Definitely not a spy, but this monarch held an even better title, one of “Spymistress”. Americans tend to have this idea about England, where the country seems to preternaturally have its act together, however, not many Yanks know that at one time, The Great Empire once existed in a state of near chaos. Queen Elizabeth [...]
Letitia Long
If I were a praying girl, I would be screaming “Amen and Hallelujah” from the rooftops today over the confirmation of Letitia Long as the new Director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. But since I am not, let’s just discuss Long instead. But if I may, can I comment on the fact that there [...]
Live from the Dungarvan Conference
A conference on analytical best practices is currently underway in the wonderful town of Dungarvan, located in Co. Waterford, Ireland. Organized by the Mercyhurst College Institute of Intelligence Studies in Erie, PA the conference seeks to examine analytical best practices across a variety of fields and, hopefully, come to understand how these best practices may be applied to [...]
Millicent Bagot
Millicent Jessie Eleanor Bagot (1907-2006) could smell a rat at twenty paces and had an illustrious career as one of the UK’s premier spy hunters and what we now call Whistleblowers. The last decade has been full of Dame Whistleblowers so we should pay particular attention to the woman who made a career of sniffing [...]
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson
In honor of Election Day, I am going to devote this entry to all things presidential. Edith Wilson (1872-1961), second wife of Woodrow Wilson and First Lady of the United States from 1915-1921, is remembered by a number of titles including “The Secret President” and “The First Lady to Run the Government”, but I like [...]
Nancy McNally
Anna Deavere Smith served as National Security Advisor, Dr. Nancy McNally, on TV’s “The West Wing” for seven seasons. On a fictional level, she beats Condleeaza Rice to the finish line for an African-American woman serving in the position. On a real level, she plays Paul McCartney to Allison Janey’s John Lennon, aka dynamic duo [...]
Golda Meir
Anger most grandmothers and you’re sure to get a time-out or denied your milk and cookies. Anger this grandmother and she orders one the most far-reaching and deadliest covert operations of all time. Whatever your view on the region’s politics, there’s no denying Golda Meir’s (1898-1978) place in history as the “Iron Lady” of Israel. [...]
Stella Rimington
Stella Rimington (1935-), British spy-dame, was the first female Director General of Britain’s MI5. So how does a skirt with a with a degree in English and Archival Administration become Britain’s top spy? Simple, Stella and her husband were working/living in India in 1967, where Stella found herself working for a representative of MI5 as [...]
C.J. Cregg
Say what you will about the politics of the show, but TV’s “The West Wing” accomplished a very important feat: the writers of the show provided us with a fully realized female character at a time when women characters on TV kinda sucked. Okay, so C.J. was not a spy-dame, per se, but this lady [...]
