First, Hiss is not to be confused with Jerry Voorhis, as I have heard some people do. Voorhis, who Nixon defeated in a red baiting campaign for Congress, was the deepest left of the New Dealer social democrats in Congress, pushing for free heathcare and education for all citizens. But outside Nixon's '48 campaign--which was organized by infamous spymaster Allen Dulles and aided by a list of the big corporate names to sink the New Deal--no one has accused Voorhis with being a spy for Russia or even a Communist. Voorhis congratulated Nixon on his victory and was often called on later by Congress and the news media. His major work afterwards was with the "Cooperative" movement (agricultural coops), and as he had started and later donated a school at the site, is now considered the Father of Cal Poly Pomona.
Alger Hiss was a visonary in the FDR State Department who was pushing for peace with Russia under the terms of the Yalta agreement (which granted a Russian sphere of influence, while also permitting other spheres of influence for the allies). This was also FDR's plan--no Cold War or resumption of hostility toward USSR as had been common since 1917.
But Hiss was accused and ultimately convicted of perjury in 1950 related to his denials he had been a spy for USSR. This came after he unsuccessfully tried to sue Whittaker Chambers--a former gay lover--over defamation after Chambers claimed he and Hiss had been spies for USSR. Chambers--as a cooperating government witness--was never charged with a crime. Chambers had first fingered Hiss at the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and Hiss's conviction was touted by Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy as proof of their claims that Communists had infiltrated the US government.
The case was controversial at the time and remains controversial to this day. Hiss served three years and 8 months in federal prison then lived until 1996, outliving McCarthy, Chambers, Dulles, and Nixon.
After Hiss's conviction, Chambers became a star of the rising Movement Conservatism until his death in 1960, aided by the fact that his sexual orientation--which might offend movement conservatives--never became public during his life and remains relatively unknown. Reagan awarded Chambers a Medal of Freedom posthumously.
Finally, the Cold Warriors seemed to have their day with the release of the Venona files (decrypted Russian messages in the possession of the NSA) in the 1990's. To some, these seemed to prove that Hiss was the spy as charged.
This article written in 2008 shows that the Venona papers show no such thing, and the double agent with code name ALES was actually another State Department employee Wilder Foote.
I would agree with my friend who has not yet stopped claiming that the Venona files seal the deal in this sense--this shouldn't matter to our understanding of what the right thing is now.
We both agree that right thing now is peace with Russia and all other nations, and shedding the "World Policeman" claim (actually it's been more like global thug).
I would go further and say that Hiss and FDR were right about this in 1945 as well, and this would be true even if Hiss had been a double agent*. The case is made splendidly by The Untold History of the USA by Oliver Stone. But this is a matter of only historical interest today.
Peace is step one to a better world.
And, to clarify, peace doesn't mean bombing the rest of the world into submission first, as we have long claimed necessary. Peace means immediate cessation of all hostile actions and threats and full withdrawal of all foreign bases and redefining the mission of the military as defense of US territory alone. Furthermore the de-weaponization and de-militarization of the USA and putting our people to work on the now crucial conversion to renewable energy and other sustainable practices.
(*Following a logically necessary but often ignored-by-partisans-and-idiots principle that the truth of a statement is a property of the statement itself and not necessarily that of a person who says it--who is in any case only one such person. So otherwise good people may say untrue things for various reasons, and bad people may coincidentally say true things--perhaps in the process of trying to blend in with others who think that and control them. Most certainly the real spy in the State Department echoed the ideas those around him. Rather than directly attacking the popular New Deal and other social democratic messages, Movement Conservatives would smear the messenger as "Communist"--a term they made synonomous with traitor-for-the-Soviets--with little or no evidence. This is further evidence of their corruption--which has helped corrupt reason and logic and politics in the USA ever since.)
Alger Hiss was a visonary in the FDR State Department who was pushing for peace with Russia under the terms of the Yalta agreement (which granted a Russian sphere of influence, while also permitting other spheres of influence for the allies). This was also FDR's plan--no Cold War or resumption of hostility toward USSR as had been common since 1917.
But Hiss was accused and ultimately convicted of perjury in 1950 related to his denials he had been a spy for USSR. This came after he unsuccessfully tried to sue Whittaker Chambers--a former gay lover--over defamation after Chambers claimed he and Hiss had been spies for USSR. Chambers--as a cooperating government witness--was never charged with a crime. Chambers had first fingered Hiss at the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and Hiss's conviction was touted by Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy as proof of their claims that Communists had infiltrated the US government.
The case was controversial at the time and remains controversial to this day. Hiss served three years and 8 months in federal prison then lived until 1996, outliving McCarthy, Chambers, Dulles, and Nixon.
After Hiss's conviction, Chambers became a star of the rising Movement Conservatism until his death in 1960, aided by the fact that his sexual orientation--which might offend movement conservatives--never became public during his life and remains relatively unknown. Reagan awarded Chambers a Medal of Freedom posthumously.
Finally, the Cold Warriors seemed to have their day with the release of the Venona files (decrypted Russian messages in the possession of the NSA) in the 1990's. To some, these seemed to prove that Hiss was the spy as charged.
This article written in 2008 shows that the Venona papers show no such thing, and the double agent with code name ALES was actually another State Department employee Wilder Foote.
I would agree with my friend who has not yet stopped claiming that the Venona files seal the deal in this sense--this shouldn't matter to our understanding of what the right thing is now.
We both agree that right thing now is peace with Russia and all other nations, and shedding the "World Policeman" claim (actually it's been more like global thug).
I would go further and say that Hiss and FDR were right about this in 1945 as well, and this would be true even if Hiss had been a double agent*. The case is made splendidly by The Untold History of the USA by Oliver Stone. But this is a matter of only historical interest today.
Peace is step one to a better world.
And, to clarify, peace doesn't mean bombing the rest of the world into submission first, as we have long claimed necessary. Peace means immediate cessation of all hostile actions and threats and full withdrawal of all foreign bases and redefining the mission of the military as defense of US territory alone. Furthermore the de-weaponization and de-militarization of the USA and putting our people to work on the now crucial conversion to renewable energy and other sustainable practices.
(*Following a logically necessary but often ignored-by-partisans-and-idiots principle that the truth of a statement is a property of the statement itself and not necessarily that of a person who says it--who is in any case only one such person. So otherwise good people may say untrue things for various reasons, and bad people may coincidentally say true things--perhaps in the process of trying to blend in with others who think that and control them. Most certainly the real spy in the State Department echoed the ideas those around him. Rather than directly attacking the popular New Deal and other social democratic messages, Movement Conservatives would smear the messenger as "Communist"--a term they made synonomous with traitor-for-the-Soviets--with little or no evidence. This is further evidence of their corruption--which has helped corrupt reason and logic and politics in the USA ever since.)
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