Like the other plotmates, Stülpnagel lived in the old world of honor and oaths. Unknown to the plotters, however, that world had long passed them by. It was a nineteenth-century world, and they were fighting Adolf Hitler, the archetype of the twentieth-century dictator. In their country’s and the world’s darkest hour, these men of outmoded ideals could not muster the courage and will to abandon them. It was a loss the whole world suffered.
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER
Hitler scoured the continent to wipe out any distant relative of Stauffenberg. Thousands were killed, even those connected by the slimmest of threads. The resistance to Hitler from inside the German high command died.
The street outside the Bendlerblock where he was executed in Berlin now bears Stauffenberg’s name.
The noble-born generals of the Prussian cabal, who had elevated their survival above all other concerns, while accommodating Hitler’s evil, were now paying the ultimate price. For years after the failed putsch of 1923, they could have had their way with Hitler. But they realized only he could give them what they wanted: control of Europe. They put the awesome might of their resuscitated armies under his control and on a cataclysmic collision with the rest of the world. It was too late when many realized they could not control him. Even with the terrible end in sight, and with the knowledge of the horrible crimes committed in their name, the generals couldn’t summon the courage to sacrifice themselves to kill Hitler. Ultimately both were destroyed by their enemies who learned Hitler’s lessons better than the generals, that they were in a fight until death or bitter victory.
TWELVE.
THE BAY OF PIGS INVASION: 1961
Invading a country is a big deal. It usually makes the news. John F. Kennedy, the youngest president ever elected, seemed to be very mature for his age. Perhaps it was his World War II experience combined with his movie-star aura and privileged upbringing that led him to imagine he could cloak an invasion in total secrecy. But when the invaded country is well known as the rabid enemy of a world superpower like the United States, it’s hard to hide the looming colossus shooting from behind the sand dunes. Even a platoon of CIA flacks disguised as press aides proclaiming full deniability can’t spin away an invasion. But Kennedy tried.
To many Americans, Cuba seemed a natural extension of Florida. Only a mistake of geography prevented the United States from exercising its natural domination over the island. Ever since Teddy Roosevelt charged up San Juan Hill during the Spanish American War, Americans treated Cuba like their little brother. Of course, that’s if you don’t like, treat well, or respect your kid brother. But then one day the little kid got pissed off and dressed up in army fatigues, lit a cigar, and fought back. In 1959 Fidel Castro took over Cuba, kicked out the American business interests, and declared himself in charge.
Immediately the United States began looking to take out Castro. In 1960, under President Eisenhower, it turned to its master spies, the CIA. While not strictly in the job description, the CIA was willing to overthrow foreign governments if requested by the government. The upstanding Yale men, Skull and Bones types, who had controlled the agency since its founding as the OSS in World War II, were still dining out in their Brooks Brothers suits on the stories of overthrowing the leader of Guatemala in 1954 with a slingshot and two broken walkie-talkies. They figured if it worked there, it could work in Cuba. Both countries are filled with Spanish-speaking people and have nice beaches, so what could go wrong?
When Vice President Richard Nixon grabbed the reins from a disinterested Eisenhower, the CIA rounded up the old Guatemala gang and set them loose on the problem of “saving” the little hermano to the south from their new leader. With Richard Bissell, the patently brilliant head of covert operations running the show against Castro, the CIA just knew his days were numbered. They tweaked and jimmied up various plans, each one more foolproof than the last, finally settling on the perfect plan of a tidy little invasion of just a few hundred lightly armed, disgruntled former citizens.
Kennedy, who inherited the plan along with Bissell and his gang of bureaucratic revolutionaries, agreed to do it if they could pull it off without anyone guessing that the giant, superpower, archenemy ninety miles to the north was involved.
THE PLAYERS
John F. Kennedy — Young, exceedingly lucky and charismatic, the new president was ready to push the United States into a New Frontier of, well, everything. But beyond the hype he was an inexperienced, untested president who won a very close election and needed to prove he had the mettle to stand up to the Russkies and more important, the Russki-haters.
Skinny — Probably won the election because he had a closer shave than Nixon.
Props — Marilyn Monroe was a key member of the bedroom cabinet.
Pros — After the invasion tanked he sheepishly admitted his mistake by saying “How could I have been so stupid to let them go ahead?”
Cons — This epiphany came a week too late.
Fidel Castro — young, exceedingly lucky and charismatic, the new dictator was ready to join forces with the Soviet Union in the worldwide struggle against the shopping mall. Before taking command with his merry band of a dozen comrades, he convinced the world he was a major threat to Cuban dictator Batista. When Batista suddenly fled the country, Castro found himself in charge.
Skinny — Mass executions not as fun since Ché bought it in Bolivia.
Props — Knew an invasion was coming. He read about it in the U.S. newspapers.
Pros — Big baseball fan. Found it easy to motivate players with jail time and random killings.
Cons — Tested the revolutionary zeal of his underfed and TV-deprived citizens by requiring them to sit through four-hour harangues.
Richard Bissell — The reputedly brilliant chief of covert operations for the CIA, he was managing his first major coup without a net, notes, or a plan. He conceived the entire operation and was the one person who knew all the ways it could fail, and he was determined to keep them secret.
Skinny — Yale man. Studied there, taught there. Never featured on the cover of the course catalog.
Props — Overthrew countries from a desk in Washington, D.C.
Pros — Created the U-2 spy plane.
Cons — Needed a spy plane to find his career after the invasion flopped.
THE GENERAL SITUATION
When Castro first took over Cuba in January 1959, following the New Year’s Day flight of dictator Fulgencio Batista, he had everyone confused. No one knew quite what he stood for. He told the world that he led a people’s revolution that aimed to install all the trappings of the good society; free press, elections, good schools, and health care for all. Crowds cheered him during his first visit to the United States in April 1959. Many in the CIA wanted to support him. Even after a three-hour meeting with the famed Red-hunter Richard Nixon, the true picture of Fidel remained fuzzy. He was a tantalizing blend of Lenin and Elvis.