As Donald Trump capitulates to Putin on Ukraine, many are wondering what leverage Putin has over him and revisiting longstanding evidence that Trump has been groomed for decades as a KGB asset. Trump was, however, not the first candidate selected for this mission.
That dubious honor goes to Henry A. Wallace, agriculture secretary under Franklin Roosevelt during his first and second terms (1933-1940), and Vice President during his third term (1941-1945). Wallace, a crop scientist by training, became increasingly interested in religious mysticism and began a lengthy correspondence with Nicholas Roerich, a Russian emigré artist based in New York City. Roerich was a student of theosophy, the esoteric belief system created by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky decades prior; Roerich and his wife Helena expanded on Blavatsky’s ideas to create Agni Yoga, which attracted devotees like Wallace.
“KGB” still evokes the idea of Soviet/Russian agents in three convenient letters. Honestly, at this point, I’d be depressed to see a poll of how many people in the U.S. know the USSR is no more. We referred to them as “Russians” in the '80s anyway. Details are unimportant to voters.