Talk:Armand Hammer

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Armand Hammer Biography: Blumay, Carl, The Dark Side of Power, ISBN 0671700537

Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer By Edward Jay Epstein; Random House/US

This investigative book exposes the life of Armand Hammer -- hailed during his lifetime as a successful businessman and philanthropist -- for what it was: a myth, nurtured and embellished for nearly 70 years. In 1922, Lenin wrote a secret letter to Stalin, designating Hammer as their official "path" to the resources of American capitalism. From then until his death in 1990, Hammer was indeed a Soviet agent.

[edit] Several useful readings

http://independence.net/gore/

The history of A.H., his connection with the Gores, and his false credibility. Most of them are taken from the Epstein's Dossier

www.freerepublic.com/forum/a38c4a8fd6308.htm

How Mr Clean got his hands dirty [The Gores, Armand Hammer, and Oxy Petroleum]

http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/armand_hammer.htm

Reviewing DOSSIER: THE SECRET HISTORY OF ARMAND HAMMER

http://members.iglou.com/jtmajor/Hammer.htm

... in green background

The Great Pretender

Another review of Dossier, highlighted on Hammer's connection with English royalty

I've actually read "The Dark Side of Power" and "Dossier", not just the book jacket blurb and reviews. The Soviets were delighted to have a sympathetic ear in Armand Hammer, and had great hopes for him as an "agent of influence" (their expression, not mine). Note, however, that an "agent of influence" is not a Soviet agent in the sense that the Washington Times or Free Republic would have you believe. He did not take orders from anybody behind the iron curtain; they just hoped that his positive experiences in the USSR would serve as a role model to convince other capitalists to regard them more favorably. In this, they were disappointed. Through his life, Hammer regularly exaggerated his wealth and influence. He got a lot more from the Soviets in business deals and classic art than they ever got from him.
Hammer's FBI files have been pulled by researchers using the Freedom of Information Act. The FBI followed him closely through much of his life. You can find the records online if you search a bit. The nasty stuff boils down to
  1. His father had been a communist (as discussed in the Wikipedia article)
  2. Hammer gave illegal support to the Republican party
Uucp 11:58, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

There's a discussion at http://www.volokh.com/posts/1177040902.shtml that mentions inaccuracies in the article, including that:

  • The "although he never practiced medicine" part is inaccurate
  • The botched abortion which the Wikipedia article attributes to his father was performed by him
  • Quite a bit of negative information from Dossier is not present.

We don't have direct sources for the first two (unless it's in Dossier, which someone else will have to check), but we don't have sources for the parts of the article that contradict them either. Ken Arromdee 13:22, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

The botched abortion was performed by his father, according to the Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, p. 533. That source also indicates "he was sent there [Russia] in 1921 (while waiting for his internship to begin at Bellevue Hospital)", and in Theodore D. Lockwood's Dreams & Promises: The Story of the Armand Hammer United World College, p. 11 we also find that "Hammer had studied medicine at Columbia University and had received his M.D. in 1921, but before he could take up his internship he went to Russia".

While neither of these explicitly say "he never practiced medicine", the fact that he never did an internship would indicate that. However, if you want to be airtight, you could replace it with something like "Although his medical career ended before he could begin his internship"... Biruitorul 19:46, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Based on the discussion at Volokh, it seems possible he practiced medicine while a student. So we could say something like "Although he never completed his internship...", to cover the possibility that he did practice while at Columbia. Biruitorul 03:17, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:DrHammer.jpg

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[edit] Soviet Order of Friendship of People

There is no such thing as "Lenin's Order of Friendship of People", there are Lenin Order and Order of Friendship of Peoples; Hammer was awarded the latter. Corrected in the article. oxana (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 23:31, 28 February 2008 (UTC)