Last week the Office of Strategic Services, the U.S. intelligence agency during World War II, received the highest Congressional honor. My new post on Medium looks at how the agency began after Pearl Harbor and drew on people and methods from the private sector to create a global network of spies.
The story provides backstory to the puzzle piece of businessmen turned informants for the OSS about the channels in neutral countries for crucial items used in the war, like tungsten and cork (following up my Washington Post article).
The OSS drew on Hollywood connections for its training film, Undercover, directed by an uncredited John Ford. Its alumni also used Hollywood after the war to burnish the agency’s image. Some of them went on to write for James Bond films. Check out the full piece here.