PRESIDENT HOLDS KEY TO VALUE OF NEW CIA CHIEFTAIN RABORN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000100080129-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 14, 1999
• Sequence Number: 129
• Publication Date: April 14, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

Saniti;gg,c - ro fpr Release : CIA
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CPYRGHT
FOIAb3b
CPYRGHT
ic1.ent Holds ney to Va1~&
ew CIA chieftain Rabor
By FREDERIC W. COLLINS
l Mercury Washington Bureau
WA01:11INUTUIN - aeon
sensible way in which to gree
the appointment of William
Raborn as director of the Ce
tral Intelligence Agency is t
hang on to one's hat and hop
for the best.
It is impossible to make an
more than theoretical projec
Lions as to wliat kind of CIA di
rector any new man may make
As a matter of fact. it is nracti
tally impossible to say wit l
cerlainty Avhether- a man hat
,been a good CIA director whet
r he steps down. Objective op.in
ions are few among insiders,. an
truly informed opinions almost
nonexistent among outsiders.
In principle, a CIA director
ought to be just as good or had
as a President causes him to
be. The Central Intelligence
Agency is a servant of the
long extra arm, of complex
mechanical structure. It is a
highly - developed additiiohal
lobe of the executive brain, of
subtle and intricate sensory
capability. Its motor functions
are supposed to be auxiliikry
to those of the executive briaizi,
On the theoretical side, t he
plusses and minuses of the Ra-
born appointment appear to
conic out at a net reading justi-
fying. a hope for the best.
One of the pluses is Raborn's
demonstrated attainment in nav-
al.,life,.Ile had a leading part in
,the development of the Polaris tential rivalry between the
submarine missile system and and the blossoming Defense In-
distinguished himself concur telligence Agency. But trouble is:
rently by first class admitiistra- not guaranteed.
tion of the program and inspired It is possible also to have
not always remembered that sci
ence and technology are among
the most important disciplines in
the world of intelligence today.L-and, rather_bitinglX, against
It .is generally considered a Goldwater - in 1964. The fuiic-t
plus that Richard Helms has tionings of the CIA should not
been named by President John- be involved in party politics.
son to he Raborn's deputy. The most dangerous thing that
Helms, as deputy director f o rl can happen to the CIA is for it
plans under John A. McCone, to gain immunity from checks
now retiring as director of the 1i and balances within the govern-
CIA, has been perhaps the sec-Hment. It is not the repository ,of
and most important man in the `all wisdom, ever. It needs to
agency. have a rein kept on it. Its bast
President Johnson evidently chance to make mistakgs isf
considers it a,plus that Raborn;i when- it is running to free.
in addition to a superb compe-
tence tence and a splendid record as
an executive and administrator,
gets along well with people, and
especially with Congress.
It is essential that Congress,
or at least those key members
directly concerned with CIA
matters,; trust the director. It is
the director's obligation to make
sure he is not made the"captive
of Congress as the conseoluence
of maintaining an amicable pos-
ture toward it. ,
On the minus side, some re-
grets are expressed that a "mili-
tary man" has been named head
of CIA. Even if that is a fair
description of a retired admiral
of independent habit, the objec-
ion can be no more than
heoretical.
There have been some good
"military men" at the top of in-
telligence: Adm. Roscoe Hillen-
koetter and Gen. Walter Bedell
Smith, to name two. Reserva-
tions on this point do gain some
additional weight because, of po-
Raborn, who spoke for Johnson
The responsibility for avoiding;
that rests with President John-!
son, not with Raborn. If` John
son maintains mastery over, the
CIA, Raborn will probably go
down as a "good" director.
Sanitized Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000100080129-7