Kermit "Kim" Roosevelt Jr. (February 16, 1916 – June 8, 2000) was an American intelligence officer who 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 ...
during and following
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 ...
. A grandson of
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
, the
26th President of the United States, Roosevelt went on to establish
American Friends of the Middle East The American Friends of the Middle East (AFME) was an American international educational organization, formed in 1951. It was founded by columnist Dorothy Thompson, Kermit Roosevelt, Jr., Harry Emerson Fosdick, and 24 other American educators, th ...
and then played a lead role in the
CIA
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 ...
's efforts to overthrow
Mohammad Mosaddegh
Mohammad Mosaddegh (, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 30th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, elected by the 1950 Iranian legislative election, 16th Majlis. He was a membe ...
, the democratically elected
Majlis
(, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning 'sitting room', used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to the Mus ...
-appointed prime minister of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, in August 1953.
Early life
Kermit Roosevelt Jr. (called "Kim," as was standard for alternating generations of Kermits in the
Roosevelt family
The Roosevelt family is an American political family from New York whose members have included two United States presidents, a First Lady, and various merchants, bankers, politicians, inventors, clergymen, artists, and socialites. The progeny ...
) was born to
Kermit Roosevelt Sr., son of
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, and Belle Wyatt Roosevelt (née Willard) in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
in 1916. At the time, Kermit Roosevelt Sr. was an official for a shipping line and then a manager of the Buenos Aires branch of the
National City Bank.
The Roosevelt family returned to the US, and Kim, his two brothers,
Joseph Willard
Joseph Willard (December 29, 1738 – September 25, 1804) was an American Congregational clergyman and academic. He was president of Harvard from 1781 until 1804.
Biography
Willard was born December 29, 1738, in Biddeford, York County (at ...
and Dirck, and his sister, Belle Wyatt, grew up in
Oyster Bay, New York
The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns that make up Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is ...
, a homestead near
Sagamore Hill, the
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
home of the Roosevelt clan.
Kim attended
Groton School
Groton School is a Private school, private, college-preparatory school, college-preparatory, day school, day and boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, United States. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcop ...
as a young man. He graduated from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in 1937, a year ahead of his class.
After graduating from Harvard, Roosevelt taught history at
Caltech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...
.
Intelligence career
OSS
With the outbreak of
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 ...
, Roosevelt joined 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), the forerunner to the
CIA
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 ...
. On June 4, 1943, when Kim was 27, his father, Kermit Sr., committed suicide at
Fort Richardson in
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
where he was posted.
[Edward Renehan, 1998, ''The Lion's Pride: Theodore Roosevelt and His Family in Peace and War,'' Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, , se]
accessed June 16, 2015. Roosevelt Jr. remained with the OSS after the war and wrote and edited its history.
Postwar period
Roosevelt went on to serve on the advisory board of a largely Arab organization, the Institute of Arab American Affairs, a New York City-based organization, and Roosevelt wrote an essay in 1948 about his views on American Zionism and the partition of Palestine. In February 1948 Roosevelt joined more than 100 like-minded individuals to form a "Christian group" to aid the fight of the largely rabbinical
American Council for Judaism to reverse the ongoing partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The
Committee for Justice and Peace in the Holy Land (CJP) was founded on March 2, 1948, with
Dean emeritus Gildersleeve serving as CJP chair, former
Union Theological Seminary president
Henry Sloane Coffin
Henry Sloane Coffin (January 5, 1877 – November 25, 1954) was president of the Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, Union Theological Seminary, Moderator of the General Assembly, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in the Unit ...
as vice-chair, and Roosevelt as executive director.
In 1951, Roosevelt,
Virginia Gildersleeve
Virginia Crocheron Gildersleeve (October 3, 1877 – July 7, 1965) was an American academic, the long-time dean of Barnard College, co-founder of the International Federation of University Women, and the only woman delegated by United States ...
;
Dorothy Thompson
Dorothy Celene Thompson (July 9, 1893 – January 30, 1961) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster. She was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany, in 1934, and was one of the few women news commentators broadc ...
; and a further group of 24 American educators, theologians, and writers (including
Harry Emerson Fosdick
Harry Emerson Fosdick (May 24, 1878 – October 5, 1969) was an American pastor. Fosdick became a central figure in the fundamentalist–modernist controversy within American Protestantism in the 1920s and 1930s and was one of the most prominen ...
) founded the
American Friends of the Middle East The American Friends of the Middle East (AFME) was an American international educational organization, formed in 1951. It was founded by columnist Dorothy Thompson, Kermit Roosevelt, Jr., Harry Emerson Fosdick, and 24 other American educators, th ...
(AFME), a pro-Arab organization often critical of US support for Israel.
[Kira Zalan, 2014, "How the CIA Shaped the Modern Middle East ugh Wilford interview" ''U.S. News & World Report'' (online), January 16, 2014, se]
accessed June 17, 2015. ubtitle: "History Professor Hugh Wilford chronicles the agency's involvement in the region."/ref>[Robert Moats Miller, 1985, ''Harry Emerson Fosdick: Preacher, Pastor, Prophet,'' p. 192, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, , se]
accessed June 17, 2015. The CJP, which Roosevelt had helped form in 1948, was subsumed into the AFME in 1951,[Paul Charles Merkley, 2001, ''Christian Attitudes Towards the State of Israel,'' Vol. 16 of McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion, Montreal, pp. 6–8, Canada: McGill-Queen's University Press, , se]
accessed June 17, 2015. and Roosevelt served for a time as the AFME executive secretary for the group of intellectuals and spokespersons.[ The historians Robert Moats Miller, Hugh Wilford, and others have stated that from its early years, AFME was a part of an Arabist propaganda effort within the US that was "secretly funded and to some extent managed" by the CIA,] with further funding from the oil consortium ARAMCO.
Cold War and CIA
Roosevelt was recruited to the CIA
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 ...
's Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) in 1950 by its chief, Frank Wisner.[ Prados, John (2006). ''Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA''. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee. p]
98.
. . Assigned to Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, Roosevelt impressed his colleagues with Project FF, which encouraged the Free Officers Movement to carry out a coup d'état in 1952, and Roosevelt developed close CIA links to the new leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
.[
The historian Hugh Wilford attempts to describe Roosevelt's motivations and views underpinning his intelligence efforts and states:
The views of the CIA Arabists were not in isolation since Wilford notes that the " Eisenhower administration ncluding Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, was">John_Foster_Dulles.html" ;"title="ncluding Secretary of State John Foster Dulles">ncluding Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, wasinitially quite sympathetic towards... Roosevelt's Arabist agenda" and willing to oppose Middle Eastern regimes seen "as backing the Soviet Union rather than the U.S." Ultimately, the emergence of American public support for Israel and the administration's evolving framework to respond to its principal Cold War adversary, the Soviet Union, would lead to failure of the Arabist agenda of Roosevelt and his colleagues.] In discussing Roosevelt's role, Wilford describes him as being among "the most important intelligence officers of their generation in the Middle East."
Roosevelt played a highly critical role in Operation Ajax as the ground operational planner, especially in getting the Shah to issue the ''firmans'', or decrees, dismissing Mossadegh. He established networks of Anglophiles and sympathizers in Iran, who were willing to take part in various aspects of the coup. The tactics aided in dividing and dissolving Mossadegh's political power base within the National Front, the Tudeh, and the clerics. However, the first attempt at the coup failed, likely because Mossadegh had learned of his impending overthrow. Although the CIA sent Roosevelt a telegram to flee Iran immediately, he began work on the second coup and circulated a false account that Mossadegh attempted to seize the throne and bribed Iranian agents. The coup was a success and hence was adapted for use in other Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...
countries during the Cold War. Eisenhower secretly awarded Roosevelt the National Security Medal in 1954 for his work. In 2014, the National Security Archive released telegrams and accounts of the CIA operation, many of which are revealing as to the part he played in the operation.
Roosevelt, 26 years after the Mossadeq coup, wrote a book about how he and the CIA had carried out the operation, ''Countercoup''. According to him, he had slipped across the border under his CIA cover as "James Lochridge" on July 19, 1953.
Roosevelt submitted his ''Countercoup'' manuscript to the CIA for pre-publication approval. The agency proposed various alterations, and in the perspective of a CIA reviewer, "Roosevelt has reflected quite faithfully the changes that we suggested to him. This has become, therefore, essentially a work of fiction." The conclusion allowed the release of the book; a catalog of the actual changes made during the review is available.
A former senior adviser to the Obama administration
Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...
and Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...
Iran expert, Ray Takeyh, wrote in 2014 that "Contrary to Roosevelt's account n ''Countercoup'' the documentary record reveals that the Eisenhower administration was hardly in control and was in fact surprised by the way events played out." William Blum wrote that Roosevelt had provided no evidence for his claim that a communist takeover in Iran was imminent but rather "mere assertions of the thesis which are stated over and over."[William Blum, 2003, ''Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II'', 2nd edn., p. 66, London: Zed Books Radical International Publishing, , se]
accessed June 17, 2015. Abbas Milani wrote, "Roosevelt's memoir inflated his own and, in turn, America's centrality to the coup. He tells the story with the relish of a John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophist ...
knock-off.... Eisenhower, for one, considered reports like this to be the stuff of 'dime novels.'"
After Iran, Roosevelt became assistant deputy director of the Directorate of Plans.
Dulles asked Roosevelt to lead the CIA-sponsored 1954 coup in Guatemala, which deposed the government of Jacobo Árbenz. Roosevelt refused: "AJAX had succeeded, he believed, chiefly because the CIA's aims were shared by large numbers of Iranians, and it was obvious that the same condition did not obtain among Guatemalans." Noting that Árbenz's resignation had been forced largely by rumors "that a full-scale U.S. invasion was imminent," Roosevelt later remarked, "We had our will in Guatemala, utit wasn't really accomplished by clandestine means."
Roosevelt left the CIA in 1958 to work for American oil and defense firms. He often visited former operatives and the Shah in Iran.
Personal life
Roosevelt married Mary Lowe "Polly" Gaddis in 1937, and they had four children: Kermit III (father of Kermit IV, who also goes by Kermit III), Jonathan, Mark
Mark may refer to:
In the Bible
* Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark
* Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels
Currencies
* Mark (currency), a currenc ...
, and Anne.
Death
Roosevelt died in 2000 at a retirement community in Cockeysville, Maryland
Cockeysville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,776 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census.
History
Cockeysville was named after the Cockey family who helped establish the ...
. He was survived by his wife, children, a brother, and seven grandchildren.[Mark Ribbing & Jacques Kelly, 2000, "Obituary: Kermit Roosevelt, 84, TR's grandson." '']The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news.
Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
,'' June 10, 2000, Local, p. 4B, se
Retrieved June 17, 2015.
Awards
Roosevelt was the recipient of the National Security Medal which was awarded by Dwight D. Eisenhower to him in a secret ceremony on March 26, 1956 for his services in Egypt and Iran.
Selected bibliography
Articles
"Propaganda Techniques of the English Civil Wars – and the Propaganda Psychosis of Today."
''Pacific Historical Review
The ''Pacific Historical Review'' is the official publication of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association. It is a quarterly academic journal published by University of California Press. It was established in 1932 under foun ...
'', vol. 12, no. 4 (Dec. 1943), pp. 369–379. .
Pamphlets
"Partition of Palestine: A Lesson in Pressure Politics." (Pamphlet No. 7).
New York (160 Broadway): ''Institute of Arab American Affairs'' (Feb. 1948).
Books
''Arabs, Oil, and History: The Story of the Middle East''.
London (1948). .
''Countercoup: The Struggle for the Control of Iran''.
New York: McGraw-Hill
McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...
(1979). .
See also
* Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
(grandfather)
* Kermit Roosevelt
Kermit Roosevelt Sr. Military Cross, MC (October 10, 1889 – June 4, 1943) was an American businessman, soldier, explorer, and writer. A son of Theodore Roosevelt, the List of Presidents of the United States, 26th President of the United State ...
(father)
* Kermit Roosevelt III (grandson)
References
External links
The Secret CIA History of the Iran Coup – The National Security Archive
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roosevelt, Kermit Jr.
1916 births
2000 deaths
American anti-communist propagandists
American anti-Zionists
American people of Dutch descent
American people of French descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Welsh descent
Anglo-Persian Oil Company
Bulloch family
Harvard University alumni
Maryland Republicans
People from Buenos Aires
People of the Office of Strategic Services
Kermit
Schuyler family
CIA operatives in Iran