David Wise (May 10, 1930 – October 8, 2018) was an American journalist and author who worked for theNew York Herald-Tribune in the 1950s and 1960s, and published a series of non-fiction books on espionage and US politics as well as several spy novels.[1] His bookThe Politics of Lying: Government Deception, Secrecy, and Power (1973) won theGeorge Polk Award (Book category, 1973), and theGeorge Orwell Award (1975).
Wise was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York.
In 1951, Wise graduated fromColumbia University, where he was editor-in-chief of theColumbia Daily Spectator.[2]
In 1951, Wise joined theNew York Herald-Tribune and became the paper'sWhite House correspondent in 1960. He was chief of the paper'sWashington, D.C. bureau from 1963 to 1966.[3] In 1970–71 he was a Fellow of theWoodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and in 1977–79, he lectured in political science at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara.[3] He was later a commentator on intelligence issues forCNN for six years.[3]
Beginning in 1962 with an examination of theLockheed U-2, Wise published a series of non-fiction books, the first three with Thomas B. Ross. Their bookThe Invisible Government (1964), exposed the role of theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) in foreign policy. This included theBay of Pigs Invasion, as well as CIA-sponsoredcoup d'états inGuatemala (Operation PBSuccess) andIran (Operation Ajax). It also exposed the CIA's attempts to overthrow PresidentSukarno inIndonesia, along withcovert operations that were taking place inLaos andVietnam.The Invisible Government also revealed the name and existence of theNational Security Council's covert operations sub-committee,known as the303 Group, which led to its renaming to the40 Committee.
Wise and Ross charged that the CIA considered buying up the entire printing ofThe Invisible Government, but that the plan was rejected when the book's publisher,Random House, pointed out that if that happened they would have to print a second edition.[4] Aconfidential CIA review ofThe Invisible Government, which was declassified in 1995, declared that:
"In Great Britain, which is second to none in its devotion to liberty, there exists an Official Secrets Act under which the authors would have been tried and sentenced to prison. … That much of this material has been printed before does not reduce the value to the Soviets of having it gathered in one volume under such genuine American auspices."[5]
Wise's bookThe Politics of Lying: Government Deception, Secrecy, and Power (1973) won theGeorge Polk Award (Book category, 1973), and theGeorge Orwell Award (1975). Later works includeCassidy's Run: The Secret Spy War Over Nerve Gas (2000) onOperation Shocker, andSpy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America, (2002), onRobert Hanssen.
Wise also published several novels, includingSpectrum (1981), based on the 1965The Apollo Affair.
On October 8, 2018, Wise died frompancreatic cancer inWashington, D.C. He was 88 years old.[6][7]
| External videos | |
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 Booknotes interview with Wise onCassidy's Run, May 7, 2000,C-SPAN |
