John Henry Waller (May 8, 1923 – November 4, 2004) was an American historian and author, as well as the Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1976 to 1980.''

Contemporary Authors ''Contemporary Authors'' is a reference work which has been published by Gale since 1962. It provides short biographies and bibliographies of contemporary and near-contemporary writers. ''Contemporary Authors'' does not have selective inclusion cr ...

''; January, 2006.

Early life

Waller was born in

Paw Paw, Michigan Paw Paw is a village in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,534 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Van Buren County. Overview The village is located at the confluence of the east and south branches of the Paw Paw River ...

, to George and Marguerite ( Rowland) Waller on May 8, 1923. Raised in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, he earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1946, and married Barbara Steuart Hans the following year. The couple had three children.

Career

In 1943 after he was rejected for military service due to an ear disorder, Waller began serving in the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

, working in

counterespionage Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...

. From 1947 to 1953, Waller served as

vice-consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

with the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. He was a special assistant to the ambassador in

New Delhi, India New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

from 1955 to 1957 and from 1968 to 1971. Waller served in

Khartoum, Sudan Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing nor ...

from 1960 to 1960, then as an analyst in the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

from 1962 to 1968. Waller was Chief of the CIA's Near East Division from 1971 to 1975, then Inspector General of the Agency from 1976 to 1980. During his career he was awarded the

Distinguished Intelligence Medal The Distinguished Intelligence Medal is awarded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency for performance of outstanding services or for achievement of a distinctly exceptional nature in a duty or responsibility. Recipients This list includes only ...

and the National Civil Service Award. During his tenure as Inspector General, Waller led the CIA's internal investigation of the arms for Libya case involving CIA agents

Edwin P. Wilson Edwin Paul Wilson (May 3, 1928 – September 10, 2012) was a former CIA and Office of Naval Intelligence officer who was convicted in 1983 of illegally selling weapons to Libya. It was later found that the United States Department of Justice and ...

and

Frank E. Terpil Frank Edward Terpil (1939 – March 1, 2016) was a CIA agent born in Brooklyn, New York, U.S. in 1939, who was asked to leave the agency for misconduct in 1971. He then "went rogue", going to work for Edwin P. Wilson's operations supplying arms, b ...

. His report exonerated senior intelligence officials

Theodore Shackley Theodore George "Ted" Shackley, Jr. (July 16, 1927 – December 9, 2002) was an American CIA officer involved in many important and controversial CIA operations during the 1960s and 1970s. He is one of the most decorated CIA officers. Due to his ...

, deputy to the director of clandestine operations, and

Thomas Clines Thomas Gregory Clines (August 18, 1928 – July 30, 2013) was a Central Intelligence Agency covert operations officer who was a prominent figure in the Iran-Contra Affair. Background Clines served in the 1950–1953 Korean War, and was awarded th ...

, director of training in the clandestine services.

Later life

Waller lived in

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxim ...

from 1978. He retired as Inspector General of the CIA in 1980. During

Lawrence Walsh Lawrence Edward Walsh (January 8, 1912 – March 19, 2014) was an American lawyer, a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and United States Deputy At ...

's investigation of the

Iran–Contra affair The Iran–Contra affair ( fa, ماجرای ایران-کنترا, es, Caso Irán–Contra), often referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the McFarlane affair (in Iran), or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States ...

, Waller and four other former CIA officials served as

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

s of a defense fund set-up to help pay the legal expenses of at least six individuals who were serving or had served with the CIA during the scandal. In retirement, he was reported to have been a full-time writer. Among the books authored by Waller were ''Gordon of Khartoum: The Saga of a Victorian Hero'' (1988), ''Beyond the Khyber Pass: The Road to British Disaster in the First Afghan War'' (1990), ''The Unseen War in Europe: Espionage and Conspiracy in the Second World War'' (1996), and ''The Devil's Doctor: Felix Kersten and the Secret Plot to Turn Himmler Against Hitler'' (2002). He wrote ''Tibet: A Chronicle of Exploration'' under the pseudonym John MacGregor as well as ''A History of Sino-Indian Relations: Hostile Co-Existence'' under the pseudonym John Rowland. On November 4, 2004, Waller died due to complications from pneumonia at the

Virginia Hospital Center Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United Stat ...

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

. He was survived by his wife and three children.

References

External links

An Interview with John H. Waller
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, John Henry 1923 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers Deaths from pneumonia in Virginia People from Paw Paw, Michigan People of the Central Intelligence Agency University of Michigan alumni 21st-century American male writers Historians from Michigan