THE PRICE OF POWER KISSINGER, NIXON, AND CHILE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00901R000600090006-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 24, 2006
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: December 1, 1982
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

Approved For Release 2006/07/24: CIA-RDP,1-91D D1 R0006ynnQnnnA-n
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ATLANTIC MONTHLY MAGAZINE
December 1982
MORKIDIF THE PRICE OF - PO
Kissinger, Nixon, and Chi
BY SEYMOUR M. HERSH
YEOMAN CHARLES E. RADFORD DII) NOT WANT TO BE
reassigned to Washington, but it was the fall of
1970 and he was in the Navy and his country was
at war. Radford, twenty-seven years old, had been hand-
picked by Rear Admiral Rembrandt C. Robinson to serve
as his confidential aide and secretary on the National Secu-
rity Council staff in the White House. The bright and am-
bitious Radford was an obvious choice for the sensitive job:
he was married and had young children; he was a devout
Mormon who did not drink and would never consider using
drugs; and he was fierce in his determination to earn a
commission and become a Navy officer,. Radford reported
for duty on September 18, replacing a civilian secretary
who was being transferred. There was obvious tension in
the office, and Admiral Robinson, in one of their first
meetings, demonstrated why, Radford recalls: "He made it
clear that my loyalty was to him, and that he expected my
loyalty, and that I wasn't to speak outside of the office
about what I slid in the office."
Admiral Robinson was the liaison officer between the
Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Security Council,
and his office was a sensitive one: the White House's most
highly classified documents, including intelligence materi-
als, routinely flowed through it. By mid-1970, Henry A.
Kissinger, President Richard Nixon's national security ad-
viser, had developed complete confidence in Robinson's
discretion and loyalty.
It was not surprising, therefore., that Robinson was
deeply involved in the secret Kissinger and Nixon oper-
ations against Salvador Allende Gossens, of Chile, who
had astounded the Central Intelligence Agency and the
White House by winning the September 4 popular election
for the Chilean presidency, although Allende received only
36.6 percent of the vote in a three-way race. Radford, who
arrived at his new post a few weeks after the Chilean elec-
tion, vividly recalls the sense of crisis: "This w; .n't sup-
posed to happen. It was a real blow. All of a sudden, the
pudding blew up on the stove." Admiral Robinson and his
superiors were "wringing their hands" over Chile, Radford
says, "almost as if they [the Chileans] were errant chil-
dren." Over the next few weeks, Radford says, he saw
This is the second of two installments from Seymour M. Hersh's The many sensitive memoranda and options papers, as the bu-
Price of Power: Kissinger in Nixon's White House, which will be pub- reaucracy sought to prevent Allende from assuming office.
fished nest lease 2006/07/24 :CIA-RCYdk~glQ~4ki 0fi10~?9~1~8alJto assassinate Allende.