What was Alger Hiss known for?

Answer 1

Alger Hiss was a former high-ranking State Department official, accused by Whittaker Chambers in August 1948 of being a communist and Soviet spy. During the second of two trials in 1949, Hiss was found guilty on two counts of perjury and in 1950 sentenced to give years (serving only 44 months due to good behavior).

During the Cold War (1945-1990), then, Hiss was:

- State Department official (1945-1946)

- President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1946-1949)

- Defendant in United States v. Alger Hiss (1949)

- Prisoner (1950-1954) - Citizen (1954-1996)

Sources: Readers interested in more details would do well by starting with official sites for the two men:
- Alger Hiss: http://www.algerhiss.com
- Whittaker Chambers: http://www.whittakerchambers.org
Alger Hiss was a former high-ranking State Department official and adviser to Franklin D. Roosevelt, accused of by Whittaker Chambers in August 1948 of being a communist and Soviet spy. After two trials in 1949, Hiss was found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison (of which he only served 44 months).

Richard M. Nixon rose to fame during the Hiss-Chambers Case (or "Hiss Case") as an aggressive member of the House on Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). HUAC initiated Hiss Case with a subpoena of Chambers and his answers to committee questions during a first appearance on August 3, 1948. By August 25, 1948, a more prominent official, Harry Dexter White, had died of a heart attack, five others had pled the Fifth collectively, and Hiss and Chambers appeared before HUAC on radio and television (the first televised congressional hearing) to confront each other with their stories. By December 1948, the U.S. Department of Justice had indicted Hiss on two counts of perjury.
Sources: Readers would do well by starting with official sites for the two men:
- Whittaker Chambers: http://www.whittakerchambers.org
- Alger Hiss: http://www.algerhiss.com

Answer 2

Alger Hiss is best known for being an American lawyer. He was born in 1904 and was involved in establishing the United Nations. He was once accused of being a soviet spy.