicions, Angleton and his staff ultimately impeded the career advancement of numerous CIA employees. Forty employees are said to have been investigated and fourteen were considered serious suspects by Angleton's staff. The CIA paid compensation to three under what Agency employees termed the "Mole Relief Act". With Golitsyn, Angleton continued to seek out moles. They sought the assistance of William F. Buckley, Jr. (himself a former CIA asset) to write ''New Lies for Old'', which argued that the Soviet Union planned to fake a collapse to lull its enemies into a false sense of victory, but Buckley refused. In his 1994 book ''Wedge: The Secret War Between the FBI and CIA, Wedge: The Secret War between the FBI and CIA'', author Mark Riebling claimed that of 194 predictions made in ''New Lies For Old'', 139 had been fulfilled by 1993, nine seemed "clearly wrong", and the other 46 were "not soon Falsifiability, falsifiable".


Personal life and death

Angleton met Cicely Harriet d'Autremont, a Vassar College, Vassar alumna from Tucson, Arizona and granddaughter of Chester Adgate Congdon, in Cambridge in 1941. They married on 17 July 1943, shortly after he enlisted in the Army. Together, they had three children: * James C. Angleton; * Guru Sangat Kaur Khalsa (formerly Truffy Angleton); and * Siri Hari Kaur Angleton-Khalsa (formerly Lucy d'Autremont Angleton) The Angletons lived in the Rock Spring neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia until Angleton's death. The Angletons had an at times tumultuous marriage, but developed a varied social set in Washington, including professional acquaintances in intelligence, poets, painters and journalists. Angleton's wife and his daughters explored Sikhism, and both of Angleton's daughters became followers of Harbhajan Singh Khalsa. Angleton died from cancer in Washington, D.C., on 11 May 1987.


Legacy

Angleton's responsibilities as chief of Counterintelligence have given rise to a considerable literature focused on his efforts to identify Soviet or Eastern Bloc agents working in American secret intelligence agencies. In time, Angleton's zeal and suspicions came to be regarded as counterproductive, if not destructive. In the wake of his departure, counterintelligence efforts were undertaken with far less enthusiasm. Some believe this overcompensation was responsible for oversights which allowed Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen and others to compromise American intelligence agencies after Angleton's resignation. Although the American intelligence community quickly recovered from the Church Committee, it found itself uncharacteristically incapable of policing itself after Angleton's departure. Edward Jay Epstein has argued that the positions of Ames and Hanssen—both well-placed Soviet counter-intelligence agents, in the CIA and FBI respectively—would enable the KGB to deceive the American intelligence community, in the manner that Angleton hypothesized. Despite misgivings over his uncompromising and often obsessive approach to his profession, Angleton is highly regarded by a number of his peers in the intelligence business. Former Shin Bet chief Amos Manor, in an interview in ''Ha'aretz'', revealed his fascination with the man during Angleton's work to forge the U.S.–Israel liaison in the early 1950s. Manor described Angleton as "fanatic about everything", with a "tendency towards mystification". Manor discovered decades later that the real reason for Angleton's visit was to investigate Manor, being an Eastern European Jewish immigrant, for Angleton thought that it would be prudent to "sanitize" the U.S.–Israeli bridge before a more formal intelligence relationship was established. Three books dealing with Angleton take foreign intelligence activities, counterintelligence and domestic intelligence activities as their central theme: Tom Mangold's ''Cold Warrior'', David C. Martin's ''Wilderness of Mirrors'', and David Wise (journalist), David Wise's ''Molehunt''. Tim Weiner's ''Legacy of Ashes'' paints Angleton as an incompetent alcoholic. These views have been challenged by Tennent H. Bagley in his 2007 book, ''Spy Wars'', and Mark Riebling in his 1994 book, ''Wedge''. John M. Newman, in his 2022 book, ''Uncovering Popov's Mole'', characterizes Angleton as a man lacking self-confidence and who required a father figure. Newman claims that Angleton was duped by at least two KGB moles: Kim Philby in MI6 and Bruce Solie in the Office of Security. Newman also suggests that Leonard V. McCoy in the Soviet Russia Division's Reports & Requirements section may have been a mole.


CIA Family Jewels

A set of highly sensitive Agency documents, referred to as the "Family Jewels," was publicly released on June 25, 2007, after more than three decades of secrecy. . The release was prompted by an internal CIA investigation of the 1970s Church Committee which verified the far-ranging power and influence that Angleton wielded during his long tenure as counter-intelligence czar. The exposé revealed that Angleton-planned infiltration of law enforcement and military organizations in other countries was used to increase the influence of the United States. It also confirmed past rumors that it was Angleton who was in charge of the domestic spying activities of the CIA under Operation CHAOS.


2025 JFK document release

Angleton's heavily-redacted testimony before the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities in 1975 was finally released on March 18, 2025. The 50-year-old Top Secret report covers several topics, particularly clandestine, intelligence-sharing agreements with Israel, nuclear secrets, Yuri Nosenko, George Blake, signals intelligence, Anatoliy Golitsyn, the Warren Commission, and Lee Harvey Oswald. The 113-page fully unredacted document discloses several matters, including leaks to newsmen Seymour Hersh and Tad Szulc and their information about Watergate, Cuba, Project Azorian, and Sidney Gottlieb.JFK Record Number 157-10014-10005
/ref> In the previously-redacted sections, the document is full of ''NBR'' markings from the Assassination Records Review Board, meaning ''Not Believed Relevant''.


In popular culture

* The 2006 film ''The Good Shepherd (film), The Good Shepherd'' is loosely based on Angleton's life and his role in the formation of the CIA. * ''The Laundry Files'' by Charles Stross features a senior Laundry agent whose ''nom de guerre'' is James Angleton. * The 2002 novel ''The Company (Littell novel), The Company'' by Robert Littell (author), Robert Littell—and the 2007 television mini-series ''The Company (TV miniseries), The Company'' based on it, with Angleton portrayed by Michael Keaton—is focused on Angleton's efforts to find a Soviet mole. * Angleton was portrayed by John Light (actor), John Light in the 2003 BBC TV mini-series ''Cambridge Spies''. * The song "Angleton" by Russian indie rock band Biting Elbows is about Angleton's life and career. * In the television series ''Granite Flats'' the actor Cary Elwes plays Hugh Ashmead, the name "Ashmead" being the cover name for Angleton. * William F. Buckley's 2000 novel ''Spytime: The Undoing of James Jesus Angleton'' is a fictionalized treatment of Angleton's career, a storyline being placed upon, between and within actual historic facts and events. * Mike Doughty released a song entitled "James Jesus Angleton" on Apple Music in December 2017. * The Fatima Mansions track "Brunceling's song" mentions Angleton by name, in a narrative involving spies adapting to regular life. * In the 1991 Norman Mailer novel ''Harlot's Ghost'', Tremont Montague (Harlot) is based on Angleton. * The fourth season of the television series ''The Bureau (TV series), Le Bureau des Légendes'' introduces a character from the French external security service General Directorate for External Security, (DGSE) with the nickname of "JJA" - James Jesus Angleton. There is a short discussion of Angleton's career and its connection to this character. * Angleton was portrayed by Stephen Kunken in the 2022 ITVX mini-series ''A Spy Among Friends'' about the defection of Kim Philby. * In 2016, he was portrayed by Anthony Brophy in The Crown (TV series), The Crown. * In the Max (streaming service), HBO Max miniseries ''White House Plumbers (miniseries), White House Plumbers'', Angleton is portrayed by David Pasquesi. * In season 2, episode 5 of the Netflix series ''The Recruit (American TV series), The Recruit'', the CIA's general counsel states that a CIA lawyer should "run the Angleton playbook."


See also

* David Blee * Aleksander Kopatzky * Joseph McCarthy * Martel affair * Jim Skardon * Spymaster


Notes


References

* Engelberg, Stephen. "James Angleton, Counterintelligence Figure, Dies". ''The New York Times,'' May 12, 1987, p. D31 * Edward Jay Epstein, Epstein, Edward Jay. ''Deception: The Invisible War between the CIA and the KGB''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989. . * Seymour Hersh, Hersh, Seymour. "Huge C.I.A. Operation Reported in US against Antiwar Forces, Other Dissidents During Nixon Years". ''New York Times,'' December 22, 1974, p. 1. * Seymour Hersh, Hersh, Seymour. "President Tells Colby to Speed Report on CIA". ''New York Times'', December 24, 1974, p. 43. * Seymour Hersh, Hersh, Seymour. "3 More Aides Quit in CIA Shake-Up". ''New York Times'', December 30, 1974, p. 51. * Seymour Hersh, Hersh, Seymour
"The Angleton Story".
''New York Times Magazine'', June 25, 1978, pp. SM4+. * Holzman, Michael. "James Jesus Angleton, The CIA and the Craft of Counter Intelligence. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 2008. (). * Aaron Latham, Latham, Aaron. ''Orchids for Mother: A Novel''. New York: Bantam Books, 1985. . Fictional account of Angleton. * Littell, Robert. ''The Company: A Novel of the CIA''. New York: Penguin Books, 2003. . Fictional history of the CIA during the Cold War in which Angleton is a major supporting character. * Martin, David C. ''Wilderness of Mirrors: Intrigue, Deception, and the Secrets that Destroyed Two of the Cold War's Most Important Agents''. New York: Harper & Row, 1980; Boston: The Lyons Press, 2003 (reprinted). . * Petit, Chris. ''The Passenger''. London: Simon & Schuster, 2006. . A thriller/spy-novel which involves Angleton as a central character. * * Wise, David. ''Molehunt: The Secret Search for Traitors that Shattered the CIA''. New York: Random House, 1992. .


Further reading

* Johnson, Loch K. "James Angleton and the Church Committee". ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 15, no. 4 (2013): 128–147. * Mangold, Tom. ''Cold Warrior: James Jesus Angleton: The CIA's Master Spy Hunter''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991. . * Morley, Jefferson. ''The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2017. . Full biography. * Bagley, Tennent H. ''Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games''. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2007, .


External links

*
''Frontline'' – "The Spy Hunter" May 14, 1991
by Tom Mangold for the PBS program {{DEFAULTSORT:Angleton, James Jesus 1917 births 1987 deaths American anti-communists American Cold War spymasters United States Army personnel of World War II American people of Mexican descent American spies Central Intelligence Agency founding member Cold War CIA chiefs Counterintelligence analysts Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Harvard Law School alumni Knights of Malta Military personnel from Idaho People educated at Malvern College People from Boise, Idaho People of the Central Intelligence Agency People of the Office of Strategic Services Recipients of the Distinguished Intelligence Medal United States Army soldiers World War II espionage Yale University alumni