Talk:Gordon Gray
I'm copying the following to the TALK section, since not all of the information contained therein cannot be vetted at this time.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STRATEGY BOARD aka THE OPERATIONS COORDINATION BOARD aka THE SPEciaL GROUP
On 20 June 1951 Harry S. Truman signed a directive establishing the Psychological Strategy Board. The directive read, "Directive to: the Secretary of State, The Secretary of Defense, The Director of Central Intelligence: It is the purpose of this directive to authorize and provide for the more effective planning, coordination and conduct, within the framework of approved national policies, of psychological operations. There is hereby established a Psychological Strategy Board responsible, within the purposes and terms of this directive, for the formulation and promulgation, as guidance to the departments and agencies responsible for psychological operations, of over-all national psychological objectives, policies and programs, and for the coordination and evaluation of the national psychological effort.
The Board will report to the National Security Council on the Board's activities and on its evaluation of the national psychological operations, including implementation of approved objectives, policies, and programs by the departments and agencies concerned. The Board shall be composed of: a. The Undersecretary of State, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and the Director of Central Intelligence, or, in their absence, their appropriate designees; b. An appropriate representative of the head of each such other department or agency of the Government as may, from time to time, be determined by the Board. The Board shall designate one of its members as Chairman. A representative of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall sit with the Board as its principal military adviser in order that the Board may ensure that its objectives, policies and programs shall be related to approved plans for military operations..."
The director and architect of the Psychological Strategy Board was Gordon Gray. Henry Kissinger was Gray's consultant. Kissinger was also the paid political consultant to Rockefeller family. Gray, Kissinger, and Rockefeller were members of the Council on Foreign Relations. Gray served in the administrations of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford. Gordon Gray was heir to the R. J. Reynolds tobacco fortune and President of the University of North Carolina. Gray was a broadcast and publication media specialist. Gray was instrumental in keeping the uniformed electorate uninformed by [missing text? -Ed.] (contained in on-line document, not my comment).
Eisenhower signed Presidential Executive Order 10483 replacing the Psychological Strategy board with the Operations Coordinating Board. The Operations Coordinating Board was composed of (1) The Under Secretary of State, who shall represent the Secretary of State and shall be the chairman of the Board. (2) The Deputy Secretary of Defense, show shall represent the Secretary of Defense. (3) the Director of the Foreign Operations Administration (4) the Director of Central Intelligence, and (5) a representative of the President to be designated by the President. (6) the Undersecretary or corresponding official of any Presidential agency that has been assigned responsibilities for implementation of national security policy. (7) The Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (8) The Director of the United States Information Agency. On 19 February 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued a Statement abolishing the Operations Coordinating Board.
No President ever wrote or signed an Executive order establishing the Special Group. No President had a way of abolishing the Special Group. The Special Group was not established by Executive Order, it established itself. This was no accident. This was illegal. When Kennedy killed the Operations Coordinating Board, the Special Group operated as normal without the designated Presidential representative.
The Special Group is alive and well today. It consists of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Director of The CIA, none of which are elected officials. The only way to abolish this ad hoc committee is to abolish the Department of Defense, The Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of State. President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Warren Christopher, and Director of the CIA John Mark Deutch and his predecessor R. James Woolsey, Jr. belong to the Council on Foreign Relations. Les Aspin, Secretary of Defense William J. Perry's predecessor also belonged to the Council on Foreign Relations.
