Richard Helms - Later Years

Later Years

As a result of General Westmoreland's law suit for libel against CBS, Helms was deposed by CBS attorneys who insisted on video-taping the deposition. Helms declined. The issue was litigated with Helms prevailing.

After returning from his ambassador post in Tehran, Iran, Helms was convicted of lying to Congress (see above: Chile under Nixon). Probably as a result, Helms allowed the journalist Thomas Powers to interview him over four "long mornings" about his years in the CIA. The interview transcript totals about 300 pages. Helms apparently was satisfied if not greatly pleased with the result, Powers' book: The Man who Kept the Secrets. Richard Helms and the CIA, published in 1979 by Knopf.

Helms later wrote his own memoirs, A Look over my Shoulder. A life in the Central Intelligence Agency, published in 2003 by Random House. William Hood, formerly of the OSS and CIA (chief of station), assisted Helms with the book.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan awarded Helms the National Security Medal.

After he died of bone cancer in 2002, Richard Helms was interred in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.