Gus W. Weiss
Gus W. Weiss was a White House policy adviser on technology, intelligence and economic affair and worked primarily on national security, intelligence and concerns on technology transfer to communist countries.
Education
Weiss graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He received his MBA from Harvard University and taught at NYU where he also received a PhD in economics.[1]
Career
- Under Presidents Nixon, Ford and Reagan, Weiss served as a foreign affairs officer and on the U.S. National Security Council.[2]
- Under President Carter, he was an assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Space Policy), a member of the Pentagon Defense Science Board and also of the US Intelligence Board.[2]
The Farewell Dossier
Weiss was also one of the people that worked on the Farewell Dossier.[3][4] The USSR collected western computer & scientific technology through espionage and used it on its national defense. One of the KGB defectors, Vetrov, submitted documents collected by the KGB and the potential targets to the French. French President Mitterrand then shared them with the US President Reagan. Mr. Weiss suggested that the US export whatever was on the potential targets list to the USSR, but that these items be modified, meaning sourced from the CIA, the Defense Department and the FBI. The products would look genuine, but fail once the USSR started operating them. One successful notable result was a massive fire in a European pipeline that could be seen from space.[3]
Death
Weiss died on November 25, 2003[5] under what the UK newspaper The Independent has characterized as "mysterious circumstances".[6] His body was found on the walk beneath his upstairs apartment in the Watergate building in Washington, DC. The local medical examiner ruled his death a suicide, according to The Washington Post.[7] The Post obituary, which came twelve days after the fact, was the first local report that Weiss had died. It gave no reason for the suicide determination. The Post published its Weiss obituary six days after his hometown newspaper, the Nashville Tennesseean, had reported his death.[8] The Tennesseean did not know the cause of death. He was 72 years old.[9] It has been alleged that his fervent opposition to the Iraq war may have played a part in his death.
References
- ^ "Gus W. Weiss, 72; White House Adviser". Highbeam Research (Washington Post Obituary). December 7, 2003. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
- ^ a b Holly Edwards (December 1, 2003). "Nashville native Gus Weiss, adviser to 4 presidents, dies". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
- ^ a b David E. Hoffman (2010). The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race. p. 35.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Safire, William (February 2, 2004), "The Farewell Dossier", New York Times
- ^ The New York Times, December 1, 2003;
- ^ The Independent, September 17, 2009
- ^ The Independent, September 17, 2009; The Washington Post, December 7, 2003
- ^ The Tennesseean, December 7, 2003
- ^ "Gus W. Weiss, 72; White House Adviser". Highbeam Research (Washington Post Obituary). December 7, 2003. Retrieved February 19, 2013.