George Lauder

George Lauder   (spook, propagandist)
Born	March 2, 1924 New York City
Died	July 25, 2012 (Age 88)
Nationality	US
Alma mater	Andover, Yale, University of Virginia
CIA officer who was among other things Acting Chief of the Latin American Division, before in the 1980s becoming defender of its reputation as Director of Public Affairs.  Director of Public Affairs In office November 8, 1983 - 1987 Employer CIA  CIA/Deputy Inspector General In office 1978 - November 7, 1983 Boss Charles A. Briggs, James Taylor  Acting Chief of Latin American Division In office June 29th, 1977 Employer CIA/Latin American Division Preceded by George Lauder Succeeded by George Lauder During Operation Condor. Date known from a single unredacted document.

George Varick Lauder was a member of the Central Intelligence Agency. A single unredacted internal document dated June 29th, 1977 exposed him as Acting Chief of the Latin American Division at that time, when the death squads of Operation Condor were ongoing.

He is (publicly) best known as the Director of Public Affairs in the 1980's as the CIA began to work on their public image after finding it difficult to shed the reputation it gained in the mid-1970's as a rogue agency accused of shocking abuses.

Early life

George Lauder was born in New York City to his parents Katherine Varick Lauder and Edwin Storrs Dewing. His parents divorced when he was very young and his mother gave her children her surname. Katherine Lauder was a member of the Lauder Greenway Family whose wealth allowed him to attend Andover, Yale for his undergraduate degree, and received a law degree from the University of Virginia.

Lauders college education was interrupted by the advent of World War II, when he joined the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant and was a navigator for seaplanes and aircraft carriers in the South Pacific. He would ultimately graduate from the class of 1945 in 1947 from Yale.

Covert operations officer

After graduating law school, Lauder joined the CIA in 1951. From 1951 until 1978 he was a covert operations officer posted in several countries. All these assignments and postings are still classified by the CIA, but might have included the Middle East.

Due to a single unredacted internal document dated June 29th, 1977 (that was released as part of a FOIA request), Lauder is revealed to have been the Acting Chief, Latin American Division at that time. Given the date, Lauder was in charge of all CIA activities in Latin America during a portion of Operation Condor.

Report on Cuban Complicity in the Assassination of JFK

At the direction of E. Henry Knoche, Lauder, while with the Latin American Division, lead a team in a comprehensive "investigation" into Cuban complicity into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. From mid-October 1976 to June 1977, Lauder complied a report that drew an extensive road map between a disgruntled La Cosa Nostra lead by Santo Trafficante trying to have Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, and Che Guevara assassinated instead. The report found no clear links between the Cuban government and the killing.

Soon after this report was filed by Lauder, he left covert operations on an unconfirmed date to become the Deputy Inspector General for the CIA.

Director of Public Affairs

In 1981, there was again a significant expansion of the CIA. Overseas operations had expanded, including covert actions intended to influence events in other countries, and President Reagan had given the agency authority to conduct operations within theUnited States. By 1983, the ramifications of this expansion were being felt and late that year, William J. Casey, the Director of Central Intelligence, named Lauder the Director of Public Affairs.

Over the course of his tenure, Lauder was the agencies public face to the United States amidst the end of the Cold War, the Nicaraguan Contras affair, Iran Contra, the 1985 Beirut car bombings, and other other seminal events in the history of the CIA. Lauder was also constantly sparring with journalists such as David Ignatius, Bob Woodward, and Jack Nelson (journalist).

Lauders departure from the CIA in May 1987 coincided with the death of Casey and the start of congressional hearings on the Iran Contra affair.

Awards & Citations

Over the course of his career, Lauder received the CIA's Distinguished Intelligence Medal and Medal of Merit.

Family

Lauder married Laurita Blatz on April 25th, 1952. They had four children together including daughters Frederica Lauder and Leigh Lauder and a son, George V. Lauder of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard.

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References

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