Ray Steiner Cline (June 4, 1918 – March 16, 1996) was an official at the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and is best known for being the chief CIA analyst during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

Early life and family

Ray S. Cline was born in

Anderson Township, Clark County, Illinois Anderson Township is one of fifteen Civil township, townships in Clark County, Illinois, Clark County, Illinois, United States, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 460 and it contained 183 housing units. Geography According to the 20 ...

in 1918 and raised in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

, graduating from Wiley High School in 1935. He earned a scholarship to study at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

where he graduated with an A.B. in 1939. He received the Henry Prize Fellowship to Balliol College, Oxford University 1939-40. He returned to Harvard and earned an M.A. He was invited to join the

Harvard Society of Fellows The Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginnings of their careers by Harvard University for their potential to advance academic wisdom, upon whom are bestowed distinctive opportunities to foster their individual and intell ...

in 1941, but with the outbreak of World War II, he left after a year to join the war effort.Gernand, Bradley, ed. (2010)
"Biographical note." ''Finding Aid to the Ray S. Cline Papers.''
Washington, D.C.:

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. Weiner, Tim (Mar. 16, 1996)
"Ray S. Cline, Chief C.I.A. Analyst, Is Dead at 77"
(

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

). ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''
Section 1, p. 49.
Archived fro

/ref> Cline married Majorie Wilson in 1941; the couple had two daughters, Judith and Sibyl. Until Sibyl's divorce, Cline was the father-in-law of

Stefan Halper Stefan A. Halper (born June 4, 1944) is an American foreign policy scholar and retired senior fellow at the University of Cambridge where he is a life fellow at Magdalene College. He served as a Executive Office of the President of the United St ...

Career

U.S. Government

Cline served in World War II first as a crytanalyst for the U.S. Department of the Navy (1942-1943) and then joined the newly created

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 ...

. He became Chief of Current Intelligence in 1944, serving until 1946. He later traveled to China where he worked with other OSS officers such as John K. Singlaub,

Richard Helms Richard McGarrah Helms (March 30, 1913 – October 23, 2002) was an American government official and diplomat who served as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from 1966 to 1973. Helms began intelligence work with the Office of Strategic Ser ...

E. Howard Hunt Everette Howard Hunt Jr. (October 9, 1918 – January 23, 2007) was an American intelligence officer and author. From 1949 to 1970, Hunt served as an officer in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), particularly in the United States involvem ...

, Paul Helliwell,

Robert Emmett Johnson The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, and

Lucien Conein Lucien Emile "Lou" Conein (29 November 1919 – 3 June 1998)Barnes, Bart"Lucien E. Conein Dies at 79: Fabled Agent for OSS and CIA" ''The Washington Post'', June 6, 1998. p. B6. was a French-American citizen, noted U.S. Army officer and OSS/CIA o ...

. In 1946, he was assigned to the Operations Division of the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

of the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

, tasked with writing the history of the Operations Division. According to

Sterling Seagrave Sterling Seagrave (April 15, 1937 – May 1, 2017) was an American historian. He was the author of numerous books which address unofficial and clandestine aspects of the 20th-century political history of countries in the Far East. Personal life Bo ...

Edward Lansdale Edward Geary Lansdale (February 6, 1908 – February 23, 1987) was a United States Air Force officer until retiring in 1963 as a major general before continuing his work with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Lansdale was a pioneer in cl ...

found a large cache in caves and tunnels in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

after World War II ended. Johnson, Chalmers (November 20, 2003)
"The Looting of Asia": A review of ''Gold Warriors: America's Secret Recovery of Yamashita's Gold'' by Sterling Seagrave and Peggy Seagrave Verso, 332 pp
''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

'' v. 25, no. 22
Archived
from the original on November 19, 2003. Retrieved January 15, 2021. Cline stated that both Paul Helliwell and Robert Anderson created 176 "black gold" banking accounts in 42 countries after moving loot from the Philippines by ship to support future United States operations. Cline joined the newly founded

in 1949 as an intelligence analyst, having completed his Ph.D. at Harvard that year. He was initially responsible for intelligence on

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, but he failed to predict

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

's 1950 invasion of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, which began the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. From 1951 to 1953, he served as an attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Great Britain under the supervision of

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

E. C. Betts. From 1953 to 1957, he was the CIA desk officer charged with monitoring the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

; in this capacity, he correctly predicted the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications of Marxism–Len ...

. In 1958 he became Chief of the CIA station in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, with his official title being chief of the United States Naval Auxiliary Communications Center. In 1962, Cline moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

as the head of CIA's Directorate of Intelligence, the agency's analytical branch. He replaced Robert Amory Jr who had held this Office in 1953–1962. Cline played a crucial role in the

when, under Cline's leadership, the Directorate of Intelligence concluded after study of U2 spy plane photographs of Cuba that the Soviet Union had shipped

nuclear warheads A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (Thermonuclear weapon, thermonu ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

; Cline was among those who informed

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

of this development. Cline played a role in the formation of the

World League for Freedom and Democracy The World League for Freedom and Democracy (WLFD) is an international non-governmental organization of anti-communist politicians and groups. It was founded in 1952 as the World Anti-Communist League (WACL) under the initiative of Chiang Kai-shek ...

in 1966. Cline remained head of the Directorate of Intelligence until 1966, when, disillusioned with President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, he determined to leave the CIA. His old friend

intervened to have Cline posted as Special Coordinator and Adviser to the

United States Ambassador to Germany The United States has had diplomatic relations with the nation of Germany and its principal predecessor nation, the Kingdom of Prussia, since 1835. These relations were broken twice (1917 to 1921, and 1941 to 1955) while Germany and the United St ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

. In 1969, Cline returned to the United States when President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

nominated him as

Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research The Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research is the head of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) within the United States Department of State. Before 1986, the head of INR was the Director of the Bureau of Intelligenc ...

and he subsequently held this office from October 26, 1969 until November 24, 1973. In this capacity, he oversaw U.S. intelligence in the build-up to the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

. Cline expressed his displeasure at the declination of US Citizenship for a former Nazi.

Academic

Cline left government service in 1973, becoming an executive director of the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts polic ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. While at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, he became a prolific author on American intelligence and foreign policy. He also became an ardent defender of the CIA in testimony before the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

and in the media. Cline was head of the U.S. Global Strategy Council.Small Arms Survey (2011),
Small Arms Survey 2011: States of Security
',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, p84

Publications

Books

*''Washington Command Post''.

U.S. Department of the Army The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the U.S. The Department of the Army is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is o ...

(1951). * ''World Power Assessment: The Calculus of Strategic Drift''. Boulder, Colo.:

Westview Press Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa plc, a United Ki ...

(1975). . ** Published in cooperation with the

, Washington, D.C. * ''Secrets, Spies and Scholars: The CIA from Roosevelt to Reagan''. Washington D.C.: Acropolis Books (1976). . **Republished as ''The CIA Under Reagan, Bush, and Casey''. Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books (1981). * ''World Power Assessment 1977: A Calculus of Strategic Drift''. Boulder, Colo.:

(1977). . ** Published in cooperation with the

, Washington, D.C. * ''World Power Trends and U.S. Foreign Policy for the 1980s''. Boulder, Colo.:

(1980). . . ** Published in cooperation with the

, Washington, D.C. * ''The CIA Under Reagan, Bush, and Casey'' (1982). ** Republished as ''CIA: Reality v Myth''. * ''The Intelligence War''. Salamander Books (1983). * ''Central Intelligence Agency Under Reagan, Bush and Casey'' (1982). * ''Terrorism: The Soviet Connection'', with Yonah Alexander. New York: Crane Russak (1985). . ** Published in cooperation with the

. * ''Western Europe in Soviet Global Strategy'' (1987) . * ''Metastrategy''. New York: Crane Russak (1988). * ''Central Intelligence Agency: A Photographic History'' (1989). * ''Foreign Policy Failures in China, Cuba, and Nicaragua: A Paradigm''. Washington, D.C.: United States Global Strategy Council (1992). *''Chiang Ching-Kuo Remembered: The Man and His Political Legacy'' Washington: United States Global Strategy Council (1993). *''The Power of Nations in the 1990s: A Strategic Assessment''. Washington:

University Press of America University Press of America is an academic publisher based in the United States. Part of the independent Rowman & Littlefield Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the ...

(1995). Foreword by Paul H. Nitze. . .

Book contributions

Introduction
t
''Red Cocaine: The Drugging of America''
by Joseph D. Douglass, Jr. Second Opinion Pub, Inc. (1990), pp. 7-10. ** New York: Edward Harle (1999)
Revised 2nd ed. Preface by Christopher Story.
. .

Articles

"Opinion: Policy without Intelligence."
''

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

'', no. 17 (Winter 1974), pp. 121–135. . .
"Toward a Two Chinas Policy."
''

Asian Affairs ''Asian Affairs'', the journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, has been published continuously since 1914 (originally as the ''Journal of the Central Asian Society'', and from 1931 to 1969 as the ''Journal of the Royal Central Asian Socie ...

'', vol. 3, no. 5 (May/June 1976), pp. 281–286. .
"Politics and Foreign Policy."
''

Wilson Quarterly ''The Wilson Quarterly'' is a magazine published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. The magazine was founded in 1976 by Peter Braestrup and James H. Billington. It is noted for its nonpartisan, non-ideolo ...

'', vol. 4, no. 3 (Summer 1980), p. 189.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...

. .
"Correction: In Pursuit of Well-Being."
''

'', vol. 4, no. 3 (Summer 1980), p. 189.

. .
"The Communist Five and the Capitalist Ten Socio-Economic Systems in Asia."
''Journal of East Asian Affairs'', vol. 2, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 1982), pp. 1–14. Institute for National Security Strategy. .
"Commentary: The Cuban Missile Crisis."
''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

'', vol. 68, no. 4 (Fall 1989), pp. 190–196.

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

. . .

Awards

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 ...

Ashland University Ashland University is a private university in Ashland, Ohio. The university consists of a main campus and several off-campus centers throughout central and northern Ohio. Ashland was founded in 1878 as Ashland College. It is affiliated with The ...

Ray S. Cline
Major Issues Lecture Series, Topic: A Historical Perspective on American Intelligence, Tuesday, September 16, 1986 *

Career Intelligence Medal The Career Intelligence Medal is awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal ...

Notes

References

External links

Ray Cline
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cline, Ray S. 1918 births 1996 deaths United States Assistant Secretaries of State People from Clark County, Illinois Harvard University alumni Harvard Fellows People of the Central Intelligence Agency People of the Office of Strategic Services