The Trial of Harry Dexter White: Soviet Agent of Influence

• Main Author: Adams, Tom
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks@UNO 2004
• Subjects: Venona; Allied Marks; Operation Snow; Hiss; Chambers Bentley
• Online Access: http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/177; http://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1181&context=td

The Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s was fueled by claims of governmental espionage from former members of the communist underground. Harry Dexter White, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury was accused of being a Soviet agent of influence. This paper will analyze the current issues in the discussion of Soviet espionage and focus on White's activities in this regard. The evidence on White is clear enough to show that he did pass sensitive information to the Soviets. He also succeeded in subverting American policy to favor Soviet interests over U.S. interests. White's activities in government service suggest that American government officials passed on vital government information to the Soviet Union and subversive activity went on in the U.S. in the 1930s and 1940s.