On SpyCast: The ex-NFL player who secretly helped the US join World War II
As President Donald Trump questions why the United States should continue supporting Ukraine and all pauses military aid, three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, the latest SpyCast just so happens to be about the reverse — an American president who was secretly trying to get the U.S. to join World War II.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt turned to Ernest Cuneo, a former NFL player turned White House lawyer. With FDR’s blessing, Cuneo acted as a spy before the country had an official spy agency — secretly working with British intelligence on the 36th floor of Rockefeller Center in New York City. As a liaison for the Brits, White House and FBI, Cuneo helped uncover Nazi operatives in the U.S., planted information in American media, and undermined isolationist members of Congress.
Thomas Maier traces Cuneo’s extraordinary life in his book, The Invisible Spy, out March 25. He says that Cuneo’s son told him “if it had become known what his father was doing for the president, that President Roosevelt might very well have been impeached, because bear in mind at that time, Roosevelt was saying, ‘I will not send your sons to war.’”
Cuneo himself stayed out of the spotlight. “He went from seeking fame with football [to] then realizing you could actually achieve more by being anonymous,” Thomas told me. Cuneo became essential to the formation of the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA — a behind-the-scenes man who ultimately played a prominent role in shaping America’s intelligence infrastructure.
Episode length: 28 minutes
Where to listen: On Apple | On Spotify