Frank Wisner
1909 – 1965 American CIA covert operations chief
Early CIA covert action chief who planned the Guatemala coup.
- Affiliations
- Headed the CIA's early covert action arm, the Office of Policy Coordination; planned the 1954 Guatemala coup.
Frank Wisner ran the CIA's early covert operations as head of the Office of Policy Coordination. He directed planning for the 1954 coup that removed Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz. He struggled with mental illness in later years and died by suicide in 1965.
Connections
- rival of Jacobo Arbenz — Directed the covert planning that led to his removal.
In the timeline
- 1948 Wisner takes charge of CIA covert operations mentioned
- 1956 Hungarian uprising crushed despite CIA hopes mentioned
- 1958 Frank Wisner's mental breakdown central figure
- 1965 Frank Wisner takes his own life central figure