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| Blackford Oakes | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Saving the Queen |
| Last appearance | Last Call for Blackford Oakes |
| Created by | William F. Buckley, Jr. |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Spy |
| Affiliation | Central Intelligence Agency |
| Nationality | American |
Blackford "Blackie" or "Black" Oakes is a fictional character, a Central Intelligence Agency officer, spy and the protagonist of a series of novels written by William F. Buckley, Jr.
Oakes was born in 1925. He served in World War II as a fighter pilot and graduated from Yale University. [1] Oakes is an engineer by training (at one point in the series, he is hired by an architectural firm), and Anthony Trust, ahead of Black at both Greyburn and Yale, recruits him for the Central Intelligence Agency in his senior year, 1951.
At Yale, Blackford is older than most of his classmates due to his military service. Reference is made to his membership on both the swimming and lacrosse teams there, and he is a member of Zeta Psi fraternity. Sally Partridge, a Vassar graduate, is his main love interest throughout the series. Their fateful meeting and Blackford's courtship of Sally is detailed in Mongoose, R.I.P.
Blackford's missions with the CIA involve various top-secret Cold War enterprises arranged by the Agency's highest ranking individuals and American presidents alike. Oakes possesses the ability to impress his colleagues, superiors (among them John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan), and even his enemies with his easy-going competence and likability.
Oakes' personal life is somewhat hectic because of his constant globetrotting for the Agency, as he can never seem to find ample time to settle down with Sally, who yearns for the day when Blackford will retire from the CIA. Their respective worldviews are quite dissimilar, Oakes being conservative, and Sally, a liberal feminist who studied and teaches Jane Austen and admires Adlai Stevenson. While not only disliking Blackford's chosen profession because it so often spoils their plans, Sally also disapproves of many of the ideals she believes the CIA represents.
While always holding Sally close to his heart, Oakes still finds plenty of time to pursue romantic conquests across the globe, often mixing work with pleasure. He is a suave, intelligent, and confident gentleman who is, in Buckley's own words, distinctly American, and it is no surprise he succeeds in both work and play.
In "Saving the Queen," Blackford's address in 1975 is listed as 3025 P Street, NW.
Blackford is an avid reader of National Review but rarely offers insight into the state of domestic politics and world affairs.
Throughout the series, Blackford proves himself to be the ultimate Cold War warrior, and risks his life for the country he loves countless times, while looking smooth doing it.
Though Oakes is widely regarded as a gentleman, and at times, a charmer, he also has a rebellious streak in the face of unduly harsh authority. Blackford demonstrates this rebelliousness throughout the series, beginning with an incident involving the administration of Greyburn Academy, which Blackford briefly attends as a schoolboy.
Spy fiction, a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device, emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligence agencies. It was given new impetus by the development of fascism and communism in the lead-up to World War II, continued to develop during the Cold War, and received a fresh impetus from the emergence of rogue states, international criminal organizations, global terrorist networks, maritime piracy and technological sabotage and espionage as potent threats to Western societies. As a genre, spy fiction is thematically related to the novel of adventure, the thriller and the politico-military thriller.
William Frank Buckley Jr. was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded National Review, a magazine that stimulated the conservative movement in the late-20th century United States. Buckley hosted 1,429 episodes of the public affairs television show Firing Line (1966–1999), the longest-running public affairs show in American television history with a single host, where he became known for his distinctive Mid-Atlantic idiolect and wide vocabulary.
Everette Howard Hunt Jr. was an American intelligence officer and author. From 1949 to 1970, Hunt served as an officer in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), particularly in the United States involvement in regime change in Latin America including the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état and the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. Along with G. Gordon Liddy, Frank Sturgis, and others, Hunt was one of the Nixon administration "plumbers", a team of operatives charged with identifying government sources of national security information "leaks" to outside parties. Hunt and Liddy plotted the Watergate burglaries and other clandestine operations for the Nixon administration. In the ensuing Watergate scandal, Hunt was convicted of burglary, conspiracy, and wiretapping, eventually serving 33 months in prison. After release, Hunt lived in Mexico and then Florida until his death.
James Jesus Angleton was chief of counterintelligence for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1954 to 1974. His official position within the organization was Associate Deputy Director of Operations for Counterintelligence (ADDOCI). Angleton was significantly involved in the US response to the purported KGB defectors Anatoliy Golitsyn and Yuri Nosenko. Angleton later became convinced the CIA harbored a high-ranking mole, and engaged in an intensive search. Whether this was a highly destructive witch hunt or appropriate caution vindicated by later moles remains a subject of intense historical debate.
The Cuban Project, also known as Operation Mongoose, was an extensive campaign of terrorist attacks against civilians, and covert operations, carried out by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in Cuba. It was officially authorized on November 30, 1961 by American President John F. Kennedy. The name Operation Mongoose had been agreed at a prior White House meeting on November 4, 1961. The operation was run out of JM/WAVE, a major secret United States covert operations and intelligence gathering station established a year earlier in Miami, Florida, and led by United States Air Force General Edward Lansdale on the military side and William King Harvey at the CIA and went into effect after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion.
The Intelligence Star is an award given by the Central Intelligence Agency to its officers for "voluntary acts of courage performed under hazardous conditions or for outstanding achievements or services rendered with distinction under conditions of grave risk". The award citation is from the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and specifically cites actions of "extraordinary heroism". It is the third-highest award given by the Central Intelligence Agency, behind the Distinguished Intelligence Cross and Distinguished Intelligence Medal, and is analogous to the Silver Star, the US military award for extraordinary heroism in combat. Only a few dozen people have received this award, making it one of the rarest valor awards awarded by the US government.
Richard Mervin Bissell Jr. was a Central Intelligence Agency officer responsible for major projects such as the U-2 spy plane and the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
The Central Intelligence Agency, known informally as the Agency and the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT) and performing covert actions. As a principal member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet of the United States.
Saving the Queen is a 1976 American spy thriller novel by William F. Buckley, Jr., the first of eleven novels in the Blackford Oakes series.
Stained Glass is an American spy thriller novel by William F. Buckley, Jr., the second of eleven novels in the Blackford Oakes series. Its first paperback edition won a 1980 National Book Award in the one-year category Mystery (paperback).
Espionage and secret operations have long been a source of fiction, and the real and perceived U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a source of many books, films and video games. Some fiction may be historically based, or will refer to less action-oriented aspects, such as intelligence analysis or counterintelligence.
Who's on First is a 1980 American spy thriller novel written by William F. Buckley, Jr., the third of eleven novels in the Blackford Oakes series.
Marco Polo, if You Can is a 1982 Blackford Oakes novel by William F. Buckley, Jr. It is the fourth of 11 novels in the series.
The Story of Henri Tod is a 1984 Blackford Oakes novel by William F. Buckley, Jr. It is the fifth of 11 novels in the series.
See You Later, Alligator is a 1985 Blackford Oakes novel by William F. Buckley, Jr. It is the sixth of 11 novels in the series.
High Jinx is a 1986 Blackford Oakes novel by William F. Buckley, Jr. It is the seventh of 11 novels in the series by date of publication, but occurs third chronologically.
Mongoose R.I.P. is a 1988 Blackford Oakes novel by William F. Buckley, Jr. It is the eighth of 11 novels in the series.
Tucker's Last Stand is a 1990 Blackford Oakes novel by William F. Buckley, Jr. It is the ninth of 11 novels in the series.
A Very Private Plot is a 1994 historical spy novel by William F. Buckley, Jr. It is the tenth of 11 novels in the Blackford Oakes series. The novel was well received by The New York Times described the novel a full of "grave whimsy with which Mr. Buckley retraces old conflicts" and "deliver[ing] more than mere routine spy thrills."
Last Call for Blackford Oakes is a 2005 Blackford Oakes novel by William F. Buckley, Jr.