Clendenin J. Ryan
Encyclopedia
Clendenin James Ryan, Jr. (1905 - September 12, 1957) was an American businessman best known as the publisher and owner of The American Mercury
magazine, published in Baltimore, Maryland in the early 1950s when McCarthyism
was at it strongest.
Ryan mingled with millionaire
s, politician
s and military
and intelligence operatives for most of his life and he knew how to wield power in order to get what he wanted done. He and Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller
were stockholders in the Enterprise Development Corporation, a closed end investment trust for the heirs of William Rockefeller
and Thomas Fortune Ryan
, Clendenin's entrepreneurial grandfather, who invested heavily in Copper Mining and ore smelting. The Directors of EDC included Ryan, Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr.
, who married into the Rockefeller family
, and Morehead Patterson of American Machine and Foundry (AMF).
Ryan, who was once characterized as a somewhat quixotic
multi-millionaire once served as an assistant to Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia of New York City
, ran for the New York mayoralty himself on an independent ticket and later campaigned for New Jersey Governor
. He often sent large sums abroad to break up communist-inspired strikes and influence voters in favor of anti-communist candidates for higher office in France
and other countries.
Ryan served in the United States Navy
during World War II
under Admiral James Forrestal
.
Ryan was deeply committed as a financial backer of numerous schemes involving foreign intrigue bordering on violating the Neutrality Act with another spymaster
and former Office of Strategic Services
(OSS) Colonel by the name of Ulius L. "Pete" Amoss who ran the Baltimore, MD based International Services of Information, Inc. (ISI) and GramTrade International which was later merged into the Boston Metals Processing Company of Baltimore, identified as a Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) commercial cover proprietary by Robert Maxwell of Iran-Contra fame. ISI which published INFORM, a private circulation subscription service which disseminated tidbits of intrigue, espionage and foreign intelligence starting just before the Joseph McCarthy
era in the late 1940s. Ryan's relationships with these two intelligence agents and military men literally defined and characterized his own life which found him quite often emulating or imitating their lives of adventure, intrigue and espionage
on a first hand basis as a self financed Soldier of Fortune
and amateur spy of sorts. Ulius Amoss, once in the OSS, also delved into methods of programming paid assassins to do his bidding overseas and he worked very closely with Major Carleton S. Coon
, an anthropologist, OSS member and an Egyptologist on this project which eventually was merged into the MK/ULTRA operations of James J. Angleton and Ray S. Cline
of the CIA.
Ryan and Amoss organized several headline grabbing privately funded covert operation
s in the 1950s including the hijack
ing of a Russian MiG by a Polish pilot from behind the Iron Curtain (succeeded), an attempt to kidnap the son of Lenin (failed), and other comparable ventures.
Ryan was a self-styled exposer of political corruption
in Tammany Hall
and a staunch anti-Communist super patriot and McCarthy supporter who used his family's vast fortunes earned by his father, Thomas J. Ryan, in Chile
an copper mining and smelting to carry out a personal vendetta against anyone he perceived to threaten his way of life or any of his vast investments in the Chilean Copper mines. He opposed unions
, Communism
and Soviet oppression with equal fervor during his career as a self-styled philosophical extension of Senator Joseph McCarthy
, whom he idolized.
He even went so far as to lead a proxy fight
against Sosthenes Benes, the founder of IT&T, in order to get a majority of the Board of Directors elected at IT&T who would support Ryan's efforts at preventing his family's Chile
an Copper Mines from being nationalized if Chile
ever came under Communist control. He used the excuse of trying to get Benes to pay a dividend on his family's ITT shares which had been skipped for 14 years as the justification for his proxy
battle but in fact he had an ulterior motive behind his plans. And that was to assure that the use of ITT influence and control in Chile
would prevent Chile
an Communism from ever gaining a foothold.
The actual fight for voting interest domination and Board of Directors control of IT&T started as early as 1947. It was then that Manhattan
multi-millionnaire Clendenin J. Ryan made an unfriendly takeover attempt launched against Behn's dictatorial rule. Ryan was able to get 7 of his directors onto IT&T's 23 man board of directors before he gave up the fight (Time magazine
, January 5, 1948). The chief supporters of Ryan's group on the Board of ITT included Alleghany Corporation's President Allan Kirby whose family started F. W. Woolworth's who was a business partner of Robert "Railroad" Young. Young had majority positions in the Missouri Pacific, Penn Central and the Long Island Railroad, a New Mexico Publisher, Robert McKinney, the cousin of Robert Young and ex-Governor Charles Edison
of New Jersey whose father was Thomas Alva Edison. Charles Edison funded the seed money for the arch conservative Young Americans for Freedom
(YAF) begun by William F. Buckley, Jr.
in Sharon, CT according to Douglas Cady, another YAF founder, who said that he was the college roommate of Ryan's son, Clendenin J. Ryan, Jr. at Georgetown University
's School of Foreign Service during the late 1950s. Also on the ITT Board as Ryan's supporters were Chairman Arthur Hill
of Greyhound
Corporation's executive committee and a conservative Houston
Oilman, George Brown.
Ryan committed suicide
at the age of 52 in 1957, as did his father before him after a series of disappointments rocked his life.
The American Mercury
The American Mercury was an American magazine published from 1924 to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured writing by some of the most important writers in the United States through the 1920s and 1930s...
magazine, published in Baltimore, Maryland in the early 1950s when McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
was at it strongest.
Ryan mingled with millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
s, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
s and military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
and intelligence operatives for most of his life and he knew how to wield power in order to get what he wanted done. He and Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller
Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller
Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller son of William Goodsell Rockefeller served as a second lieutenant in World War One, was a member of the Skull and Bones society graduating from Yale University in 1921, and served as a lieutenant colonel during World War Two...
were stockholders in the Enterprise Development Corporation, a closed end investment trust for the heirs of William Rockefeller
William Rockefeller
William Avery Rockefeller, Jr. , American financier, was a co-founder with his older brother John D. Rockefeller of the prominent United States Rockefeller family. He was the son of William Avery Rockefeller, Sr. and Eliza Rockefeller.-Youth, education:Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York,...
and Thomas Fortune Ryan
Thomas Fortune Ryan
Thomas Fortune Ryan was a U.S. tobacco and transport magnate. Part of his fortune paid for the construction of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond, Virginia.-Early days:...
, Clendenin's entrepreneurial grandfather, who invested heavily in Copper Mining and ore smelting. The Directors of EDC included Ryan, Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr.
Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr.
Frederic Walker Lincoln, III was born the son of Frederic Walker Lincoln, Jr. and was married into the Rockefeller family. He was educated at Pomfret School, and graduated from Princeton University in 1921. Prior to graduation he served as a sergeant in the aviation section of the Army Signal Corps...
, who married into the Rockefeller family
Rockefeller family
The Rockefeller family , the Cleveland family of John D. Rockefeller and his brother William Rockefeller , is an American industrial, banking, and political family of German origin that made one of the world's largest private fortunes in the oil business during the late 19th and early 20th...
, and Morehead Patterson of American Machine and Foundry (AMF).
Ryan, who was once characterized as a somewhat quixotic
Quixotic
Quixotic may refer to:* Quixotic, an adjective deriving from the novel Don Quixote* Quixotic, an album by Martina Topley-Bird* Quix*o*tic, a Washington D.C. based rock band* DJ Quixotic, a Los Angeles-based record producer...
multi-millionaire once served as an assistant to Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, ran for the New York mayoralty himself on an independent ticket and later campaigned for New Jersey Governor
Governor of New Jersey
The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...
. He often sent large sums abroad to break up communist-inspired strikes and influence voters in favor of anti-communist candidates for higher office in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and other countries.
Ryan served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
under Admiral James Forrestal
James Forrestal
James Vincent Forrestal was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense....
.
Ryan was deeply committed as a financial backer of numerous schemes involving foreign intrigue bordering on violating the Neutrality Act with another spymaster
Spymaster
A spymaster is a ring leader of a spy ring, run by a secret service.-Historical spymasters:*Dai Li *Francis Walsingham *James Jesus Angleton *Joseph Peters...
and former Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS) Colonel by the name of Ulius L. "Pete" Amoss who ran the Baltimore, MD based International Services of Information, Inc. (ISI) and GramTrade International which was later merged into the Boston Metals Processing Company of Baltimore, identified as a Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) commercial cover proprietary by Robert Maxwell of Iran-Contra fame. ISI which published INFORM, a private circulation subscription service which disseminated tidbits of intrigue, espionage and foreign intelligence starting just before the Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
era in the late 1940s. Ryan's relationships with these two intelligence agents and military men literally defined and characterized his own life which found him quite often emulating or imitating their lives of adventure, intrigue and espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
on a first hand basis as a self financed Soldier of Fortune
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
and amateur spy of sorts. Ulius Amoss, once in the OSS, also delved into methods of programming paid assassins to do his bidding overseas and he worked very closely with Major Carleton S. Coon
Carleton S. Coon
Carleton Stevens Coon, was an American physical anthropologist, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, lecturer and professor at Harvard, and president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.-Biography:Carleton Coon was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts to a...
, an anthropologist, OSS member and an Egyptologist on this project which eventually was merged into the MK/ULTRA operations of James J. Angleton and Ray S. Cline
Ray S. Cline
Ray Steiner Cline was an official at the United States Central Intelligence Agency best known for being the chief CIA analyst during the Cuban Missile Crisis.-Biography:...
of the CIA.
Ryan and Amoss organized several headline grabbing privately funded covert operation
Covert operation
A covert operation is a military, intelligence or law enforcement operation that is carried clandestinely and, often, outside of official channels. Covert operations aim to fulfill their mission objectives without any parties knowing who sponsored or carried out the operation...
s in the 1950s including the hijack
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
ing of a Russian MiG by a Polish pilot from behind the Iron Curtain (succeeded), an attempt to kidnap the son of Lenin (failed), and other comparable ventures.
Ryan was a self-styled exposer of political corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
in Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
and a staunch anti-Communist super patriot and McCarthy supporter who used his family's vast fortunes earned by his father, Thomas J. Ryan, in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an copper mining and smelting to carry out a personal vendetta against anyone he perceived to threaten his way of life or any of his vast investments in the Chilean Copper mines. He opposed unions
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
, Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and Soviet oppression with equal fervor during his career as a self-styled philosophical extension of Senator Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
, whom he idolized.
He even went so far as to lead a proxy fight
Proxy fight
A proxy fight or proxy battle is an event that may occur when a corporation's stockholders develop opposition to some aspect of the corporate governance, often focusing on directorial and management positions. Corporate activists may attempt to persuade shareholders to use their proxy votes A proxy...
against Sosthenes Benes, the founder of IT&T, in order to get a majority of the Board of Directors elected at IT&T who would support Ryan's efforts at preventing his family's Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an Copper Mines from being nationalized if Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
ever came under Communist control. He used the excuse of trying to get Benes to pay a dividend on his family's ITT shares which had been skipped for 14 years as the justification for his proxy
Proxy fight
A proxy fight or proxy battle is an event that may occur when a corporation's stockholders develop opposition to some aspect of the corporate governance, often focusing on directorial and management positions. Corporate activists may attempt to persuade shareholders to use their proxy votes A proxy...
battle but in fact he had an ulterior motive behind his plans. And that was to assure that the use of ITT influence and control in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
would prevent Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an Communism from ever gaining a foothold.
The actual fight for voting interest domination and Board of Directors control of IT&T started as early as 1947. It was then that Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
multi-millionnaire Clendenin J. Ryan made an unfriendly takeover attempt launched against Behn's dictatorial rule. Ryan was able to get 7 of his directors onto IT&T's 23 man board of directors before he gave up the fight (Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, January 5, 1948). The chief supporters of Ryan's group on the Board of ITT included Alleghany Corporation's President Allan Kirby whose family started F. W. Woolworth's who was a business partner of Robert "Railroad" Young. Young had majority positions in the Missouri Pacific, Penn Central and the Long Island Railroad, a New Mexico Publisher, Robert McKinney, the cousin of Robert Young and ex-Governor Charles Edison
Charles Edison
Charles Edison was son of Thomas Edison to Mina, businessman, Assistant and then United States Secretary of the Navy, and served as the 42nd Governor of New Jersey.-Biography:...
of New Jersey whose father was Thomas Alva Edison. Charles Edison funded the seed money for the arch conservative Young Americans for Freedom
Young Americans for Freedom
Young Americans for Freedom is a 501 non-profit organization and is now a project of Young America's Foundation. YAF is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960, as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians...
(YAF) begun by William F. Buckley, Jr.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
William Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American conservative author and commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing was noted for...
in Sharon, CT according to Douglas Cady, another YAF founder, who said that he was the college roommate of Ryan's son, Clendenin J. Ryan, Jr. at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
's School of Foreign Service during the late 1950s. Also on the ITT Board as Ryan's supporters were Chairman Arthur Hill
Arthur Hill
Arthur Hill may refer to:* Arthur Hill , Anglo-Irish soldier, constable of Hillsborough Fort* Arthur Hill, 8th Marquess of Downshire * Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor...
of Greyhound
Greyhound
The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...
Corporation's executive committee and a conservative Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
Oilman, George Brown.
Ryan committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
at the age of 52 in 1957, as did his father before him after a series of disappointments rocked his life.