Charles Tracy Barnes (August 2, 1911 – February 18, 1972) was a senior staff member at the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), serving as principal manager of CIA operations in the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état and the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion.
Tracy Barnes | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Tracy Barnes August 2, 1911 Manhasset, Long Island, New York |
| Died | February 18, 1972 (aged 60) |
| Alma mater | Harvard Law School |
| Police career | |
| Department | Central Intelligence Agency |
| Branch |
|
| Service years | 1951-1966 |
| Other work | Lawyer |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  U.S. Army Air Forces |
| 1942-1950 | Enlistment |
| Rank | 2nd Lieutenant |
| Unit | Office of Strategic Services (World War II) Psychological Strategy Board (Korean War) |
| Wars | World War II Korean War |
| Awards | Croix de Guerre (France) Silver Star (United States) |
History
editTracy was born in Manhasset, Long Island, New York to Courtlandt Dixon Barnes and Katherine Lansing Barney. He was educated at Groton School and Yale University, where he became a member of the Scroll and Key secret society[when?]. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1937 and was hired by William Harding Jackson as an associate (1937-1939) at the Wall Street firm of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn.[1][2]
As World War II began, Barnes was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and was one of the first persons to attend the US Army-Air Forces Air Combat Intelligence School at Harrisburg, PA in June 1942 along with his '2nd cousin' John Hay 'Jock' Whitney. Barnes was married to Janet who was born June 10, 1913, in Providence, Rhode Island. At the Intelligence School, they began a lifelong friendship with the Whitneys. When Jock Whitney served as US Ambassador to Great Britain, Barnes served as CIA station chief in London.[3]
During World War II he served first with United States Army Air Forces intelligence with the Office of Strategic Services. He was awarded France's Croix de Guerre and the US Silver Star. After the war, he returned to legal practice.[4]
CIA career
editIn 1950 he went to Washington to serve as special assistant to Under Secretary of the Army, Archibald S. Alexander. He also served as deputy director of the Psychological Strategy Board during the Korean War.
In 1951 he joined the CIA. In 1953, he was appointed Special Assistant for Paramilitary Psychological Operations, under Frank Wisner, and was the principal case officer in the CIA operation leading up to the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état.[5]
From 1954 to 1956, he was appointed Chief Of Station (COS) in Germany and in the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1959.
In 1960, he was appointed Assistant Deputy Director for Plans, under Richard M. Bissell Jr., with direct responsibility for the CIA operation leading to the Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961.[6][7][8]
In 1962, he was made head of the CIA's Domestic Operations Division.
In July 1966 new CIA Director Richard Helms had Desmond FitzGerald fire Barnes from the CIA.
Later life
editIn June 1970, Tracy Barnes suffered a serious stroke. His recovery was slow and on 18 February 1972, he had a heart attack and died at his home at Saunderstown, Rhode Island, at age 60.[4]
References
edit- ^ Currierv, Vic (20 May 2015). Good-Bye, Lord, I'M Going to New York: The Secret Life of Belle Meade'S William Harding Jackson. Xlibris Corporation. pp. 324, 386. ISBN 978-1-5035-4772-8. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ Ellis, Francis M.; Clark, Edward F. (1988). A Brief History of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, from 1854 to 1988: Including Some Whimsical Tales about the Firm and Its People. P.E. Randall. p. 175. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ Kahn, Ely Jacques (1981). Jock, the Life and Times of John Hay Whitney. Doubleday. pp. 146–147. ISBN 978-0-385-14932-7. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ a b "C. Tracy Barnes, Formerly of C.I.A." New York Times. 20 February 1972. p. 68. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ Higgins (1987)
- ^ Warner, Michael (1966). "The CIA's Internal Probe of the Bay of Pigs Affair" (PDF). 40 (2): 4. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Hunt (1973)
- ^ Bissell (1996)
Additional References
edit- Bissell, Richard M. (Jr.), with Jonathan E. Lewis and Frances T. Pudlo (1996). Reflections of a Cold Warrior: From Yalta to the Bay of Pigs. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300064308.
- Higgins, Trumbull (1987). The Perfect Failure: Kennedy, Eisenhower, and the CIA at the Bay of Pigs. Norton. ISBN 978-0393305630.
- Hunt, E. Howard (1973). Give Us This Day. Arlington House. ISBN 978-0870002281.