Tracy Barnes

Early Life and Education

Charles Tracy Barnes was born on August 2, 1911, in Manhasset, Long Island, New York, to a prominent and wealthy family. His father, Courtlandt Dixon Barnes, was a successful banker, and his mother, Katherine Barney, was the daughter of Charles Tracy Barney, president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company. The Barnes family’s social standing placed Tracy among America’s elite, with connections to influential figures like the Roosevelts. He grew up in a privileged environment, attending elite institutions that shaped his patrician demeanor and worldview.

Barnes excelled academically, graduating from Groton School in 1929, a prestigious preparatory school known for producing political and military leaders. At Groton, he was a classmate of Joseph Alsop, a future influential journalist, forging lifelong connections within the establishment. He then attended Yale University, earning a bachelor’s degree in history in 1933. At Yale, Barnes was a member of the Scroll and Key senior society, a rival to Skull and Bones, reinforcing his ties to the Ivy League elite. He proceeded to Harvard Law School, graduating in 1937 with a law degree, and was admitted to the New York Bar Association in 1938, beginning a brief legal career.

World War II and Early Intelligence Career

With the outbreak of World War II, Barnes’s career took a decisive turn. In 1941, he joined the U.S. Army Air Forces, training as a pilot and serving with distinction. Assigned to the Eighth Air Force in England, he flew bombing missions over Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the French Croix de Guerre for bravery. In 1943, his aircraft was shot down over France, but he evaded capture with help from the French Resistance, an experience that honed his covert skills and introduced him to intelligence work.

After returning to the U.S., Barnes was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA, in 1944. Stationed in Bern, Switzerland, under Allen Dulles, he conducted espionage operations, leveraging his charm and linguistic abilities (fluent in French) to gather intelligence on Nazi activities. His OSS service, detailed in Gentleman Spy by Peter Grose, marked the beginning of his intelligence career, aligning him with the emerging U.S. national security establishment.

CIA Career

(1947–1966) In 1947, Barnes joined the newly formed Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), recruited by Dulles and Frank Wisner for the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC), the agency’s covert action arm. His 19-year CIA tenure, culminating in senior roles, made him a key figure in Cold War operations, though his legacy is mixed due to high-profile failures.

Early Covert Operations (1947–1953): As a case officer, Barnes worked on anti-communist operations in Europe, including propaganda and labor union infiltration to counter perceived communist influence. His tenure in Europe was during the setting up, funding, training of Operation Gladio cells throughout Europe. These cells were used to to infiltrate labor union activities that demanded better wages from Western oligarchs primarily United States owned businesses.

In 1950, he was assigned to the Directorate of Plans, overseeing covert actions in Eastern Europe. This included setting up Operation Gladio stay behind units in Eastern Europe. His role in Operation Valuable (1949–1952), an attempt to destabilize communist Albania, was a failure, with Soviet moles compromising the mission, as noted in The Agency by John Ranelagh.

Operation PBSuccess (1954): Barnes served as chief of the political action division for Operation PBSuccess, the CIA’s coup to overthrow Guatemala’s President Jacobo Árbenz, authorized by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in August 1953. Working under Allen Dulles and alongside E. Howard Hunt and David Atlee Phillips, Barnes coordinated psychological warfare, paramilitary training, and diplomatic pressure. He oversaw the recruitment of Carlos Castillo Armas and the operation’s $2.7 million budget, ensuring its execution from Opa-locka, Florida. The coup, detailed in declassified CIA documents (1997) and Secret History by Nick Cullather, succeeded in June 1954, but sparked Guatemala’s civil war (1960–1996). Barnes’s role, managing propaganda and rebel coordination, earned him praise, though critics highlight the operation’s long-term human cost.

Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961): As deputy director for plans under Richard M. Bissell Jr., Barnes was a lead planner for the Bay of Pigs invasion, the CIA’s failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro. He managed logistics, training Cuban exiles at Camp Trax in Guatemala, and coordinating with the Cuban Revolutionary Council. The invasion’s collapse in April 1961, due to poor planning, and was a major embarrassment. Barnes, alongside Bissell, faced blame, with President John F. Kennedy reportedly considering firing him, per The Brilliant Disaster by Jim Rasenberger. The failure led to Bissell’s resignation, but Barnes retained his position, reflecting his entrenched status.

Chile and Other Operations (1962–1966): Barnes served as chief of the Western Hemisphere Division (1962–1966), overseeing operations in Latin America. He played a role in early efforts to destabilize Chile’s Salvador Allende, funding groups before the 1970 election, as detailed in The Pinochet File by Peter Kornbluh. His tenure included covert actions in Brazil, supporting the 1964 military coup against João Goulart (Operation Brother Sam). Barnes also managed anti-Castro plots, including assassination attempts, though declassified Church Committee records (1975).

Retirement (1966): Barnes retired from the CIA in 1966, disillusioned by bureaucratic constraints and the agency’s post-Bay of Pigs scrutiny. His departure coincided with the CIA’s shift toward technical intelligence, reducing the influence of OSS-era operatives. He joined Time Inc. as a consultant, leveraging his establishment connections, and later worked in public relations in New York. Time Inc was part of the CIA's propaganda arm with Operation Mockingbird. As a result, its difficult to know whether his tenure at Time Inc was another assignment or he did, in fact, retire.

Connections to Related Topics

Operation Condor: Barnes’s Latin American operations prefigured Operation Condor (1975–1983), with PBSuccess and Brother Sam establishing models for U.S.-backed regime change. His work with Guatemalan and Brazilian militaries aligned with School of the Americas (SOA)-trained officers’ later Condor roles, but no evidence ties him directly to Condor’s Condortel or Colonia Dignidad.

CIA and NSA: As a senior CIA officer, Barnes collaborated with the National Security Agency (NSA) on signals intelligence.

School of the Americas (SOA): Barnes’s operations in Guatemala and Brazil involved SOA-trained officers, such as Guatemala’s Manuel Antonio Callejas y Callejas.

Colonia Dignidad: Barnes’s Chile operations (1960s) preceded Colonia Dignidad’s role as a DINA torture center in Condor but Colonia Dignidad was in operation during his Chile operations.

Brazilian Advanced War College (ESG): The ESG’s anti-communist doctrine aligned with Barnes’s support for Brazil’s 1964 coup.

Personal Life

Barnes married Janet Gardiner Aldrich in 1937, a member of a prominent New England family and granddaughter of Senator Nelson W. Aldrich. The couple had two children, Charles Tracy Barnes Jr. and Janet Aldrich Barnes, and maintained a high-society lifestyle in Washington, D.C., and New York. Known for his charm, wit, and patrician air—often likened to a “gentleman spy”—Barnes was a social fixture, hosting gatherings with CIA and media elites like Joseph Alsop and Cord Meyer. His love of tennis, sailing, and literature reflected his cultured upbringing, but colleagues noted his arrogance, per The Very Best Men by Evan Thomas.

Death and Legacy

Barnes died of a heart attack on February 18, 1972, in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, at age 60, survived by his wife and children. His funeral, attended by CIA luminaries like Richard Helms, underscored his establishment status. Barnes’s legacy is dual-edged: a decorated OSS veteran and architect of PBSuccess, he was also tainted by the Bay of Pigs failure and the ethical costs of U.S. interventions. His role in Guatemala and Brazil, detailed in Bitter Fruit by Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer, contributed to long-term instability, with over 200,000 deaths in Guatemala’s civil war. His Chile work laid groundwork for the 1973 coup, though he was retired by then.