Athan Theoharis
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Athan George Theoharis (born August 3, 1936) is a professor emeritus of History at Marquette University. He has written and edited a number of books, primarily on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover, and U.S. intelligence agencies.
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Theoharis earned all his degrees from the University of Chicago: two bachelor's degrees in political science in 1956 and 1957, a master's degree in 1958 and his Ph.D. in history in 1965. He has taught at Texas A&M University, Wayne State University, City University of New York, State University of New York at Buffalo, and is currently a professor at Marquette University. The scope of his writings has extended to Cold War history, anti-communism in America, civil rights and the politics of government secrecy.
In the mid-1970s, because of his work exploring the Truman and Eisenhower loyalty and security programs as well as his articles on FBI wiretapping, Theoharis was asked by the Church Committee to conduct research at presidential libraries. The Church Committee---the Senate select committeee to study governmental operations with respect to intelligence activities---was formed by Senator Frank Church after Nixon administration, FBI, and CIA abuses became public. First without and then with qualified security clearances, Theoharis examined some presidential records relating to the FBI and White House at the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson presidential libraries. He also examined some FBI records for the Church Committee at FBI headquarters. Following this work, and changes made to the Freedom of Information Act in the 1970s, Theoharis became a specialist in the history of the FBI. He focused on FBI records procedures, rather than individual FBI targets, leading to discoveries or further understandings of FBI office files (as opposed to "official" FBI files), the JUNE mail file, the National Security Electronic Surveillance Index Card File, Surreptitious Entries file, COMPIC file, and COMRAP file.
His work has led some of his graduate students also to embark on FBI research. Two of his former PhD students include Kenneth O'Reilly (FBI and HUAC) and Christopher Gerard (FBI and the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee). Several of his master's students also studied the FBI with him while taking PhDs elsewhere: David Williams (PhD, University of New Hampshire) studied the early history of the FBI; Francis MacDonnell (PhD, Harvard University) studied the FBI and the Fifth Column; Douglas M. Charles (PhD, University of Edinburgh) studied the FBI and the anti-interventionist movement of 1939-45.
[edit] Grants and awards
Theoharis's grants and awards include:
- 1965, 1966: Grant from the Truman Institute for National and International Affairs
- 1971: Grant from the Institute for Humane Studies
- 1976: American Bar Association Gavel Award
- 1976: National Endowment for the Humanities summer fellowship
- 1979: Binkley-Stephenson Award
- 1980: Grant from the Field Foundation
- 1980: Albert Beveridge research grant
- 2002: Lawrence G. Haggerty Award for Research Excellence
- 2003: Wisconsin Academy of Arts, Science and Literature, fellow
- 2006: American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin’s Eunice Z. Edgar Lifetime Achievement Award
[edit] Bibliography
- Theoharis, Athan (1970). The Yalta Myths: An Issue in U.S. Politics. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 0826200885.
- Theoharis, Athan (1971). Seeds of Repression: Harry S. Truman and the Origins of McCarthyism. Times Books. ISBN 0812962834.
- Theoharis, Athan and Griffith, Robert, editors (1974). The Specter: Original Essays on the Cold War and the Origins of McCarthyism. New Viewpoints. ISBN 053106493X.
- Theoharis, Athan (1978). Spying on Americans: Political Surveillance from Hoover to the Huston Plan. Temple University Press. ISBN 0877221413.
- Theoharis, Athan, editor (1979). The Truman Presidency: The Origins of the Imperial Presidency and the National Security State. E.M. Coleman Enterprises. ISBN 0930576128.
- Theoharis, Athan and Dubofsky, Melvyn (1982). Imperial Democracy: The United States since 1945. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0134517660.
- Theoharis, Athan, editor (1982). Beyond the Hiss Case: The FBI, Congress, and the Cold War. Temple University Press. ISBN 087722241X.
- (1988) The Boss: J. Edgar Hoover and the Great American Inquisition. Temple University Press. ISBN 087722532X.
- Theoharis, Athan, editor (1992). From the Secret Files of J. Edgar Hoover. Ivan R. Dee, Publisher. ISBN 1566630177.
- Theoharis, Athan, editor (1994). The FBI: An Annotated Bibliography and Research Guide. Garland Science. ISBN 081530871X.
- Theoharis, Athan (1995). J. Edgar Hoover, Sex, and Crime: An Historical Antidote. Ivan R. Dee, Publisher. ISBN 1566630711.
- Theoharis, Athan, editor (1998). A Culture of Secrecy: The Government versus the People's Right to Know. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0700609989.
- Theoharis, Athan, editor (1999). The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide. Checkmark Books. ISBN 0816042284.
- Theoharis, Athan (2002). Chasing Spies: How the FBI Failed in Counterintelligence but Promoted the Politics of McCarthyism in the Cold War Years. Diane Publishing Co.. ISBN 0756787300.
- Theoharis, Athan and Theoharis, Jeanne (2002). These Yet to Be United States: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in America Since 1945. Wadsworth Publishing. ISBN 0155069896.
- Theoharis, Athan (2004). The FBI & American Democracy: A Brief Critical History. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0700613455.
- Edited by Theoharis, Athan; Immerman, Richard and Olmsted, Kathryn (2005). The Central Intelligence Agency: Security under Scrutiny. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313332827.
- Theoharis, Athan (2007). The Quest for Absolute Security: The Failed Relations Among U.S. Intelligence Agencies. Ivan R. Dee. ISBN 1-56663-697-3.
