Having read Solo-The FBI's Man in the Kremlin, the story by John Barron detailing the spying activities of Morris and Jack Childs on behalf of the US, I recalled slightly meeting one of the FBI agents who handled Jack Childs in the NY FBI office in the 1950s when I was there doing similar work in a minor way.

Jack and Morris Childs brought something like $30 million from the Soviets to bankroll the Communist Party USA; conferred with the heads of various communist countries (Morris was called his secretary of state by CPUSA head Gus Hall); furnished such valuable information on a current basis of Soviet intentions and bargaining positions that Henry Kissinger called these activities unparalleled in history.

These things were the fruit of a program of contacting important communists by the FBI in the very early 1950s and that program reportedly was not enthusiastically endorsed by J. Edgar Hoover. FBI agents Ed Buckley and Herb Larson were part of the program which was under the supervision of high FBI official A.H. Belmont. Ed and Herb struck paydirt when they were able to secure cooperation from Jack Childs. Building enough confidence in an informant to enable him/her to supply information in an ongoing way is a bit of an art and a most interesting activity. This time it was extremely rewarding.

The Jack and Morris Childs story was so very major that I wanted to crosscheck its accuracy. Ed Buckley lives on Long Island so I called him up and reminded him that we were in the NY FBI office at the same time.

Ed was an FBI agent from 1940 to 1967 and thereafter had another career as an arbitrator in business and SEC matters on Wall Street. He greatly startled me by reporting that he first interviewed Elizabeth Bentley and that lasted for many hours (seven or more). Bentley handled US government officials who spied for the Soviets in the 1930s and beyond. Her information was so valuable that it went to President Roosevelt (who inquired whether Buckley was reliable). Bentley was a direct predecessor of Whitaker Chambers in handling US officials spying for the Soviets and she corroborated Chambers' later revelations.

Ed stated that Solo, John Barron's book, is quite accurate but he made some observations. Jack Childs was primarily handled by the NY FBI office and Morris Childs was worked by the Chicago office. Jack was the prime mover and Morris later followed along. Jack died first and Morris continued until he received the US Medal of Freedom from President Reagan in 1987. When the book research started Morris' wife was alive and the book focused on Morris. According to Ed, the emphasis on Morris arose that way, but perhaps some rivalry between the Chicago and NY FBI offices lurks in the background.

It is an extremely high tribute to the skill and integrity of many FBI agents that the Jack/Morris Childs enterprise lasted 30 years.

Ed mentioned that he once interviewed Earl Browder, longtime head of the CPUSA. Ed Buckley's career was interesting enough to merit a book, itself.