A LAUDABLE WHITEWASH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000400460032-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 16, 1999
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: March 17, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP
LOUISVILLE, K!.
COU?t r JC^~+rjz,
IA I i k t.
11 - 227,903
S - 339,591
0YRGHT A Laudable
A Review by Richard 1T'nthen
THE REAL CIA: By Lyman B. Kirkpatrick, Jr. 312
tip "7 venri41 .-j6.95.
ON EVERY SUBJECT of importance,
whether it be an institution or some great
man, we wait for a book to appear that
Is a complete and satisfying study of real
excellence, and such a book is often de-
scribed as the definitive work. It is my
opinion that Lyman Kirkpatrick's book
sects this high standard, and that it will
long stand as the most satisfying, infor-
mative and well presented account of our
entral Intelligence available to any
reader.
I had a terrible suspicion when starting
'The Real CIA" that this might be no
lore than a whitewash, written by a man
vho had been with the agency since its
cry beginning in 1047, and authored for
to better reason than to counter a string
f sensational and often critical books
ppearing in recent years. And in one
ease this is a whitewash. For it is such
clear presentation of the problems con-
ronting our nation when it went about
etting up an effective and coordinated
ntclligence system. that the reader can
my sympathize with the magnitude of
hat had to he done.
Kirkpatrick has been through major
eorganizations of the agency under Gen.
Valt& Bedell Smith and John MaCone,
~d of course has served as a top assis-
nt to Allen Dulles. His observations
V.. -at these men and others who have
een guarded by something of a veil of
i Lk. ?f c, 11
Jti t?~4T` S
secrecy make fascinating reading. Kirk-
patrick writes with dignity and discretion,
and yet his words tell a great deal in loud
clear tones.
TIE MEETS the criticism that CIA has
had too great an influence in foreign af-
fairs head on, saying, "It would be fool-
ish to argue that the CIA cannot influence
foreign affairs." He goes on to point out
that CIA men generally have longer tours
of duty and acquire more expertise than
their Slate Department counterparts, and
it is only natural that an ambassador will
look to the most experienced man on his
staff for advice.
His accounts of the Bay of Pigs inva-
sion and the U-2 incident are both lucid
and exciting. Indeed the book has a vital-
ity that does not permit any of the chap-
ters, even when dealing with a compli-
cated array of facts, to become tedious.
Kirkpatrick's career of nearly 20 years
with CIA was interrupted midway by an
attack of polio which left him crippled
and forced to use a wheel chair. That this
handicap did not end his service, or in-
deed prevent him from traveling about
the world as Inspector General of CIA,
is a tribute to his own fortitude.
Now a professor of political science
at Brown University, Kirkpatrick has per-
formed as valuable a service to the pub-
lic by writing "The Real CIA" as any-
thing he might have done while on the
Government payroll.
I -
Mr. Wathen, now a Jeffersonville attorney
-ii
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000400460032-9