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Jeff Rogg
Jan 5, 20212 min read
Conspiracy, Collusion, and Intrigue...Oh My!
The bitter division between two political parties that we know so well today was already apparent during Washington's presidency. During...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 22, 20202 min read
The Secret Service Fund
When George Washington became the first President of the United States, he also became the first Spymaster-in-Chief. During the...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 21, 20202 min read
The Spymaster-in-Chief
The Founders had a problem: they knew from their experiences in the Revolutionary War that they needed intelligence, but they also knew...

Jeff Rogg
Dec 15, 20202 min read
Old made new
Even before the United States became a country, and in fact, during the war that led to America's independence, intelligence was already...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 14, 20202 min read
Spying on Americans: Domestic Intelligence in the Revolutionary War
Americans of the Revolutionary generation distrusted spies and thought espionage was dishonorable. The treachery of Benjamin Church and...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 13, 20203 min read
Spy games in France
While Washington and his spies dueled with the British in North America, American spies were also busy in France. At the outset of the...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 10, 20202 min read
George Washington, Spymaster
While the Hale mission ended in disaster, Washington quickly learned the art of intelligence. With the help of Benjamin Tallmadge,...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 9, 20202 min read
Benedict Arnold, Part Two
It was more than Arnold's pride that was wounded, it was also his pocketbook. The Continental Congress decided that Arnold owed it...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 8, 20202 min read
Benedict Arnold, Part One
While Church was the first villain and Hale the first hero in American intelligence history, perhaps the most famous figure to emerge in...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 7, 20202 min read
America's first intelligence hero
At the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and East 44th Street in New York City, a small plaque reads “At the British Artillery Park near this...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 6, 20203 min read
America's first traitor
While Benedict Arnold might be the most well-known traitor of the Revolutionary War, perhaps the most dangerous one was America's first...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 5, 20201 min read
The shadow war for America
The American Revolution almost never happened. The British had a highly placed spy among the Americans providing intelligence on their...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 4, 20202 min read
The first American intelligence "conspiracy"
Conspiracy theories fill the pages of U.S. history because conspiracy has been with the country since the very beginning. The United...


Jeff Rogg
Dec 3, 20201 min read
Welcome to The Spy and the State
Is there a "Deep State?" Have presidents spied on their political rivals and vice versa? What is "fake news," disinformation, or...
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