James David, National Air and Space Museum

Diplomatic communications must be reliable, secure, and speedy.  During World War II, the U.S. military’s worldwide radio system met these goals and the State Department used it in many cases.  However, after the war much of it was dismantled and the department was often forced to use high frequency commercial radiotelegraph circuits.

These presented many problems.  Telegraph offices in some countries had restricted hours of operation or frequently garbled messages.  In times of civil disorder, it was often impossible to even travel to the offices to pick up and deliver traffic or the host government would simply shut them down.

As a result, clandestine radio stations that served both the State Department and CIA were set up in some diplomatic posts.  However, these required additional personnel and were subject to possible detection and closure by the host government.  In some cases, covert stations were not established because the host government indicated it would shut them down without the right to operate a radio station at its embassy in Washington, D.C.

To eliminate the uncertainties with clandestine stations, the State Department and CIA wanted the Federal Communications Act of 1934 amended to permit a foreign government to operate a radio station at its embassy here if the United States could do so at its embassy in that nation’s capital (i.e., reciprocal radio rights).

Both agencies began pushing for changes in the law in the early 1950s, facing strong opposition from the FBI.  Foreign diplomatic and intelligence personnel in America then used either the diplomatic pouch or commercial cable companies for their communications.  Through long-standing arrangements with these companies, the FBI and other agencies received copies of all the incoming and outgoing traffic.  It feared that radios would replace cables and, with burst transmission technology and other advances, the United States might not even be able to intercept the messages.

The issue reached the Oval Office in 1957, but it took many months before the FBI finally agreed to reciprocal radio rights for nations outside the Soviet Bloc.  Although much of the account remains classified, it appears as if a key factor in the FBI’s change in position was advancements in aperiodic receivers and other equipment that permitted the interception of transmissions regardless of the frequencies used or transmission method.

As it turned out, the Eisenhower administration did not submit any legislative proposals because of anticipated Congressional opposition.  In 1962, however, Congress passed legislation allowing reciprocal radio rights if the president determined it was in the national interest.  A number of countries received such determinations (including some in the Sino-Soviet Bloc), but it appears from the available record that due to the strict limitations on the power of the transmitters, antenna size, and other factors few nations actually built and operated radio stations here.  It did have the effect of greatly lessening the pressure on the U.S. stations in foreign capitals, though.