Alger Hiss

Alger Hiss
Los Angeles Times · CC BY 4.0 · source
Name	Alger Hiss
Birth date	November 11, 1904
Birth place	Baltimore, Maryland
Death date	November 15, 1996
Death place	New York City, New York
Occupation	Government official, lawyer
Known for	Yalta Conference, United Nations, House Un-American Activities Committee

Alger Hiss was a United States government official and lawyer who was involved in the establishment of the United Nations and played a key role in the Yalta Conference. He was a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Law School, where he was a classmate of Felix Frankfurter and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.. Hiss's career was marked by his work with prominent figures such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, and his involvement in significant events like the Potsdam Conference and the Nuremberg Trials. He was also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

● Early Life and Education

Alger Hiss was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Mary Minnie Hughes and Charles Alger Hiss. He grew up in a family of modest means and was raised by his mother after his father's death. Hiss attended Baltimore City College and later enrolled in Johns Hopkins University, where he studied history and economics under the guidance of Broadus Mitchell and Wilton Dillon. He was also influenced by the works of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, which shaped his early interest in socialism and communism. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University, Hiss went on to attend Harvard Law School, where he was a classmate of Felix Frankfurter and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., and was influenced by the teachings of Roscoe Pound and Joseph Henry Beale.

● Career

Hiss began his career as a lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts, working for the law firm Choate, Hall & Stewart. He later moved to Washington, D.C. and joined the United States Department of Justice, where he worked under the supervision of Homer Cummings and Frank Murphy. Hiss's work at the Department of Justice involved cases related to labor law and antitrust law, and he was also involved in the prosecution of cases related to espionage and sedition. He was a member of the American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association, and was also involved in the work of the National Lawyers Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union. Hiss's career was also marked by his involvement in the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt, including the National Recovery Administration and the Works Progress Administration.

● The Hiss Case

The Hiss case began in 1948, when Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist Party USA member and editor of Time magazine, accused Hiss of being a Soviet spy. The accusation was made before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which was chaired by J. Parnell Thomas. Hiss denied the allegations, but the case drew widespread attention and sparked a national debate about communism and espionage. The case involved other notable figures, including Richard Nixon, who was a member of HUAC, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was a friend and supporter of Hiss. The case also involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which was led by J. Edgar Hoover, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which was established in 1947.

● Trial and Imprisonment

Hiss was tried twice for perjury, with the first trial ending in a hung jury. The second trial, which took place in 1950, resulted in a guilty verdict, and Hiss was sentenced to 44 months in prison. The trial was presided over by Judge Samuel Kaufman, and the prosecution was led by Thomas Murphy. Hiss's defense team included Lloyd Paul Stryker and Hugo Black, who was a Supreme Court of the United States justice. The trial involved testimony from notable figures, including Dean Acheson and Adlai Stevenson, who were friends and supporters of Hiss. Hiss served 44 months in prison, during which time he was visited by friends and supporters, including Felix Frankfurter and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr..

● Later Life and Legacy

After his release from prison, Hiss worked as a salesman and later as a lecturer, speaking about his experiences and the Red Scare. He also wrote a book, In the Court of Public Opinion, which was published in 1957. Hiss's legacy is complex and contested, with some viewing him as a victim of McCarthyism and others seeing him as a Soviet spy. He was a member of the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born and the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, and was also involved in the work of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Hiss died in 1996, at the age of 92, and his legacy continues to be debated by historians and scholars, including Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Eric Foner, and Dorothy Gallagher.

● Controversy and Debate

The Hiss case remains a topic of controversy and debate, with some arguing that Hiss was wrongly accused and others believing that he was guilty of espionage. The case has been the subject of numerous books and articles, including works by Allen Weinstein, Herbert Romerstein, and Nathan Glazer. The case has also been the subject of several films and documentaries, including The Life and Times of Alger Hiss and Reds. The controversy surrounding the Hiss case has also involved other notable figures, including Ronald Reagan, who was a supporter of Richard Nixon during the Hiss case, and Gerald Ford, who was a member of HUAC during the 1940s. The case continues to be studied by scholars and historians, including those at the Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the University of California, Berkeley's Institute of International Studies.