Scowcroft saying that the case had been brought to his attention. The same day Gen. Vernon
Walters called to say that Scowcroft was meeting with him at that very hour tdone. Bush then appointed CIA Counterintelligence Chief George Kalaris to oversee cooperationo see what could be (^)
with Mrs. Sadrin and her lawyer, Richard Copaken. Kalaris is accused in one published account of
this story of having helped to delivered Shadrin into the hands of the KGB. Later, on October 8,
1976 Mrs. Shadrin and Copaken were received by Bush at Langley in a meeting also attended by
Kalaris and formShadrin were broughter CIA employee Chester Coope up by Mrs. Shadrin, but were ruled out by Bush. Bush also refused to sayr. Various possibilities for forcing an exchange of
whether or not Shadrin was on a secret mission for the CIA. Bush did agree to set up a meeting for
Mrs. Shadrin with President Ford.
On November 5, Ford received Mrs. Shadrin at the White House. Mrs. Shadrin recalled Ford as"cold and austere," a man whose "eyes seemed glazed over like a bullfrog's while I talked." Ford (^)
was unwilling to make any committment on behalf of Shadrin. In the meantime, Bush had allowed
Copaken to interview several CIA clandestine officers, including the last CIA contact to see
Shadrin, one Cynthia Hausmann. This was considered a highly unusual favor by the DCI, even
though Hconcluded that her husband had been set up by the CIA, and that "she had been a fool to believeausmann's cover had already been blown by Philip Agee. But in the end, Mrs. Shadrin (^)
anything told her by George Bush...." [fn 57]
Related dimensions of Bush's intrigues at the CIA can only be hinted at. There is for example the
case of Ralph Joseph Sigler, an army segreant who worked as a double agent with the east bloc untilhe was found brutally murdered by electrocution in a motel in April, 1976. Among Sigler's
belongings was a photograph of himself together with CIA Director Bush. [fn 58]
The question raised by these cases was almost universally dodged during the 1988 election
campaign: "Do the American people really want to elect a former director of the CIA as theirPresident," as Tom Wicker posed it in the New York Times of April 29, 1988. "That's hardly been (^)
discussed so far; but it seems obvious that a CIA chief might well be privy to the kind of 'black'
secrets that could later make him-- as a public figure--subject to blackmail." Here is one area where
we can be sure that we have only scratched the surface.
As he managed the formidable world-wide capabilities of the CIA during 1976, Bush was laying
the groundwork for his personal advancement to higher office and greater power in the 1980's. As
we have seen, there was some intermittent speculation during the year that, in spite of what Ford
had promised the Senate, Bush might show up as Ford's running mate after all. But, at the
Republican convention, Ford chose Kansas Senator Bob Dthe election, Bush would certainly have attempted to secure a further promotion, perhaps toole for vice-president. If Ford had won
Secretary of State, Defense, or Treasury as a springboard for a new presidential bid of his own in
- But if Carter won the election, Bush would attempt to raise the banner of the non-political
status of the CIA in order to convince Carter to let him stay at Langley during the period 1977-81 as
a "non-partisan" administrator.
Carter and Bush were not destined to get along. Carter wore the mask of the cult of Dionysios,
demanding that the secrets of the inner temple be thrown open to the plebs for which he pretended
to act as tribune. Bush wore the mask of the temple of Apollo, and argued in public for the sanctity
of state secrets and the priority of covert operations while he secretly deployed his own irregulararmies. Carter had implicitly attacked Bush during the early phases of the presidential campaign in (^)
an August 12 speech in which the Georgian had denigrated the Ford Administration as a "dumping
ground for unsuccessful candidates, faithful political partisans, out-of-favor White House aides and
representatives of the special interests." That day, Bush had travelled to Plains, Geergia to provide
Carter with a five-hour intelligence briefing. Reporters asked Bush about Carter's comments, which