The Quiet Americans

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At the end of World War II, the United States emerged as a global leader, yet the Soviet Union was already executing plans for worldwide expansion and revolution. In response, the U.S. relied on the covert operations of the newly-formed CIA. This narrative follows four spies: Michael Burke, a former football star; Frank Wisner, from a wealthy Southern family; Peter Sichel, a German Jew who escaped the Nazis; and Edward Lansdale, a talented ad executive. They engaged in covert operations to outmaneuver the KGB, parachuting commandos into Eastern Europe, plotting coups, and directing wars against Communist insurgents in Asia. However, their efforts were often thwarted by governmental incompetence and a troubling abandonment of American ideals. By the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union had a firm grip on Eastern Europe, and the U.S. was embroiled in a disastrous intervention in Vietnam, undermining its democratic principles by toppling elected governments. This period culminated in a betrayal that solidified the Cold War for decades. The intertwined lives of these men reflect a shared commitment to freedom, but the moral compromises of the Cold War led two to leave the CIA in despair, one to embody the destructive spy archetype, and another to take his own life. This account reveals how the U.S., at its peak, managed to turn victory into defeat.