Noted members of the intelligence community, including the head of the Central Intelligence Agency and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, contemplated the changing face of the field, and one man’s role in it, during an April 28 symposium at Georgetown.

The symposium, which included two panels of current and retired intelligence community members, explored the life and legacy of former CIA Director Richard Helms. His widow, Cynthia, has donated a collection of personal and official papers and photographs to the university.

As CIA director from 1966 to 1973, Helms was at the forefront of a field forced to adapt quickly under post-World War II realities, such as the growth of communism and ultimately the Cold War. in the aftermath of  botched operations during the 1960s -- such as the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, the public began to demand more accountability from the CIA. This required a delicate balance between protecting the country and ensuring the trust of American citizens in order to carry out the agency’s work, said Gen. Michael Hayden, current CIA director.

“As the first truly modern CIA director, Richard Helms set precedents that have guided each of his successors,” Hayden said. “In the tumultuous era of the Vietnam War and Watergate, the American people demanded greater transparency from their government, including its intelligence agencies.  In practice, it meant there was a new task in the director’s inbox – the need to explain publicly CIA’s essential role and critical impact.”

Helms had to set those precedents, said Kissinger, because he headed American intelligence during the turmoil of the Cold War, which threw out all of the traditional rules of intelligence.

“America found itself confronted at the end of World War II with a kind of conflict we had never experienced – [having to go] against a totalitarian regime with a universal ideology, using methods you could not read in history books,” he said. “We had to recruit our personnel from a society that had never had to conduct a permanent foreign policy.”

The result became a “gray area between diplomacy and open conflict” for the United States, said Kissinger, who also served as national security advisor in the administrations of Presidents Nixon and Ford.

Helms was caught up in the uproar over secret operations in other countries as well, most notably the CIA’s role in overthrowing the Chilean government in 1973. Convicted for perjury, Helms received a two-year suspended sentence. Kissinger castigated this trial, saying Helms and other intelligence officers were vilified for protecting America.

But, Kissinger added, Helms never turned his back on the agency.

“There was one important difference between the agency then and what one sees now,” Kissinger said. “We never had to worry that Dick would carry any disagreement he had with us to the public or that anyone in the agency would use intelligence reports to participate in the public debate that was going on.”

The CIA continues to straddle that line between informing the public and achieving its core missions, Kissinger said. While supporting open debate, Kissinger said it is most important for the president to receive private advice that can be reflected upon before the information is publicized.

Helms’ papers show his attempts to find that balance. The collection is invaluable for scholars and students, said university librarian Artemis Kirk, as she thanked Cynthia Helms for the contribution.

Robert Gallucci, dean of the School of Foreign Service, agreed.

“Having access to the personal papers of Richard Helms creates an extraordinary opportunity for insight into the world of intelligence and diplomacy during the turbulent and perilous days of World War II and the Cold War,” Gallucci said.

Georgetown University Library, the university’s Center for Peace and Security Studies and the CIA’s Center for the Study of Intelligence and Historical Collections Division sponsored the symposium.
Helms’ archived materials are on display at Lauinger Library through May 31.

-- Lauren Burgoon, Blue & Gray Assistant Editor

(April 29, 2008)