American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond

by E. Howard Hunt

Overview

Think you know everything there is to know about the OSS, the Cold War, the CIA, and Watergate? Think again. In American Spy, one of the key figures in postwar international and political espionage tells all. Former OSS and CIA operative and White House staffer E. Howard Hunt takes you into the covert designs of Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon:

• His involvement in the CIA coup in Guatemala in 1954, the Bay of Pigs invasion, and more
• His work with CIA officials such as Allen Dulles and Richard Helms
• His friendship with William F. Buckley Jr., whom Hunt brought into the CIA
• The amazing steps the CIA took to manipulate the media in America and abroad
• The motives behind the break-in at Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office
• Why the White House "plumbers" were formed and what they accomplished
• The truth behind Operation Gemstone, a series of planned black ops activities against Nixon's political enemies
• A minute-by-minute account of the Watergate break-in
• Previously unreleased details of the post-Watergate cover-up

Complete with documentation from audiotape transcripts, handwritten notes, and official documents, American Spy is must reading for anyone who is fascinated by real-life spy tales, high-stakes politics, and, of course, Watergate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620459737
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/01/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	340
Sales rank:	128,709
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

White House "plumber" E. HOWARD HUNT served as a covert operative for the CIA from 1950 until the 1970s, and participated in many of the agency's most secret missions, both abroad and in the United States. He is also the author of more than seventy spy novels.

GREG AUNAPU is a nationally respected journalist, who worked as a freelancer for Time and People magazines for ten years, and has reported for many national news organizations. He is coauthor of two previous books, most recently, Without a Trace.

Table of Contents

Foreword   William F. Buckley Jr.     ix
Introduction     1
World War II     3
OSS     8
China Station     21
The End of War     28
The Marshall Plan     34
The CIA     44
Mexico     52
The Balkans and Operation PB/Success     68
Japan     85
"Play It Again, Sam"     97
Bay of Pigs     113
The Assassination of President Kennedy     126
The Great Propaganda Machine     148
Inside the White House     173
Gemstone     191
Colson and McCord     198
Watergate     210
Watergate Redux     227
Fallout     236
Disaster Strikes Twice     252
After the Crash     269
Sentencing     279
The Web Unweaves     294
The Memo Bites Back     311
The Problem with Langley     323
Index     333

Editorial Reviews

Career spy, Watergate conspirator and prolific suspense novelist Hunt (Guilty Knowledge) collaborated with journalist Aunapu (Without a Trace) on this breezy, unrepentant memoir. Hunt (who died recently at 88) recalls the highlights of a long career, from WWII service with the fabled Office of Strategic Services (OSS)—predecessor of the CIA—to a career with the agency itself and a stint as a consultant to the Nixon White House. As a White House operative, Hunt specialized in dirty tricks and break-ins—including the Democratic National Committee's headquarters—and served 33 months in federal prison for his role in the Watergate scandal. He claims to have been a magnet for women, especially models, and shamelessly drops the names of the rich and powerful. He also played a key role in the disastrous Bay of Pigs operation. As for his role in Watergate, he blames his "bulldog loyalty" and concedes only that he and his fellow conspirators did "the wrong things for the right reasons." In a postscript, Hunt urges reforming the beleaguered CIA in the image of the wartime OSS and its "daring amateurs." Hunt's nostalgic memoir breaks scant new ground in an already crowded field. (Apr.)

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