Ray Cline

Ray Steiner Cline (June 4, 1918 – March 15, 1996) was a prominent American intelligence official, best known for his role as the chief CIA analyst during the Cuban Missile Crisis and his extensive career with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Early Life and Education

Ray S. Cline was born on June 4, 1918, in Anderson Township, Clark County, Illinois, and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana. He graduated from Wiley High School in 1935 and earned a scholarship to Harvard University, where he completed an A.B. degree in 1939. Cline received the prestigious Henry Prize Fellowship to study at Balliol College, Oxford University, from 1939 to 1940. He returned to Harvard, earning an M.A. and later a Ph.D. in international relations and history in 1949. In 1941, he was invited to join the Harvard Society of Fellows but left after a year due to the outbreak of World War II. Cline married Marjorie Wilson in 1941, and they had two daughters, Judith and Sibyl.

World War II and Early Intelligence Career

Cline’s intelligence career began during World War II. From 1942 to 1943, he served as a cryptanalyst for the U.S. Department of the Navy. In 1943, he joined the newly created Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the predecessor to the CIA. By 1944, he was appointed Chief of Current Intelligence, a role he held until 1946. During this period, he traveled to Kunming, China, where he worked alongside notable OSS officers, including John K. Singlaub, Richard Helms, E. Howard Hunt, Paul Helliwell, Robert Emmett Johnson, and Lucien Conein.

In China, Cline was involved in operations supporting anti-Japanese and anti-communist efforts. According to historian Sterling Seagrave, Cline noted that OSS officers Paul Helliwell and Robert Anderson managed the movement of looted gold from the Philippines, creating 176 “black gold” banking accounts in 42 countries to fund future U.S. operations. This early exposure to covert financing mechanisms may have influenced his later CIA work.

After the war, in 1946, Cline was assigned to the Operations Division of the U.S. Department of War’s General Staff, where he wrote the official history of the division, published as Washington Command Post (1951).

CIA Career

Cline joined the newly established Central Intelligence Agency in 1949 as an intelligence analyst, leveraging his academic background and wartime experience. His career at the CIA spanned over two decades and included significant roles in analysis and covert operations.

• Early CIA Roles (1949–1957): ◦ Cline was initially responsible for intelligence on Korea but failed to predict North Korea’s 1950 invasion, which sparked the Korean War. Despite this, he served as deputy CIA station chief in South Korea in the early 1950s. ◦ From 1951 to 1953, he worked as an attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Great Britain under Brigadier General E.C. Betts. ◦ From 1953 to 1957, he was the CIA desk officer monitoring the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, where he accurately predicted the Sino-Soviet split, a significant intelligence achievement.

• Chief of CIA Station in Taiwan (1958–1962): ◦ In 1958, Cline became Chief of the CIA station in Taiwan, officially titled chief of the United States Naval Auxiliary Communications Center, a cover for his intelligence activities. During this period, he likely worked closely with Taiwanese anti-communist groups and the Asian People’s Anti-Communist League (APACL), a precursor to the World Anti-Communist League (WACL). The APACL, rooted in the China Lobby, was supported by the CIA to counter communist influence in Asia, and Cline is alleged to have assisted in establishing the Taiwanese Political Warfare Cadres Academy. ◦ Connection to Air America: Cline’s time in Taiwan coincided with Air America’s operations in the region. Air America, a CIA-owned airline, was managed through the Pacific Corporation, which also controlled Civil Air Transport (CAT), Air America’s predecessor. CAT, founded by Claire Chennault and Whiting Willauer (both OSS veterans Cline worked with in China), operated extensively in Taiwan, supporting anti-communist efforts. While no direct evidence confirms Cline’s operational oversight of Air America, his role as CIA station chief in Taiwan suggests he likely coordinated with or was aware of Air America’s logistical support for CIA missions in Asia, given the agency’s integrated approach to covert operations.

• Cuban Missile Crisis and Directorate of Intelligence (1962–1966): ◦ In 1962, Cline was appointed Deputy Director for Intelligence, heading the CIA’s analytical branch. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, his team analyzed U-2 spy plane photographs, concluding that the Soviet Union had deployed nuclear warheads in Cuba. Cline personally briefed President John F. Kennedy, playing a pivotal role in averting nuclear war through the subsequent U.S.-Soviet agreement. ◦ He remained head of the Directorate of Intelligence until 1966, when he grew disillusioned with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s policies. His friend Richard Helms arranged for him to serve as Special Coordinator and Adviser to the U.S. Ambassador in Bonn, Germany. • Director of Bureau of Intelligence and Research (1969–1973):

◦ In 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed Cline Director of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, a position he held until November 24, 1973. He oversaw intelligence analysis during the Yom Kippur War and coordinated with the CIA on operations, including the destabilization of Chile’s Salvador Allende government. ◦ Cline resigned in 1973, citing disagreements with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger over the handling of intelligence and détente with the Soviet Union, which he believed was oversold to the public.

Post-CIA Career and Advocacy

After leaving government service, Cline became executive director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) at Georgetown University. He was a prolific author, writing books such as World Power Assessment (1975) and Secrets, Spies and Scholars: The CIA from Roosevelt to Reagan (1976), defending the CIA’s role in U.S. foreign policy.

• Support for Taiwan and Anti-Communist Causes: ◦ Cline was a vocal supporter of Taiwan, leading the Coalition for Asian Peace and Security and organizing study programs funded by Taiwanese businessmen. He also advised congressional aides on Taiwan’s interests. ◦ He played a key role in forming the World League for Freedom and Democracy (formerly WACL) in 1966, a right-wing organization tied to the China Lobby and anti-communist regimes in Taiwan and South Korea.

Connections to Operation Gladio

◦ While there is no direct evidence linking Cline to Operation Gladio, the NATO-CIA “stay-behind” network in Europe, his involvement with WACL and his CIA tenure suggest potential indirect connections. WACL’s European affiliates, such as the Italian branch, were linked to Gladio through far-right groups and intelligence networks. Cline’s leadership in anti-communist organizations and his CIA role in Germany (1966–1969) place him in proximity to the broader Cold War intelligence framework that included Gladio.

Controversial Views and Associations

◦ Cline was associated with right-wing groups, including the National Intelligence Studies Center and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. He gave interviews to the John Birch Society’s Review of the News and maintained ties with Lyndon LaRouche’s followers in the 1980s.

◦ In testimony before the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Cline controversially argued that “the First Amendment is only an amendment,” defending the CIA’s use of covert tactics like black propaganda and funding journalists.

◦ Cline also worked in the risk analysis business, advising companies like General Dynamics and Hewlett-Packard on political environments in countries such as South Africa and Turkey. He supported arms sales to Turkey’s military regime and described South Africa’s government as a potential “engine for growth.”

Death

Cline died on March 15, 1996, at his home in Arlington, Virginia, from Alzheimer’s disease. His papers, held at the Library of Congress, include correspondence with figures like George Bush and Arthur M. Schlesinger, as well as his memorandum on the OSS’s wartime history.

Connection to Air America and Operation Gladio

• Air America: Cline’s role as CIA station chief in Taiwan (1958–1962) overlapped with Air America’s operations under the Pacific Corporation. Given his work with OSS veterans like Paul Helliwell (who helped establish CAT’s financial structures) and his involvement in anti-communist operations in Asia, Cline likely had knowledge of or indirect coordination with Air America’s logistical support for CIA missions. His work in Taiwan, supporting the China Lobby and APACL, aligns with Air America’s role in aiding anti-communist forces, suggesting a contextual link. • Operation Gladio: Cline’s involvement with WACL and his CIA tenure in Germany place him within the broader anti-communist intelligence network that included Gladio. His leadership in right-wing organizations and ties to European anti-communist groups via WACL suggest a potential overlap with Gladio’s ideological allies.