On this day, January 25, 1950 Alger Hiss sentenced for perjury for denying he was
a Soviet spy (convicted Jan. 21). Dean Acheson, Truman’s Sec’y of State, said:
“I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss.”
1. President Roosevelt laughed off the charges against Hiss. Dean Acheson, then undersecretary of Treasury, not only vouched for Hiss and his brother, Donald, also charged by Whitaker, but Acheson immediately requested Donald as his assistant. Right on cue, the press vilified HUAC for persecuting Hiss.
2. President Truman denounced the Hiss investigation as a “red herring” by do-nothing Republicans (Whitaker Chambers, Witness, p. 564-74)
Felix Frankfurter and Adlai Stevenson offered to be character witnesses for Hiss. (McCarthy began referring to Stevenson as ‘Alger Stevenson.’
Eleanor Roosevelt said she believed Hiss.
But the American public listened to the hearings, and they believed Chambers: a Gallup poll found 4 out of 5 supported the HUAC.(Alan Weinstein, Perjury, p. 58) And the poll included 71% of Democrats who also agreed- just not the Democrat Party!
3. “On September 2, 1939, the day after the outbreak of war in Europe, Whittaker Chambers had told much of what he knew about Soviet espionage in the United States to Adolph Berle, Assistant Secretary of State and President’s Roosevelt’s advisor on internal security. Immediately afterwards, Berle drew up a memorandum for the President which listed Alger Hiss, Harry Dexter White and the other leading for whom Chambers acted as courier. One was a leading presidential aide, Lauchlin Currie….Roosevelt, however, was not interested. He seems to have dismissed the whole idea of espionage rings within his administration as absurd.” ‘The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archives, the History of the KGB,” by Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin.p.107
4. Proven guilty, jailed for 44 months for perjury (the statute of limitations had run out on espionage), Alger Hiss, traitorous agent of Soviet espionage, the American left views Hiss as a hero. After leaving prison, he spoke at Princeton and was given a standing ovation. Bard College actually has the Alger Hiss Chair of Social Studies (Lawrence Helm's Blog: The Alger Hiss Chair at Bard College)
In 1972, Massachusetts readmitted him to the bar. Liberals would never turn their backs on a man who spied for Stalin against America.
a Soviet spy (convicted Jan. 21). Dean Acheson, Truman’s Sec’y of State, said:
“I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss.”
1. President Roosevelt laughed off the charges against Hiss. Dean Acheson, then undersecretary of Treasury, not only vouched for Hiss and his brother, Donald, also charged by Whitaker, but Acheson immediately requested Donald as his assistant. Right on cue, the press vilified HUAC for persecuting Hiss.
2. President Truman denounced the Hiss investigation as a “red herring” by do-nothing Republicans (Whitaker Chambers, Witness, p. 564-74)
Felix Frankfurter and Adlai Stevenson offered to be character witnesses for Hiss. (McCarthy began referring to Stevenson as ‘Alger Stevenson.’
Eleanor Roosevelt said she believed Hiss. But the American public listened to the hearings, and they believed Chambers: a Gallup poll found 4 out of 5 supported the HUAC.(Alan Weinstein, Perjury, p. 58) And the poll included 71% of Democrats who also agreed- just not the Democrat Party!
3. “On September 2, 1939, the day after the outbreak of war in Europe, Whittaker Chambers had told much of what he knew about Soviet espionage in the United States to Adolph Berle, Assistant Secretary of State and President’s Roosevelt’s advisor on internal security. Immediately afterwards, Berle drew up a memorandum for the President which listed Alger Hiss, Harry Dexter White and the other leading for whom Chambers acted as courier. One was a leading presidential aide, Lauchlin Currie….Roosevelt, however, was not interested. He seems to have dismissed the whole idea of espionage rings within his administration as absurd.” ‘The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archives, the History of the KGB,” by Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin.p.107
4. Proven guilty, jailed for 44 months for perjury (the statute of limitations had run out on espionage), Alger Hiss, traitorous agent of Soviet espionage, the American left views Hiss as a hero. After leaving prison, he spoke at Princeton and was given a standing ovation. Bard College actually has the Alger Hiss Chair of Social Studies (Lawrence Helm's Blog: The Alger Hiss Chair at Bard College)
In 1972, Massachusetts readmitted him to the bar. Liberals would never turn their backs on a man who spied for Stalin against America.
Last edited:
