Dupes

by Paul Kengor

  Praise the Lord for Clarence Darrow.

  Infiltrating the Roosevelt Administration

  Bear in mind that liberals who idolized FDR later defended Communist agitators who trashed their beloved president—defended them, that is, against the anti-Communists. Despite the Communist attacks on a liberal icon, it was the anti-Communists who earned progressives’ wrath for insisting that these Communist agitators were un-American, pro-Soviet, and dedicated to interests outside of the United States.

  The attacks on the greatest liberal president, his administration, his policies, and his wife—a historic first lady with a policy role—were clear even at the time. A more sinister Communist tactic would not be discovered until after World War II, and in fact we are still learning details to this day. The Communists, it turns out, were toiling behind the scenes to infiltrate the Roosevelt administration on behalf of Moscow. Sometimes closet CPUSA members were penetrating the administration, but frequently actual spies for the Soviet KGB infiltrated the upper reaches of government. Alger Hiss is the most infamous example of the latter.

  Perhaps the most thoroughly penetrated area of FDR's administration was agriculture, and specifically the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). FDR had formed this new wing of the Department of Agriculture to solve the nation's farm crisis, at a time when agriculture was still America's most pervasive industry. Soon AAA was bursting with a huge staff of five thousand, and included top talent from Ivy League faculties and Wall Street, as well as such liberal dynamos as Adlai Stevenson, Abe Fortas, and Thurman Arnold.12

  This elite intellectual powerhouse was ready to rescue America's farmers. As a group, writes Sam Tanenhaus in his seminal biography of Whittaker Chambers, this crew “knew little, if anything, about farming or farmers.” They didn't need to; they were America's progressives. They had been self-anointed and self-appointed; it was their job to change America via the New Deal.13

  Unfortunately, within that powerhouse of traditional Democrats were secret Communists like John Abt and Alger Hiss.14 There was also Hal Ware, who would create an entire Communist cell within AAA. These clandestine Communists duped many of the liberals in the organization—big time.

  The Communists keyed in on AAA because they knew that agriculture was the backbone of the American economy, as well as the Soviet economy, the Chinese economy, and the world economy. As usual, The New Republic was there to champion the Communist cause, editorializing: “The only groups in the country that have given serious attention to the plight of the tenant farmer are the Socialists and the Communists.”15 But some of the comrades, eager to revamp American agriculture, privately became restless when it appeared the New Deal would not go as far as they had envisioned: no mass collectivization. Some of them had begun referring to FDR as “the ‘Kerensky’ of the U.S.A.,” referring to the liberal official who briefly ruled Russia after the fall of the czar but who was ousted when Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized power.16

  Hal Ware jumped in. Ware was no Potemkin Progressive; he was a committed Communist. As a paid consultant to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he had traveled to Russia in the 1920s and ended up supplying statistics on the agricultural utopia organized from Moscow. In 1931 he returned to the United States from the Soviet Union to organize farmers into what he called “an agrarian wing to the proletarian movement.” He was initially frustrated, but that changed with the advent of the Roosevelt administration. In 1933, sensing an opportunity, he began canvassing government agencies for new recruits for the Communist Party.17

  Though no longer with the Department of Agriculture, Ware “became a familiar figure at the AAA,” according to Tanenhaus, as he virtually “camped out in the lunchroom.” He began exerting real influence. As Tanenhaus rightly notes, Ware “assembled a secret Communist network in Washington,” a cluster of seven cells or more, each with a leader who also belonged to an “elite nucleus” that wielded substantial influence. These separate but coordinated cells were created as part of a deliberate, viable Communist apparatus operating within the Roosevelt administration. Each cell leader was tasked with organizing a “study group” within his government agency. From those cells, Commissar Ware and his comrades thrust their swords deep.18

  How successful was the penetration?

  Alger Hiss, Harry Dexter White, Lauchlin Currie, and Harold Glasser are a few of the more notorious KGB agents who we now know were doing the work of the USSR, and who preyed upon unsuspecting liberals throughout the Roosevelt administration. Other suspects ranged from John Abt to Charles Kramer, and even to Harry Hopkins.

  Harry Hopkins: Agent 19?

  Because of his remarkable influence with FDR, Harry Hopkins stands as the most sensational case among the potential Soviet agents.

  Born in 1890 in Sioux City, Iowa, to a small businessman father and devout Methodist mother, Hopkins was a leading progressive of his day. He left the Midwest for New York City in the 1910s, where he was caught up in the left-wing politics of the city. By the 1920s he was active in a number of liberal causes, with special interest in social work. He ended up executive director of the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration under New York's governor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His management of welfare policy impressed not only the governor but also the governor's wife, Eleanor.

  In March 1933, soon after taking over the White House, FDR summoned Hopkins to Washington to spearhead relief at the federal level. The adviser quickly gained influence with FDR, so much so that he became one of the principal architects of the New Deal, particularly the relief programs within the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Under Hopkins, the WPA became one of the largest employers in all of the United States.

  Only after his death in 1946 did we begin learning more concrete information on Hopkins's dealings with Communists. He seems to have first had contact with the Communist underground in the 1930s, and to have fallen in with Hal Ware's cells within the Department of Agriculture. The researchers of the Venona transcripts—communiqués between the Soviet Union and American Communists intercepted by the U.S. government—have concluded that Hopkins was a member of a Department of Agriculture “study group” run by Lee Pressman.19

  Of course, participation in Pressman's group would not by itself guarantee that Hopkins was a Communist, let alone a KGB mole. Hopkins's activities are more instructive. Many of his actions were so helpful to the Soviets that he was at a minimum a terribly naïve dupe, and possibly something much worse.20

  The evidence from the Soviet side, suggesting that he was something much worse, began emerging in the 1960s. The sources include Oleg Gordievsky, a former KGB officer and one of the most knowledgeable defectors ever to leave the Soviet Union, and Iskhak Akhmerov, a high-level Soviet official who worked inside the United States during World War II. Gordievsky began working under cover for British intelligence in 1974, a decade before his defection, until he was exposed by CIA traitor Aldrich Ames. Gordievsky called Hopkins an agent of “major significance.”21 Akhmerov, who was in contact with the likes of Alger Hiss, described Hopkins as “the most important of all Soviet wartime agents in the United States.”22 He knew Hopkins dating back to the 1930s.

  Much more information on Hopkins emerged decades later, specifically with the revelations from the Venona transcripts. Many Venona messages contain messages to or from Hopkins. He was in contact with such high-level Soviet officials as General A. I. Belyaev, Ambassador Maxim Litvinov, Andrei Gromyko—and Stalin himself. Some of his discussions with Stalin were conducted in FDR's presence, but others were not. Many of those interactions were obviously appropriate for a representative to the American president, but others seem suspicious. In one Venona report, dated May 29, 1943, Akhmerov reported to Moscow on secret discussions between FDR and Churchill. According to the report, Soviet agent “19” channeled this secret information to the USSR. Researchers who have studied Venona make a convincing case that agent 19 was Harry Hopkins.23

  The leading authority on Venona, Herb Romerstein,
is convinced that Hopkins actively worked for the other side. “He was a dedicated Soviet agent,” states Romerstein, categorically. “He was both a spy—that is, he supplied information—and an agent of influence.” Hopkins was not a “useful idiot,” says Romerstein, but rather one who sought out useful idiots: “Some of those he conned in the White House and outside were useful idiots.”24

  Having secured the ear and deep trust of Roosevelt, Hopkins arguably became the president's right-hand man during World War II. He was essentially FDR's chief political adviser, confidant, troubleshooter, and sometimes diplomat. He literally lived in the White House, with FDR seeing him more than any other aide. “You'll learn what a lonely job this is,” said a vulnerable Roosevelt to presidential aspirant Wendell Wilkie, “and you'll discover the need for somebody like Harry Hopkins, who asks for nothing except to serve you.”25

  The common claim is that Hopkins alone wielded more power than the entire State Department. That certainly seemed the case as he accompanied Roosevelt to all the major conferences of World War II: Casablanca, Tehran, Yalta. Nowhere was he more instrumental than on policy toward Stalin's state and via the Lend-Lease program, which directed tens of billions of dollars to U.S. allies in the war effort. He was the unofficial chief emissary to Britain, where he worked directly with Churchill, and was also sent to Moscow to negotiate with Stalin.

  Hopkins became close to the Soviets; precisely how close remains the big question, and a source of controversy. He still has loyal defenders who say any suggestion that he was a Soviet agent is an ugly smear. The latest declassified material, however, plus the research of Romerstein and others, raises legitimate concerns that Harry Hopkins was serving Soviet interests.

  And if he was not a Soviet spy, then he was a dupe of disturbing proportions. As we shall see, he aided the Soviets in two areas in particular: the atomic bomb and the future of postwar Eastern Europe.

  FDR and Comrade Browder

  Before we consider more on Harry Hopkins, it is important to take notice of another curious, and controversial, FDR relationship: the president's connection to Earl Browder, the face of American Communism.

  Browder (1891–1973), general secretary of CPUSA from 1934 to 1945, was no minor figure with minor notions. “Above all,” he had stated in his 1934 CPUSA convention report, “we arm ourselves with the political weapons forged by the victorious Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the mighty sword of Marxism-Leninism, and are strengthened and inspired by the victories of socialist construction won under its Bolshevik leadership headed by Stalin.” The pro-Stalin, pro-Soviet patriot continued: “Our World Communist Party, the Communist International, provides us the guarantee not only of our victory in America, but of the victory of the proletariat throughout the world.”26

  To that end, the Comintern of the 1930s had not backed down from its earlier triumphant and militaristic pronouncements. In its recently published “conditions for admission,” the Comintern stated that its members—which, of course, included CPUSA—“must render every possible assistance to the Soviet Republics in their struggles against counter-revolutionary forces. They should conduct an organized and definite propaganda to induce the workers to refuse to make or handle any kind of military equipment intended for use against the Soviet Republics, and should also carry on, by legal or illegal means, a propaganda among any troops sent against the Workers’ Republics.”27

  For members of CPUSA, things remained crystal clear: Their first priority was the Soviet Union. Period.

  For its part, CPUSA stated candidly: “We want our Party to become like an army, a Bolshevik army, who while understanding the policy behind each decision is prepared to carry it out with military promptness, without any hesitation or question, and further, to carry out the decisions with Bolshevik judgment and maximum effectiveness.”28

  Given such bold statements, any relationship between Browder and the sitting president of the United States was nothing to be shrugged off. Understandably, then, the nature of the Browder-FDR relationship has long been one of intense speculation, from both the Right and the Left. The wildest speculation, in fact, was rooted in exaggerations begun on the far Left—ironically, begun by Browder and his party.

  The Speculation

  My first angle into the worst of the speculation was a knowledgeable source involved in Cold War intelligence. By then in his eighties, the source was tight-lipped, insisted on anonymity, would not go on the record, and clearly seemed bound by security restrictions—both ancient and unnecessary—in terms of what he could say or even suggest. It seemed apparent, however, that my source's source was Browder himself.

  Asked if Browder had “advised FDR or pushed him toward wrongly trusting Stalin,” my source said, “I can't say. I don't know the nature. There were rumors that he [Browder] met with FDR.… These claims came after the war. FDR was dead by then, so he couldn't confirm anything.”

  My source continued, “The claim was that he [Browder] was a conduit of information between top-level Communist Party people around the world and FDR—and our government. That, I think I can say, is true.” He added: “There's no doubt that they had contact. The key is how, where, and when.”

  As my source noted, the questions about Browder's connection to President Roosevelt were crucial because Browder was not only head of CPUSA but also a “Comintern agent,” one who actively recruited Red Americans as official Soviet agents.29 Moreover, the source said, Browder in the 1930s “was trying to organize the world for Moscow,” as he had been “a Communist loyal to the Soviet Union.” So it is crucial to know to what extent he was in touch with the president of the United States, who was being lobbied to make policy changes favorable to Stalin's Russia.

  I include this anonymous source only because it is representative of the speculation, and because his information checks out. Consider:

  Early published information on an FDR-Browder relationship surfaced in the 1940s. We know that the president's contact with Browder went back to the 1930s, on issues ranging from domestic politics—even presidential elections—to international relations, including, yes, relations with the USSR. The most famous and open exchanges between the two came when FDR granted Browder a full and unconditional pardon and (later) a commutation of a prison sentence. As for the latter, the Communist leader had been sentenced to four years in prison for passport fraud; in 1940 he had falsified his passport so he could travel to the USSR.30

  But the exchanges between the two men went well beyond legal matters, as shown by letters between FDR and Browder, and communications between Browder and the Comintern. For instance, Roosevelt and Browder exchanged four letters between June 14 and July 12, 1943; these have been declassified and are available from the FDR Library. We can now observe what FDR could not at the time: that on June 12, just before the exchange of letters began, Comintern head and Stalin stooge Georgi Dimitroff,31 communicating with Browder via clandestine radio, told his loyal American servant to use his influence with the Roosevelt administration to try to secure the release of a Communist Party apparatchik held in Argentina and about to be deported to Spain.32 The apparatchik was Victorio Codovilla (1894–1970), early founder of the International Socialist Party, a forerunner to the Communist Party,33 and an international troublemaker. Codovilla had been the Comintern representative in Spain—a spot of major interest to the Soviets in the 1930s, to say the least. Sure enough, Comrade Browder cabled FDR just two days later, on June 14, 1943, requesting that the president step in to prevent the sure execution of Codovilla in Spain.

  The mere fact that Browder would directly cable the president bespeaks both bravado and influence. That Roosevelt would respond is a confirmation of Browder's confidence. In FDR's first response, on June 23, he said that this was a matter of “exclusive jurisdiction of the Argentine Government,” but that he would nonetheless talk to the U.S. ambassador to Argentina. Just three days later, on June 26, the president wrote Browder with good news from the ambassador: Codovilla would
not be deported. Two weeks later, on July 12, a pleased Browder wrote a letter thanking the president.34

  Anyone who claims that there was no substance to the relationship between Browder and FDR, or that the CPUSA leader exerted no influence on the White House, needs to read correspondence such as this. The exchanges are undeniable, and significant.

  In the Codovilla case and others, Browder dutifully reported the information he obtained to his friends at the Comintern. Often he communicated by cable or radio, but sometimes he traveled to Moscow to connect with Dimitroff and associates. In those sessions with Dimitroff, Browder discussed such matters as the Codovilla situation, as well as foreign policy, international events, the prospects for FDR's reelection, the coalition of American groups and political parties supporting Roosevelt, and even whether CPUSA should back the president's reelection bids. Browder and Dimitroff considered whether the Communists should be a part of the big-tent, left-wing coalition supporting FDR.35

  From the Comintern files and declassified Venona transcripts, it is clear what the Comintern knew; what the KGB, GRU (military intelligence), and NKVD (secret police) knew; and what Browder knew. It is not always clear what FDR knew. But we know—from Venona and Comintern files, as well as presidential papers and letters, and the private papers of Eleanor Roosevelt, Earl Browder, former Communist (and noted historian) Theodore Draper, and others—that Browder was the link among them all.