![]() To be sure, there are a few references to Hiss in Soviet-era documents that have been leaked to Allen Weinstein and his Russian co-author, Alexander Vassiliev. researchers obtained from the Russian archives in the early- tomid-1990s represent a “massive documentation of the guilt” 2 of Alger Hiss, not a single document with his name or that of Whittaker Chambers has ever been produced from the publicly accessible Russian archives. Despite continuing claims that documents U.S. To a few skeptics, however, this muddled spy case will remain an open question until the Russian archives disgorge incontrovertible proof that Hiss was or was not a conscious agent. They have done so, however, not because the evidence against Hiss is clear and definitive, but because the evidence box - filled as it is with a morass of circumstantial detail - leaves them the easy option of finding him guilty of some form of espionage activity during his murky relationship with Chambers. ![]() Most historians have conceded the argument to Weinstein (who is today the Archivist of the United States). Senate, largely based on the notoriety he had acquired from the case.Įven today, the Hiss affair remains a painful metaphor for the marginalization of left-wing New Dealers by anti-Communist crusaders, the weakness of the American Left for the last half century, and the less-than-courageous performance of American liberals during two generations of conservative ascendancy.Īlthough Hiss insisted on his innocence until his death in 1996, many Cold War historians, and perhaps most notably Allen Weinstein in his 1978 book, Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case, have firmly concluded that Hiss was part of a clandestine Communist cell from 1935 onward and that he passed information to the Soviet Union from late 1936 to early 1938 through an underground Communist courier named Whittaker Chambers. Nixon championed the allegations against Hiss and in 1950 was elected to the U.S. The case also catapulted an obscure California congressman, Richard M. As the distinguished historian Walter LaFeber once observed, “It was the Hiss trial, among other that triggered the McCarthy era.” 1 For many conservatives, the Hiss case confirmed the specter of Soviet infiltration at the highest levels of American government. The Hiss case became the most controversial spy story of the Cold War - and for good reason. State Department, was convicted of perjury and sentenced to prison on the grounds that he had lied about his role in a Soviet spy ring prior to World War II. foreign policy.Nearly 60 years ago, Alger Hiss, a former high official in the U. The story is dramatic, but Shelton’s analysis goes beyond sensationalism as she explores both the ideological motivation behind Hiss’s behavior and the lasting influence it has had on U.S. ![]() ![]() Intelligence analyst Christina Shelton employs an in-depth knowledge of Soviet intelligence affairs as well as recently released Hungarian and KGB archival material to shine a fresh light on one of the most famous U.S. They prefer to focus on the collectivist ideals Hiss stood for, rather than confront the reality of a man who systemically and methodically betrayed his country.įormer U.S. Yet many on the American left still consider Hiss an iconic figure-an innocent victim accused of unsubstantiated crimes. Decades later-after the Hiss trial had been long forgotten by most-archival evidence surfaced confirming the accusations: a public servant with access to classified documents had indeed passed crucial information to the Soviets for more than a decade. Because the statute of limitations on espionage had run out, he was convicted only of perjury. State Department official Alger Hiss was accused of being a Soviet spy. Intelligence analyst shines a fresh light on accused Soviet spy Alger Hiss, providing “a solid look at the specifics of the case as well as a useful overview of the ideological debate gripping America” ( Kirkus Reviews).
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