Blackford "Blackie" or "Black" Oakes is a fictional character, a

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, ...

officer,

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

and the protagonist of a series of novels written by

William F. Buckley, Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

Early life

Oakes was born in 1925. He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a fighter pilot and graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Oakes is an engineer by training (at one point in the series, he is hired by an architectural firm), and Anthony Trust, ahead of Black at both Greyburn and Yale, recruits him for the Central Intelligence Agency in his senior year, 1951. At Yale, Blackford is older than most of his classmates due to his military service. Reference is made to his membership on both the swimming and lacrosse teams there, and he is a member of

Zeta Psi Zeta Psi () is a collegiate fraternity. It was founded in June 1, 1847 at New York University. The organization now comprises fifty-three active chapters and thirty-four inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand members, and is a f ...

fraternity. Sally Partridge, a Vassar graduate, is his main love interest throughout the series. Their fateful meeting and Blackford's courtship of Sally is detailed in Mongoose, R.I.P.

Central Intelligence Agency

Blackford's missions with the CIA involve various top-secret Cold War enterprises arranged by the Agency's highest ranking individuals and American presidents alike. Oakes possesses the ability to impress his colleagues, superiors (among them

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 i ...

and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

), and even his enemies with his easy-going competence and likability.

Personal life

Oakes' personal life is somewhat hectic because of his constant globetrotting for the Agency, as he can never seem to find ample time to settle down with Sally, who yearns for the day when Blackford will retire from the CIA. Their respective worldviews are quite dissimilar, Oakes being conservative, and Sally, a liberal feminist who studied and teaches

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

and admires Adlai Stevenson. While not only disliking Blackford's chosen profession because it so often spoils their plans, Sally also disapproves of many of the ideals she believes the CIA represents. While always holding Sally close to his heart, Oakes still finds plenty of time to pursue romantic conquests across the globe, often mixing work with pleasure. He is a suave, intelligent, and confident gentleman who is, in Buckley's own words, distinctly

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, and it is no surprise he succeeds in both work and play. In "Saving the Queen," Blackford's address in 1975 is listed as 3025 P Street, NW. Blackford is an avid reader of '' National Review'' but rarely offers insight into the state of domestic politics and world affairs.

Characteristics

Throughout the series, Blackford proves himself to be the ultimate

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

warrior, and risks his life for the country he loves countless times, while looking smooth doing it. Though Oakes is widely regarded as a gentleman, and at times, a charmer, he also has a rebellious streak in the face of unduly harsh authority. Blackford demonstrates this rebelliousness throughout the series, beginning with an incident involving the administration of Greyburn Academy, which Blackford briefly attends as a schoolboy.

In literature

#''

Saving the Queen ''Saving the Queen'' is a 1976 American spy thriller novel by William F. Buckley, Jr., the first of eleven novels in the Blackford Oakes Blackford "Blackie" or "Black" Oakes is a fictional character, a Central Intelligence Agency officer, spy a ...

'' (1976) – Set in 1952. Oakes' first mission. He goes to England looking for a British double agent. #''

Stained Glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

'' (1979) – Set in autumn 1952 following his first mission through November 1953. Oakes is sent to keep tabs on a German politician who is trying to unify East and West Germany against the wishes of both American and Soviet intelligence agencies. #'' High Jinx'' (1986) – Set in 1954. Oakes works behind the scenes to avoid an internal Soviet power struggle that could lead to a Stalin protégé gaining in power in Moscow. #''

Who's on First "Who's on First?" is a sketch comedy, comedy routine made famous by American Double act, comedy duo Abbott and Costello. The premise of the sketch is that Bud Abbott, Abbott is identifying the players on a baseball team for Lou Costello, Costel ...

'' (1980) – Set in 1956 during the

space race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...

and uprising in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. #'' Marco Polo, if You Can'' (1982) – Set in 1958. Oakes is captured while flying a

Lockheed U-2 The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day ...

aircraft over Soviet airspace. #'' See You Later, Alligator'' (1985) – Set in

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 ...

in the early 1961, Oakes meets

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

and tries to ease tensions between Cuba and America after the Bay of Pigs incident. #''

The Story of Henri Tod ''The Story of Henri Tod'' is a 1984 Blackford Oakes novel by William F. Buckley, Jr. It is the fifth of 11 novels in the series. Plot CIA agent Blackford Oakes is sent to West Berlin East Germany in 1961, during the time leading up to the buildi ...

'' (1984) – Set in 1961. Oakes is in Germany during the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

crisis. #'' Mongoose R.I.P.'' (1987) – Set in 1963. Oakes is in Cuba working to overthrow

Castro Castro is a Romance language word that originally derived from Latin ''castrum'', a pre-Roman military camp or fortification (cf: Greek: ''kastron''; Proto-Celtic:''*Kassrik;'' br, kaer, *kastro). The English-language equivalent is '' chester''. ...

after 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 ...

. #'' Tucker's Last Stand'' (1990) – Set in 1964. Oakes is in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

to cut off Viet Cong supply lines. #''

A Very Private Plot ''A Very Private Plot'' is a 1994 historical spy novel by William F. Buckley, Jr. It is the tenth of 11 novels in the Blackford Oakes series. The novel was well received by ''The New York Times'' described the novel a full of "grave whimsy with ...

'' (1994) – Oakes in 1995 is called to testify about operations he conducted in the 1980s, especially one in particular involving a domestic Soviet plot to assassinate

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

. #''

Last Call for Blackford Oakes ''Last Call for Blackford Oakes'' is a 2005 Blackford Oakes novel by William F. Buckley, Jr. It is the final of the 11 novels in the Blackford Oakes series. Plot CIA agent Blackford Oakes confronts Kim Philby, a British double agent who defected ...

'' (2005) – Set in 1987, Oakes confronts the infamous Soviet defector,

Kim Philby Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963 he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring which had divulged British secr ...

Other

*'' The Blackford Oakes Reader'' (1999) – A book in which William F. Buckley explains the character and the novels.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oakes, Blackford Fictional Republicans (United States) Literary characters introduced in 1976 Fictional Central Intelligence Agency personnel Characters in American novels of the 20th century