Dupes: How America's Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century

by Paul Kengor

Overview

In this startling, intensively researched book, bestselling historian Paul Kengor shines light on a deeply troubling aspect of American history: the prominent role of the "dupe." From the Bolshevik Revolution through the Cold War and right up to the present, many progressives have unwittingly aided some of America's most dangerous opponents.

Based on never-before-published FBI files, Soviet archives, and other primary sources, Dupes exposes the legions of liberals who have furthered the objectives of America's adversaries. Kengor shows not only how such dupes contributed to history's most destructive ideology—Communism, which claimed at least 100 million lives—but also why they are so relevant to today's politics.

Dupes reveals:
• Shocking reports on how Senator Ted Kennedy secretly approached the Soviet leadership to undermine not one but two American presidents
• Stunning new evidence that Frank Marshall Davis—mentor to a young Barack Obama—had extensive Communist ties and demonized Democrats
• Jimmy Carter's woeful record dealing with America's two chief foes of the past century, Communism and Islamism
• Today's dupes, including the congressmen whose overseas anti-American propaganda trip was allegedly financed by foreign intelligence
• How '60s Marxist radicals—Tom Hayden, Mark Rudd, Jane Fonda, Jeff Jones, Bill Ayers, and more—have suddenly reemerged as "progressives for Obama" • How Franklin Roosevelt was duped by "Uncle Joe" Stalin—and by a top adviser who may have been a Soviet agent—despite clear warnings from fellow Democrats
• How John Kerry's accusations that American soldiers committed war crimes in Vietnam may have been the product of Soviet disinformation
• The many Hollywood stars who were duped, including Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Gene Kelly—and even Ronald Reagan
• Soviet records that demonstrate beyond doubt the Communists' expansionist aims and their targeting of American liberals, especially academics and the Religious Left
• How liberals still defend the same Communists who trashed Democratic icons like Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Harry Truman, and JFK—and still attack the anti-Communists who tried to spare them from manipulation
• Details on many other dupes (and dupers), including Arthur Miller, Dr. Benjamin Spock, John Dewey, H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Lillian Hellman, Howard Zinn, Walter Cronkite, and Helen Thomas
• A new chapter on the War on Terror. Packed with stunning revelations, Dupes shows in frightening detail how U.S. adversaries exploit the American home front. Now with an updated introduction to the paperback edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610171465
Publisher:	Skyhorse Publishing
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Edition description:	1
Pages:	640
Sales rank:	365,718
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Paul Kengor, PhD, is the New York Times bestselling author of God and Ronald Reagan, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism, 11 Principles of a Reagan Conservative, Dupes, The Communist, and other books. A professor of political science and the executive director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College, he has written for a range of popular and scholarly publications, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, National Review, Political Science Quarterly, Christianity Today, the National Catholic Register, and the National Catholic Reporter. Kengor has appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, NPR, C-SPAN, and many other outlets. He and his family live in Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Paperback Edition Dupes, Dupes, and More Dupes xiii

Introduction: The Overlooked Role of the Dupe 1

Chapter 1 World Revolution, the Comintern, and CPUSA 15

Chapter 2 Woodrow Wilson: "Utter Simpleton" 39

Chapter 3 Potemkin Progressives 53

Chapter 4 John Dewey: The Kremlin's Favorite Educator 80

Chapter 5 John Dewey's Long, Strange Trip 92

Chapter 6 The Redemption of Professor Dewey 104

Chapter 7 Smearing Another Liberal Icon: CPUSA's Assault on "Fascist" FDR and the New Deal 110

Chapter 8 War Communism: Hating FDR, Loving FDR 135

Chapter 9 Duping FDR: "Uncle Joe" and "Buddies" 160

Chapter 10 The Hollywood Front 182

Chapter 11 October 1947: Hollywood v. "HUAC" 211

Chapter 12 Trashing Truman: World Communism and the Cold War 231

Chapter 13 Dreams from Frank Marshall Davis 246

Chapter 14 Vietnam Dupes: Protests, Riots, and the Chaotic Summer of '68 280

Chapter 15 Grown-up Vietnam Dupes: Dr. Spock, Corliss Lamont, and Friends 306

Chapter 16 Radicals: Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, SDS, and the Weathermen 325

Chapter 17 John Kerry-and Genghis Khan 350

Chapter 18 A Kiss for Brezhnev: Jimmy Carter 358

Chapter 19 Defending the "Evil Empire": Stopping Ronald Reagan's "Errors" and "Distortions" 366

Chapter 20 "Star Wars": The SDI Sabotage 398

Chapter 21 September 11, 2001 420

Chapter 22 Still Dupes for the Communists 440

Chapter 23 2008: A "Progressive" Victory 466

Postscript Bogart at the Workers School? 481

Appendix A Ted Kennedy's Secret Overture to the Soviet Union 497

Appendix B Frank Marshall Davis's FBI File 506

Notes 516

Author's Note 583

Acknowledgments 585

Index 589

Editorial Reviews

"Nothing short of horrifying . . . In terms of putting the last 100 years in perspective, Dupes may be one of the most significant literary offerings of our time." —Washington Times"Bears witness to how digging for detail can yield not only clues to the past, but insights for the present . . . [Kengor] has written the most exhaustive and definitive account of Communism's twentieth-century assault on America to date." —Townhall"Kengor presents an utterly invaluable study. . . . Read Dupes and you'll understand how we finally won [the Cold War]—and how very close we came to losing." —Peter Robinson, speechwriter to President Reagan, host of Uncommon ­Knowledge"Dupes is an enormously important book that will forever change the way you think about liberals and how they deal with America's enemies. Kengor has unearthed eye-popping new information that left me amazed and a bit frightened." —Fred Barnes, executive editor of the Weekly Standard"A brilliant work . . . Read Dupes from cover to cover. It's that important." —WorldNetDaily"Kengor's illustrations of dupery in his new book are plentiful. . . . Perhaps most importantly, Kengor places the 'dupe' phenomenon beyond its Cold War context, linking it to current events such as Islamic terrorism." —Human Events"A detailed, riveting history of those who were duped into serving the enemy. Dupes is not to be missed!" —Peter Schweizer, bestselling author of Clinton Cash"During my time as Ronald Reagan's national security adviser, we saw the crucial need to stand up to the Soviets and the international Communist movement. Too many people on our side, while well-intentioned, did not see that need and were often misled. At long last, here is a book that explores this intriguing and troubling aspect of the Cold War." —William P. Clark, Reagan national security adviser"Kengor applies meticulous research to peeling back the layers of lies and obfuscation the American Left has used for years in claiming that its associations with the Soviets and other tyrants were just coincidental. . . . A great contribution." —Larry Schweikart, bestselling author of A Patriot's History of the United States"A book so fascinating and so revealing that I couldn't put it down. Kengor gives us a fabulous tour of Communist dupes in America from FDR through SDS, Carter, Kerry, and Ted Kennedy. The gullibility of FDR and others would be comical if it weren't so tragic for U.S. foreign policy. Key American leaders, as Kengor shows clearly, ultimately strengthened and extended the life of a totalitarian regime that thrived on deceit, oppression, and mass murder." —Burton Folsom Jr., author of New Deal or Raw Deal?"An extraordinary book that alters our understanding of the twentieth century." —Herb Meyer, special assistant to CIA director William Casey, 1981–87

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