James Jesus Angelton (December 9, 1917 - May 11, 1987) was an American counter-intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency.

Angleton joined the US Army during World War II and was recruited into the OSS Counter-intelligence division. In 1947 he joined the new CIA and rose to the position of deputy director of counter-intelligence. He held that position until he was fired by CIA director William Colby in 1975.

Angleton was an gaunt, stooped man never found without his typical black suit and hat. He was highly secretive, allowing only his closest of associates to know anything about him. He was an avid collector and grower of rare orchids, and a fly fisherman, and biographies ("Cold Warrior", link below) and fictional accounts of his life (Orchids for Mother, The Company, links below) have seized up the relevance of these hobbies to his profession of catching spies.

As the person charged with uncovering spies within the CIA, Angleton was a controversial figure among his colleagues who gained many enemies during his "mole hunt" operations. Although his painstaking, meticulous efforts rarely if ever turned up any genuine spies within CIA, one of his closest friends, Kim Philby of Britain's MI6 (the British equivalent of CIA), turned out to be a Soviet spy. This episode had a lasting impact on Angleton and many speculate was the motivation for his ideas of a grand conspiracy against the US and the CIA by Soviet intelligence. However, some have been persuaded by his views and certain recent events have lent them some measure credibility (see "Deception", below).

Angleton's internal CIA code was KU/MOTHER. His cover name was Hugh Ashmead.

Further reading

• Deception: The Secret War Between the KGB and CIA (ISBN 0671415433): A book on strategic deception by the USSR/Russia which confirms many of Angleton's views
• Cold Warrior: James Jesus Angleton - CIA's Master Spy Hunter (ISBN 0671662732): Biography of Angleton by Tom Mangold
• Wilderness of Mirrors (ISBN 1585748242): Historical account by journalist David C. Martin on Angleton's career
• Orchids for Mother (ISBN 0553254073): Fictional account of Angleton by Aaron Latham
• The Company (ISBN 0142002623): Fictional history of the CIA during the Cold War

External links

• James Jesus Angleton Biography Spartacus Educational