Steadies and One-Timers

The flow of oddball letters and phone calls increases perceptibly when CIA is in the news. Less than 48 hours after President Johnson announced he would nominate Admiral Raborn to be the DCI, a Detroit man had sent the Director-designate 8,000 words of complaint about the high cost of prescription medicines and a New Yorker had asked his help in controlling a whistling brain. The file of letters to him was mounting even before his appointment had been confirmed. On 17 April a Massachusetts man sent him some well-intentioned advice. "Dear Admiral," he wrote, "as you may be aware, L.B.J. ain't got much Brains or he wouldn't be President. I dealt with his type for 37 years. The best way to get along with him is humor him."

But a faithful nucleus of loyal intelligence fans always contributes about 25 percent of the total. Probably most of the cranks are as harmless as the childish codes they sometimes use. The trouble is, they're unpredictable. A few might have complaints worth hearing; others might pose a real threat to an unsuspecting officer who received them.

Nut-and-dolt visits to headquarters offices have practically disappeared since CIA moved out to Langley; an occasional walk-in still calls at its personnel office downtown. Its overt or semi-overt domestic offices, which are more approachable, have now compiled an impressive record of coping with off-beat visitors.

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Further Reading: CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties

For readers wanting to dive into topics covered in the fascinating CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill with Dan Piepenbring, here is a compendium of books used as sources as part of this 20-year investigative effort. It makes for a great reading list for those interested in the 1960s, FBI, CIA, the counter-culture and the history of the United States of the past century. Choose a topic (organized here by the CHAOS's chapters and each book's first appearance therein) and dive in further down the rabbit hole. CHAPTER 1: The Crime of the Century Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry, 1974 Will You Die For Me? The Man Who Killed For Charles Manson Tells His Own Story by Tex Watson as told to Chaplain Ray, 1978 My Life with Charles Manson by Paul Watkins with Guillermo Soledad, 1979 CHAPTER 2: An Aura of Danger Heroes And Villains: The True Story O...

CIA Domestic Activities Timeline - August 1972

1 August 1972 DDS related that Mr. [...] of the CI Staff received a call from the Secret Service requesting our training film on defensive driving. The Director interposed no objection to making this film available. 8 August 1972 Houston reported that Judge McArdle granted a motion for summary judgment in the Tofte case. 21 August 1972 Houston noted a telephone call from Howard Hunt who explained that his attorney was with him and had a question about a friend's past affiliation with the Agency. [...] DD/Sec, has reviewed the employment, and Houston reported that he replied directly to Hunt's friend, Mr. [...] that his old affiliation should create no problems in connection with his appearance before a grand jury. 22 August 1972 Thuermer reported on a call from a Mr. Crewdson of the New York Times who said he was "formally requesting" a photograph of Howard Hunt. The DDP observed that we are under no obligation to provide a photograph, and Thuermer said he had decline...

CIA Domestic Activities Timeline - July 1971

1 July 1971 "Carver noted that Secretary Laird had requested that our printing plant assist in reproducing the forty-seven-volume secret Pentagon study on Vietnam for distribution to the press and others this morning. This request was aborted by the President." (DDCI in the chair) 2 July 1971 "DD/S said that in the absence of [...] attended a meeting at the White House yesterday of the interagency group which is reviewing classification and declassification policy. The President spent an hour with the group and said that he wants: ... and (6) the revocation of all clearances and the return of all classified material held at Harvard, Brookings, Rand, and Cal Tech, as well as the withdrawal of Q clearances held by the Regents of the University of California. A brief discussion followed, and the Executive Director noted that DOD has asked us to provide information on all our contracts with Rand, as well as all clearances held by Rand personnel for our purposes. Acting Direc...

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