373. Memorandum From the Director of the Executive Secretariat (Humelsine) to the Under Secretary of State (Webb)0
Mr. Webb:
I had a good conversation with Frank Wisner about the possibility of Mr. Gordon Gray being made head of the CIA. In the course of this conversation I went into the question of whether Mr. Wisner would like to have this assignment. Wisner indicated that he was well satisfied to stay where he was, if he could look forward to having a person of the caliber of Gray as head of the organization. He said that Gray would be perfect in his estimation for the assignment and that he was certain that under such a set-up CIA could really become an effective instrumentality.
In querying him further as to how well he knew Gordon Gray he said he knew him quite well and that he would recommend as people we could check with to get recommendations for Gray the following:
- Mr. John Graham, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
- Mr. Thurmond Chatham, Congressman from North Carolina
- Mr. William Jackson, member of the Jackson-Dulles-Correa group
I talked to Mr. Lovett on the telephone to get his reaction to Mr. Gordon Gray. Mr. Lovett said “I know Gray and my hunch is that he would do a good job”. Mr. Lovett said that he has had a chance to look into the CIA since leaving the Department as Under Secretary.1 He said, in fact, it was the first real opportunity that he had had to consider this problem. He said he had talked to Bill Jackson and to Allen Dulles, separately, and he certainly concurred in their view that, unless something drastic was done with the CIA, Mr. Truman was in a position to be “let down worse that any President ever was” in this particular field.
Mr. Lovett said that this required “damn fast action” and that the area should “be tidied up” as soon as possible. He said under the present circumstances anything could happen.
Mr. Lovett went on to say that he had better intelligence information in many respects available to him in New York through the Bank than he had while Under Secretary. He said that in his estimation Admiral Hillenkoetter was a very ineffective and pedestrian officer. He said this comment applied to the Admiral only in his present assignment and he had no opinion or idea as to his worth as a Naval officer.
[Page 955]Mr. Lovett went on to say that Frank Wisner was first class and that Gray and Wisner should make an excellent team. He did say that in his opinion careful consideration should be given as to whether or not Colonel Carter Clark should not be used in some capacity in the CIA. He said he knows of Clark’s weaknesses but that in his opinion his strength far exceeds any weaknesses. He said to tell Mr. Webb that he had been considering this matter and was about to call him on it when he got the call from me.
I think it is significant that throughout my conversation with Mr. Lovett he used the word “lousy” to characterize the CIA operation.