Theodore Shackley

Theodore George Shackley, Jr.
Thomas Polgar (far right) takes command of the CIA station in Saigon, January 1972. At left is former Station Chief Ted Shackley, heading back to a new assignment in Washington. In the middle is General Creighton Abrams, head of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV)
Birth name	Theodore George Shackley, Jr.
Born	(1927-07-16)July 16, 1927 West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Died	December 9, 2002(2002-12-09) (aged 75) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army Central Intelligence Agency
Years of service	1945–1953 (Army) 1953–1979 (CIA)
Rank	Second Lieutenant (Army) Paramilitary Operations Officer (CIA)
Unit	U.S. Army U.S. Army Counterintelligence Central Intelligence Agency Special Activities Division
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Alma mater	University of Maryland

Theodore George "Ted" Shackley, Jr. (July 16, 1927 – December 9, 2002) was an American CIA officer involved in many important and controversial CIA operations during the 1960s and 1970s. He is one of the most decorated CIA officers. Due to his "light hair and mysterious ways", Shackley was known to his colleagues as "the Blond Ghost".^[1]

In the early 1960s, Shackley's work included being station chief in Miami, during the period of the Cuban Missile Crisis, as well as the Cuban Project (also known as Operation Mongoose), which he directed. He was also said to be the director of the "Phoenix Program" during the Vietnam War, as well as the CIA station chief in Laos between 1966 and 1968, and Saigon station chief from 1968 through February 1972. In 1976, he was appointed Associate Deputy Director for Operations, second in charge of CIA covert operations.^[2]