The Kensington Minute - Duel in the Court

Hi Mark, here. Welcome to the Kensington Minute.
In some ways they were an odd couple. One was frumpish, obese, reclusive, unexpressive. The other was elegantly dressed, well spoken, sharp-looking, and affable. But both were high achievers who embraced communism and wittingly and repeatedly served Soviet interests. One was a journalist who served as a courier for Soviet intelligence, the other rose to the highest echelons of the State Department. Finally, they met before he House Un-American Activities Committee hearing in 1948 during which House members tried to prod-out the truth. Who were these antagonists?
They Alger Hiss and Whitaker Chambers whose courtroom dule riveted the nation on television. Hiss was born into what Murray Kempton called, as shabby gentility to graduate near the top of his class at Harvard Law School and then to various posts as a lawyer for State. Whittaker Chambers, a former communist, accused him of supplying him with secrets on American diplomacy, which he turned over to Soviet handlers. These charges were amplified by Elizabeth Bentley and a Soviet defector. Soviet diplomatic cables proved that Hiss was an asset. A young congressman from California, Richard Nixon, saw through Hiss’s double talk and most doubts of Hiss’s guilt vanished when Chambers produced photographed papers he secreted in a pumpkin patch. Nixon went to the Senate and then presidency,(picture Nixon White House) and Hiss went to prison. He was not convicted of espionage. He was convinced of lying under oath, which is also the title of a fine book on this sordid subject. A great book, which I recommend to your library, is Witness, which was written by Whittaker Chambers. Thanks for your minute of time. Please take the Kensington Challenge at our website. Out here.