Bird, Kai. The Chairman: John J. McCloy, The Making of the American
Establishment. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992. 800 pages.
John McCloy (1895-1989) is the archetype of twentieth-century power
and influence; his wide-ranging activities offer ample evidence for anyone
who has ever felt that U.S. policies are designed by and for a tiny Yankee
aristocracy. A sampling of his career: assistant secretary of war (1941-
1945), high commissioner of Germany (1949-1952), president of the World
Bank (1947-1949), chairman of Rockefeller's Chase Manhattan Bank (1953-
1960), chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations (1953-1970), chairman
of the Ford Foundation (1953-1965), disarmament advisor (1961-1974), Warren
Commission appointee, Wall Street attorney for the seven sister big oil
companies, and director of numerous corporations. It's almost redundant
to add that McCloy was also well-connected to U.S. intelligence agencies.
This first major biography of McCloy was written over a ten-year
period. Special emphasis is given to several controversies in his career:
the internment of the Japanese in WW2, the decision not to bomb Auschwitz,
his clemency for Nazi war criminals, the use of Nazis by U.S. intelligence,
and the Warren Commission (nothing new on the WC). The book is based on
over a hundred interviews (including nine with McCloy), several hundred
Freedom of Information Act requests, McCloy's private papers, and material
in numerous archives and libraries.
ISBN 0-671-45415-3
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