Author Description

The Secret Team, L. Fletcher Prouty's expose of the CIA's brutal methods of maintaining national security during the Cold War, was first published in the 1970s. However, virtually all copies of the book disappeared upon distribution, having been purchased en masse by shady "private buyers." Certainly, Prouty's allegations--such as how the U-2 Crisis of 1960 was fixed to sabotage the Eisenhower/Khrushchev talks--cannot have pleased the CIA. Prouty contributed to Oliver Stone's handling of "JFK" & apparently apprised Jim Garrison of covert ops methodology. His role became a plot device, Prouty being the "X" played by Donald Sutherland. His book seemed a little outre at publication, but has stood the test of time, now being cited in academic & scholarly work. L. Fletcher Prouty (1917–2001), a retired Air Force colonel, served as the chief of special operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Kennedy years. He was directly in charge of the global system designed to provide military support for the clandestine activities of the CIA.