J. C. King

{{Infobox person

| name = J. C. King

| image = Joseph Caldwell King (1900–1977) at West Point in 1923.png

| alt =

| caption = At West Point in 1923

| birth_name = Joseph Caldwell King

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1900|10|05}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1977|01|27|1900|10|05}}

| death_place = Washington, D.C.

| burial_place = West Point Cemetery

| occupation = Military officer, intelligence agent

| awards =

| spouse = {{Plainlist|

Cristina Patricia Pernas
Ana Vilma Gaspar
Frances Anne Smith

}}

| children =

| education = United States Military Academy

| signature =

| party =

}}

Joseph Caldwell King (October 5, 1900 – January 27, 1977) was the Chief of the Western Hemisphere Division of the CIA in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also known by his CIA code name of Oliver G. Galbond and as Colonel J.C. King.

Early life and marriage

On October 5, 1900, Joseph Caldwell King was born to Warren Charles King (December 8, 1876 – September 5, 1931) and Jessie Calhoun Caldwell in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a businessman and unsuccessful candidate for the New Jersey Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1919. King graduated from the Lawrenceville School in June 1918 and then enrolled at Princeton University in September.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21277898/joseph-caldwell-king-entering-west/ |title=Joseph Caldwell King entering West Point |date=November 13, 1918 |page=8 |newspaper=The Courier-News |location=Bridgewater, New Jersey |access-date=April 13, 2023}}{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WHCwS_uW95kC&pg=PA583 |chapter=Warren Charles King |title=Scannell's New Jersey's First Citizens and State Guide |date=1919 |volume=II |pages=583–584 |publisher=J. J. Scannell |location=Paterson, New Jersey |access-date=April 13, 2023}}{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/09/06/96381288.pdf |title=Warren C. King Dies in San Remo, Italy |date=September 6, 1931 |page=21 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=April 13, 2023}} He left Princeton to enter the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in November 1918. King graduated as part of the Class of 1923 and was assigned the Cullum Register Number 6992.{{cite book |url=http://digital-library.usma.edu/digital/collection/p16919coll3/id/24056/rec/4 |title=Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York since its establishment in 1802: Supplement, 1920–1930 |date=March 1931 |volume=VII |page=1731 |publisher=R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, The Lakeside Press |access-date=April 13, 2023}}

Joseph Caldwell King married three times: first to Cristina Patricia Pernas in 1927, then to Ana Vilma Gaspar in 1942{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0005642324.pdf |title=King, Joseph Caldwell |date=December 29, 1949 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=April 13, 2023}} and finally to Frances Anne Smith in 1954.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Career

Second Lieutenant King served with the 16th Infantry in New York state before resigning his commission in May 1924. He enrolled at l'École Libre des Sciences Politiques in Paris, graduating from the diplomatic course in June 1925. King then went to work for his father's mining businesses in Mexico.

After leaving a job as vice president of his father's chemical business in New Jersey, King became a vice-president at Johnson and Johnson in charge of Brazil and Argentina. Then, he joined Nelson Rockefeller's Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA).

He was stationed in Argentina from 1941 to 1945, where he was engaged in feeding deceptive information to Japanese agents (see Thaddeus Holt, The Deceivers). For his service from July 1943 to November 1945 as an assistant military attaché in Argentina, Major King was awarded the Legion of Merit. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in December 1945 and released from military intelligence duty in 1946.{{cite web|url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=97495|title=Valor awards for Joseph Caldwell King|author=|date=|website=valor.militarytimes.com|accessdate=20 August 2017}}{{cite book |url=http://digital-library.usma.edu/digital/collection/p16919coll3/id/20992/rec/3 |title=Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York since its establishment in 1802: Supplement, 1940–1950 |date=December 1955 |volume=IX |page=397 |publisher=The Association of Graduates, U.S. Military Academy |access-date=April 13, 2023}} King was later promoted to colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cNeqibq2y1EC&pg=PA371 |chapter=Class of 1923—Register of Graduates |title=Register of Graduates and Former Cadets 1802–1971 of the United States Military Academy |date=1971 |page=371 |publisher=The West Point Alumni Foundation Inc |access-date=April 13, 2023}}

On December 11, 1959, King advocated that "thorough consideration" be given to the "elimination" of Fidel Castro, by which he may have meant assassination.{{cite web|author=Church Committee|url=https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/94465.pdf#page=103|title=Alleged assassination plots involving foreign leaders|date=20 November 1975|page=92}}

King officially retired from the CIA in 1967 but soon came back as a CIA consultant. He was CEO of the Amazon Natural Drug Company, known as a front for the CIA.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}

Later life

King's health began deteriorating because of age and Parkinson's disease, and he died on January 27, 1977, in Washington, D.C.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fMa36rxeEPcC&pg=RA3-PT1 |title=Assembly |volume=35 |publisher=United States Military Academy Association of Graduates |page=145 |date=1977 |access-date=2022-12-21 |via=Google Books}} King and his third wife were buried at the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery in West Point, New York.{{cite web |url=https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/index.html#/search-all/results/1/CgRLaW5nEgZKb3NlcGgaCENhbGR3ZWxs/ |title=King, Joseph Caldwell |website=Army Cemeteries Explorer |publisher=U.S. Army |access-date=April 13, 2023}}

References

External links

[http://www.vandine.com/brazil.htm Robert Van Dine "Brazil" article] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218072732/http://www.vandine.com/brazil.htm |date=February 18, 2012 }}
[http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/history/2004/0331coup1964.htm Global Policy Forum article]

Category:1900 births

Category:1977 deaths

Category:Lawrenceville School alumni

Category:Princeton University alumni

Category:United States Military Academy alumni

Category:Military personnel from New York City

Category:United States Army personnel of World War II

Category:United States military attachés

Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit

Category:United States Army reservists

Category:United States Army colonels

Category:People of the Central Intelligence Agency