Frederick Ayer Jr.
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- George S. Patton IV (cousin)
- Frederick Ayer (grandfather)
Frederick Ayer Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 28, 1915 Topsfield, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | January 4, 1974 (aged 58) |
| Occupations | government official, attorney, and author |
| Relatives |
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Frederick Ayer Jr. (December 28, 1915 – January 4, 1974) was an American government official, attorney, and author who worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Mission in Greece, and the United States Air Force.
Ayer was born on December 28, 1915, in Topsfield, Massachusetts, to Frederick Ayer Sr. and Hilda Proctor Rice Ayer.[1] His uncle was General George S. Patton and his grandfather was Frederick Ayer.[1]
Ayer grew up in Wenham, Massachusetts.[2] He graduated from The Hill School in 1933, Harvard College in 1937, and Harvard Law School in 1941.[2] While an undergraduate, Ayer was a member of Harvard's varsity polo and track and junior varsity football and rifle teams.[3] On November 16, 1941, he married Anne Proctor Moody of San Francisco in Hamilton, Massachusetts.[4] They had two sons and one daughter.[5]
Government service
From 1941 to 1946, Ayer was an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was sworn in on August 25, 1941, placed in an accelerated training program, and assigned to the Washington, D.C., field office. One of his first targets was Inga Arvad, whom FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover believed could be a German spy. On his first ever technical surveillance operation, Ayer discovered that Arvad was romantically involved with one of his Harvard classmates, John F. Kennedy, then an ensign in the US Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence. The discovery of Kennedy's involvement with a married woman led to him being transferred to Charleston, South Carolina, where he had little access to classified materials and increased surveillance on Arvad.[6] Ayer was later assigned to the Boston and Cincinnati field offices and during World War II was loaned to the United States Army for a special assignment in Europe. He was eventually appointed chief of the FBI Liaison Units in the European Theater of Operations.[2]
From 1947 to 1948, Ayer worked at the American Mission in Greece as deputy legal advisor. He later as the chief of the mission's Intelligence and Security Division, where he was tasked with stopping Communist activities in relation to the American aid program. In 1948, United States Secretary of State George C. Marshall assigned Ayer to assist Maj. Gen. William J. Donovan in the investigation of CBS reporter George Polk's murder.[3][7] According to the New York Times Ayer was "credited with laying the groundwork for the inquiry that led to the solution of the case".[8][9]
In April 1950, Ayer was named assistant counsel to the Tydings Committee, a United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations subcommittee investigating alleged communism in the State Department on the recommendation of Senators Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and Bourke B. Hickenlooper.[10] His appointment was held up by Chairman Millard E. Tydings, after Tydings, who did not believe candidates for office should serve as members of the committee's staff, found out Ayer was running for Attorney General of Massachusetts.[8] Tydings soon withdrew his objection, but Ayer declined the post, stating that he did feel he the "full confidence of the committee" due to the chairman's objections.[9]
Fundraising
In 1948, Ayer accepted an unpaid position as vice-chairman of the Boston Children's Hospital's Children's Medical Center Fund. The following year he was named chairman of the fund. At the age of 33 he was believed to be the youngest chairman of a major charitable campaign in Massachusetts history.[2] In 1951 he served as general chairman of the YMCA's World Service Campaign.[11]