Lost in the Shadow of Fame

by William E. Lemanski

  03 Ref. The Roosevelts, An American Saga, Peter Collier with David Horowitz, page 383

  04 Time, April 25, 1938

  Epilogue:

  Kermit Roosevelt Lives On

  Some die shouting in gas or fire;

  Some die silent, by shell and shot.

  Some die desperate, caught on the wire;

  Some die suddenly. This will not.

  “A Death Bed” by Rudyard Kipling

  In accordance with Theodore Roosevelt’s sage advice: “Where a tree falls, there let it lay,” Kermit was buried in the Fort Richardson National Cemetery in Alaska. In his memory, his wife Belle financed and dedicated the stone entrance gate to the facility and in an effort to keep his memory alive, established the Kermit Roosevelt Memorial Fund. The fund supported an annual international lecture event between American and British senior military leaders called the Kermit Roosevelt Exchange Lecture Series which still continues to this day. In a letter to General George C. Marshall in June, 1944, one year following his death Belle proposed:

  "My husband, Kermit Roosevelt, … attempted to carry out in his own life his conviction that the development of a closer relationship between individual English and Americans, and a better understanding between the military forces of the United States and the United Kingdom would contribute in large measure to the preservation of world peace. In view of this conviction of his, it seems appropriate to set up this Memorial"

  Following his death, Belle received a message from General Dwight Eisenhower: “Heartfelt sympathy very depressed.” In World War I Kermit was awarded the British Military Cross and the Montenegran War Cross for his military exploits.

  In World War II, Kermit’s last military efficiency report dated January 10, 1943, only five months before his death, characterizes Major Roosevelt as “A very intelligent, affable, kindly and loyal officer whose patriotism impels him to offer his services to his country as a member of the fighting forces….”

  Although Kermit lived a life of tragedy with much pain and strife, his overriding obsession in the twentieth century’s two greatest wars was his duty to serve and defend his country.

  Toward this end, he lost his life in a very violent and suspicious manner, which the Army classified as “Death was in the line of duty and was not the result of Officer’s own misconduct.” Besides his military service, his all but forgotten legacy includes his participation in the introduction to science of previously little known species of animals and his charting of vaguely understood territory in South America with his father and in Asia with his brother. On maps of Amazonia today, a river bears the name: “Rio Kermit.”

  The South American expedition introduced six new species of mammals to science. The James Simpson-Roosevelts Asiatic Expedition of 1925 enabled expedition member, George K. Cherrie, the group’s ornithologist, to collect many birds in the high mountains of Asia besides the rare mammals collected by Kermit and Theodore Jr.

  The William V. Kelly-Roosevelts Asiatic Expedition of the Field Museum of 1928-29, organized and led by Kermit and his brother, contributed many previously unknown and unstudied species to science. They ranged from squirrels and rare bats to larger mammals including the Roosevelt’s Barking Deer.

  A zoological publication by the Field Museum following the expedition commented: “…the crowning exploit of the Kelley-Roosevelts Expedition was the trailing and shooting of a giant panda by the brothers Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt.”

  Kermit was a major influence in rebuilding the American shipping industry following the First World War. The towns of Kermit, Texas, and Kermit, West Virginia, are named after him and the USS Kermit Roosevelt, a Luzon class repair ship, was also named to honor him. His intellectual brilliance included authorship of multiple books, numerous articles and speeches and skill in speaking many languages, among them Swahili, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindustani, Spanish, French and German.

  The death of Kermit Roosevelt in 1943 was not the end of his family’s devotion to patriotic duty and the pursuit of high adventure. Kermit’s eldest son, Kermit Jr., known to the family as Kim, was to lead an equally swashbuckling and even more internationally significant life than any of his father’s past exploits. Kim’s impact on the world scene in 1953 has had lasting effects that have rocked the United States, the Middle East and the major oil-consuming nations to the present day. However, his clandestine escapades in Iran are not commonly known to the public, and he has also been lost in the shadow of his family’s fame for many decades.

  At the time of his exploits, Kim’s actions elicited words of praise from a very select group of world figures: Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran: “I owe my throne to God, my people, my army and you!”1 Winston Churchill: “Young man, if I had been but a few years younger, I would have loved nothing better than to have served under your command in this great venture!”2 Kim Philby, British double agent who later defected to the U.S.S.R., found Kim Roosevelt to be:

  “a courteous, soft-spoken Easterner with impeccable social connections, well-educated rather than intellectual, pleasant and unassuming as host and guest. An equally nice wife. In fact, the last person you would expect to be up to the neck in dirty tricks”3

  The Adventure Continues-

  Serene demeanor of Kermit Roosevelt Jr. (Kim), belies his clandestine activities as a master spy who overthrew the Iranian Government of Mohammad Mosaddegh.

  Immediately following in the smoldering ashes of the Second World War, western democracies began facing another world conflict. During the late 1940s and the early 1950s the United States and her allies became locked in a bitter Cold War with the Soviet Union and began a policy of Communist containment. The Soviets had recently acquired the Atomic Bomb, blockaded Berlin, and began a policy of supporting subversion and revolutionary unrest in many countries around the globe. Communist China and North Korea began a bloody conflict against United Nations forces with the United States leading multinational troops on the Korean Peninsula. Even into the 21st Century these tensions have not been resolved. The shadowy intelligence organizations of many nations began in full-swing around the world, pursuing classified information and undermining adversaries whenever and wherever possible in this new Cold War.

  As the United States began struggling with this growing threat, Kim, a World War II veteran of the O.S.S., forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency, became a mid-level operative in that super-secret organization as his influence in Washington power circles began to grow.

  Kim was a mild-mannered, studious-appearing Harvard graduate in his mid 30s, a very unlikely appearing spy master to conduct the CIA’s major coup in the Middle-East. This clandestine operation arguably became the most preeminent and successful of the CIA throughout the coming years of its subversion and nation toppling around the world. In 1953 as Kim was conducting intelligence operations as chief of the Near East and Asia Division of the CIA, Iran was locked in a bitter strife with the British; the issues were colonial control, communist expansion and oil.

  The nation of Iran, the modern descendent of the great Persian Empire struggled throughout the 19th and early 20th Centuries with pressure from both Russia, desirous of expanding its influence upon a weakened state within its perceived grasp, and Britain, who saw a potential threat to the northeast flank of its prime colonial possession, India. Tensions in the entire region rose precipitously in the early 20th Century as oil became a critical commodity of the industrialized nations, and Iran had a superabundant*[28] supply.

  For many decades the shaky stability of the country roiled in turmoil. In the latter 19th Century, as the Iranian people began to develop an independent state of mind, Nasir al-Din Shah began to barter-away various business, mineral and agricultural concessions to European nations. Dissatisfied with miserable living conditions, a broken economy and a corrupt monarchy, the Iranians sued for popular control of the government and the creation of a Majlis, or parliament.

  Political and social stress continued for many years bet
ween the Majlis, the monarchists and the Muslim clerics. Clashes between secular reformers and the mullahs, which continue to the present day, along with strife between the regional and tribal factions only added to undermine the social fabric of Iran. However, in these turbulent early years of the 20th Century, the thirst for democracy gained strong traction with the people as Britain and Russia began carving-up the country.

  In 1908 the British discovered rich oil reserves in Iran, the first find in the Persian Gulf. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company*[29] was formed with Britain managing the entire enterprise and garnering all of the profits. For decades, the Iranian workers at the oil fields were forced to work in sub-standard conditions and live in a shanty-town as the British managers and technicians and their families lived in the comfort of a gated community. Winston Churchill referred to the operation as “a prize from fairyland beyond our wildest dreams.”4

  In 1921, as the Iranian people continued to live in misery, a strong military leader with an equally independent personality rose to power. Reza Khan was a fearless soldier and able leader who managed to displace the reigning Shah as he became war minister. In 1923 he aspired to the office of prime minister and in 1925 deposed the reigning Shah, Ahmad Mirza, naming himself Reza Shah Pahlevi, the beginning of the Pahlevi dynasty in Iran.

  Reza Shah was a ruthless reformer who ruled with an iron hand. Although resentful and resistive of colonial influences imposed by the British but unable to eliminate their power and influence within Iran, he grudgingly maintained a mutually accepting relationship until World War II. In 1941, Iran maintained a neutral posture in the conflict but Reza Shah clearly was sympathetic to the Nazis. Concerned with the potential for a NAZI invasion, both Britain and the USSR invaded Iran and began occupying large regions of the country. Under pressure from the Allies, he abdicated thereby placing his eldest son, Mohammad Reza on the Peacock Throne.

  Throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s, Mohammad Reza became increasingly involved in the political affairs of the country with a policy of transforming Iran into a modern world power; interfering with the parliament and resisting the power and influence of the prime ministers. Many reforms were instituted including recognition of Israel and efforts to increase the secularization of the country resulting in friction with the Islamic majority. He maintained an iron fisted control of the populace, banned the Communist Party and suppressed political dissent. He later created SAVAK, the hated national intelligence organization.

  In early 1950, General Haj-Ali Razmara, the Shah’s handpicked choice, was elevated to prime minister. In less than a year he was assassinated, which added to the growing national unrest. The population began clamoring for nationalization of Iran’s oil production; national strikes and rioting ensued that laid the groundwork for a populist leader to emerge and a sensitive, melodramatic politician stepped forward.

  Mohammad Mosaddegh, duly elected Prime Minister of Iran who was ousted by a coup d’état masterminded by CIA operative, Kim Roosevelt in 1953.

  Mohammad Mossadeg was an erudite lawyer and patriotic activist with a dour demeanor and an articulate, passionate manner of speech. He developed a reputation over many years as a sincere, honest leader while gaining a popular, national following. While a representative in the Majlis he passionately opposed the foreign influence in Iran and particularly Britain’s control of the nation’s oil industry.

  In 1951 he was elected to the office of Prime Minister of Iran with an overwhelming majority of the Majlis as he argued strenuously against the British Government and for the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry while appealing to both the United States and the world community for support. Just days prior to his gaining office, the Majlis voted to nationalize the nation’s oil industry. However, great concern existed within Washington and Whitehall - the British for continued control of their oil monopoly and in Washington worry over Mossadeg’s relationship with the outlawed communist party in Iran. A secret CIA report5 stated:

  “By the end of 1952, it had become clear that the Mossadeg government in Iran was incapable of reaching an oil settlement with interested Western countries; was reaching a dangerous and advanced stage of illegal, deficit financing; was disregarding the Iranian constitution in prolonging Premier Mohammed Mossadeg’s desire for personal power; was governed by irresponsible policies based on emotion; had weakened the Shah and the Iranian Army to a dangerous degree; and had cooperated closely with the Tudeh (Communist) Party of Iran.”

  In retaliation for the loss of their critical resource, the British dispatched warships to the coast of Iran – a military invasion was considered as they pursued an international boycott of Iranian oil exports. The British Government lobbied for U. S. involvement; however, President Harry Truman, in the twilight of his administration, ruled out any American interference.

  However, the newly inaugurated Eisenhower Administration harbored no such trepidation. Saddled with the inheritance of a heated Cold War and the ongoing Korean War, Eisenhower worried over the possibility of a Communist takeover in Iran under the Mossadeg regime. Although even before Eisenhower gave his tacit approval for a covert action to unseat the troublesome Mossadeg, the CIA along with the British were scheming to remove him.

  When meeting with the powerful Dulles brothers in early 1953, John Foster, serving as Secretary of State and Allan who was Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, British spymaster Sir John Sinclair suggested Kim Roosevelt be assigned to prepare and implement a plan to depose Mossadeg and elevate the compliant Shah. Actually, the British approached Kim in November 1952 with a desire to topple Mossadeg.

  The resourceful Kim Roosevelt was already prepared with a plan which he named Operation AJAX, after one of the hero’s of Homer’s “The Iliad,” and the Trojan War. Author Tom Weiner in his Legacy of Ashes the History of the CIA notes:6

  “Roosevelt ran the show with flair. He had been working for two years on political, propaganda, and paramilitary operations to fight off a feared Soviet invasion in Iran. CIA officers already had enough cash and guns stashed away to support ten thousand tribal warriors for six months.”

  The ambitious scheme included organizing military and popular support and Iran’s Muslim clergy; elevating an individual to replace Mossadeg; gaining the Shah’s support and restoring him to a position of overall authority. The plan would rely on groups of thugs to incite street protests and riots and large infusions of money which the CIA had available in ample amounts. Kim expected to secretly smuggle himself and a colleague across the Iranian border to orchestrate the operation. On July 19, 1953, he succeeded.

  The extremely sensitive nature of his mission coupled with his famous name and previous trips to Tehran now required his presence in Iran to be unpublicized and undetected. The staples of spy-craft - establishing safe-houses and traveling under false identity were not new to Kermit Roosevelt – he was an old hand at subterfuge. On a recent trip to Tehran, he and his cohorts attempted to secure a high-ranking Soviet diplomat interested in defecting. In true James Bond fashion, they planned to clandestinely pickup the man in front of the Soviet Embassy. Kim, packing a pistol and a tear gas pencil, waited patiently in a parked car in front of the embassy gate but in a moment’s notice, the diplomat’s burly driver suspected the ruse and manhandled the diplomat back into the limousine and sped back into the embassy compound, denying Kim the prize. The diplomat was never seen again.

  On this trip, he would use a pseudonym, James F. Lochridge, and travel by car from Baghdad across the desert to Iran. On leaving his initial starting point he reminisced: “… I remembered what my father wrote of his arrival in East Africa with his father, T.R., in 1909 on The African Game Trails trip. ‘It was a great adventure, and allthe world was young!’

  He traversed the Iraq-Iran frontier and entered the country, noting the almost comical circumstances:

  “…we encountered an unusually listless, stupid and semiliterate immigration-customs fellow at Khanequin. In those days U. S. passports ca
rried, as they do not now, some brief description of any notable features of the holder. With encouragement and help from me, the guard laboriously transcribed my name as ‘Mr. Scar on Right Forehead.’ This I found a good omen.”7

  For his first weeks undercover in Iran, Kim lay ensconced in a walled compound in the mountain home of a fellow spook. He surreptitiously organized his resources and began to manipulate events from his comfortable, swimming pool equipped hideout. He began orchestrating behind the scenes: street rioting, bribery, spreading money around to key individuals and pressuring the mullahs. Through his British contacts, he was aided by three Iranian members of a wealthy and influential family, the Rashidian brothers. Using their influence and contacts, he was able to slip bribes to key members of the military, the Iranian press, certain legislators within the government and other well-placed members of Iranian society. “They bought information with cookie tins filled with cash. Their circle even included the Shah’s chief manservant. It would prove a catalyst in the coup.”8

  As security concerns mounted, he moved to a CIA “safe house” in Tehran, addressing paperwork and receiving briefings from his local henchmen. The agreed upon replacement for Mossadeg, General Fazlollag Zahedi, a war veteran and anti-communist, was safely ensconced in a mountain hideout outside Tehran. So far, all details of the operation were setting-up as planned.

  An essential part of the operation required the cooperation and support of the Shah. Not personally courageous by nature, he was acutely aware of the turbulent past of his country and fearful for his future. Consequently, he maintained a distant and guarded attitude toward any notion of participating in a coup against Mossadeg. His ambivalence became a stumbling-block to the operation. To quell the Shah’s fears, his strong-willed and courageous sister, Princess Ashraf, was flown to Tehran to overcome his apprehensions and gain his involvement. When this effort failed, the CIA even enlisted the former commander of the Imperial Iranian Gendarmerie,*[30] General H. Norman Schwarzkopf.*[31]