Sidney Gottlieb facts for kids

Sidney Gottlieb (August 3, 1918 – March 7, 1999) was an American chemist and a leader in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was in charge of programs in the 1950s and 1960s that explored how to influence people's minds and actions, including a program known as Project MKUltra.

Early Life and School

Sidney Gottlieb was born in the Bronx, New York, on August 3, 1918. His parents were immigrants from Hungary. Sidney had a stutter when he was a child. Later in life, after working for the CIA, he earned a master's degree in speech therapy from San Jose State University. He was also born with a club foot, which meant he could not join the military during World War II. However, this did not stop him from enjoying folk dancing, which was a hobby he loved his whole life.

Sidney finished high school in 1936. He then went to City College of New York, which was free. He wanted to study agricultural biology, so he transferred to Arkansas Tech University. There, he studied plants, chemistry, and dairy farming. Because he did so well, he was accepted into the University of Wisconsin. He graduated with high honors in 1940. His achievements helped him get into the California Institute of Technology, where he earned his advanced degree in Biochemistry in 1943.

While at California Institute of Technology, Gottlieb met Margaret Moore, and they quickly got married. Since he could not join the military, he looked for other ways to help his country. In 1948, he and his wife and two daughters lived in a simple cabin in Vienna, Virginia. It did not have electricity or running water. This was where he lived when he started working for the CIA. His simple lifestyle was different from many people the CIA usually hired.

Working for the Government

Sidney Gottlieb's first job for the government was at the United States Department of Agriculture. He studied the chemicals in soil. Later, he moved to the Food and Drug Administration. He found this work boring and wanted a bigger challenge. In 1948, he found a job at the National Research Council. Soon after, he moved to the University of Maryland to study how fungi grow.

On July 13, 1951, Gottlieb began working at the CIA. Allen Dulles, who was a high-ranking official at the CIA, hired him. Dulles knew Gottlieb's former mentor, Ira Baldwin, who had started a program for biological weapons. Gottlieb knew a lot about poisons and joined the CIA during the early years of the Cold War. After World War II, many Americans were worried about Communist ideas spreading from the Soviet Union and China. This fear led the CIA to try new and sometimes unusual methods. They wanted to learn how to influence the human mind. They thought that other countries had already figured out "brainwashing" and were using it. This belief made the CIA start projects to understand and control the mind.

Before Gottlieb joined, the CIA had a project called Project BLUEBIRD. After his training, Gottlieb became the head of a new group called the Chemical Division. On August 20, 1951, Project Bluebird was made bigger and renamed Project ARTICHOKE. This project became very important for Gottlieb. Allen Dulles was promoted to a higher position at the CIA, which meant Gottlieb's mind-control projects had support from the top levels of the U.S. government.

Dulles and Gottlieb both believed they could find a way to influence and control the human mind. They also wanted a "truth serum" that could make people tell the truth. After trying experiments on agents and prisoners, Gottlieb was not satisfied. He then worked with the Special Operations Division at Fort Detrick. This allowed the CIA to use the Army's knowledge and facilities to develop special tools for the CIA.

Dulles officially approved Project MKUltra on April 13, 1953. His brother, John Foster Dulles, became the Secretary of State, which gave the project even more support. On April 10, Dulles gave a speech where he talked about a new kind of "brain warfare." He said that other countries were trying to control minds, but he was actually talking about what his own agency was doing. Gottlieb chose many scientists and researchers to work for him on different parts of MK-ULTRA. These people did experiments and told Gottlieb what they found. He supported doctors like Donald Ewen Cameron and Harris Isbell in their research into how the mind works.

Gottlieb also worked with a company called Lockheed Corporation. Lockheed was helping the CIA with a spy plane project called Project AQUATONE, which later became known as the U-2 spy plane. In 1953, he helped set up a secret place for Lockheed to use.

The CIA also worked with other government groups like the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) and the Office of Naval Intelligence. It is not fully clear what Gottlieb's exact role was in these partnerships, but he was involved in approving them.

Later Life and Passing

Sidney Gottlieb left the CIA in 1973. He said he did not think his work had been very helpful. After he retired, he lived in an "eco-friendly" home in Culpeper, Virginia. He raised goats, ate yogurt, and supported peace and protecting the environment. He and his wife, Margaret, traveled to Australia, Africa, and India for two years. They then stayed for several months to help run a hospital for people with leprosy in India. He had two sons and two daughters.

Gottlieb and his wife later moved back to Santa Cruz, California, to be closer to their grandchildren. While there, Gottlieb earned his master's degree in speech pathology. After five years, they moved back to Virginia for their final retirement years. Both of them volunteered. Gottlieb used his new degree to help students in middle and high schools, and sometimes helped people in hospice care as a speech pathologist. They also enjoyed growing their own food.

Sidney Gottlieb passed away at his home in Washington, Virginia, on March 7, 1999. He had a history of heart problems, but his wife did not share the exact cause of his death.

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