Manhattan Reborn 1978

(ps: I wrote it before this chapter~ I revised the content of this chapter for two days. I’m late, sorry!!)

On the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii.

Evening~

398 Corudilla Avenue, Honolulu Island.

layer.

The living room, which was originally relatively spacious and tidy, is now filled with all kinds of messy documents, manuscripts and information~

David's secretary Maggie and his assistants Toby Olga and Nobunari Kihara held the catalog of these documents in their hands and were looking for various historical data and important information that David needed one by one.

Giles, Bloomer, Leslie, Livlin, Lilith and Tilda each also had a small notebook and were flipping through the pages of several large boxes of historical materials that had just been flown from California. .

These are Bloomer's father. When the old Wharton went to visit Professor Armstrong Bartley, he heard David's book writing plans on the phone, and then asked for help in the database of the Rand Corporation in California. I came across a large number of important documents and materials.

And these "junk" things that others think are useless have become "hot cakes" in David's eyes ~

The name of the RAND Corporation is that almost every American who often pays attention to TV news knows about its research and "forecasting" capabilities!

It was officially established in November 1948.Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, with offices in Washington, D.C., responsible for liaison with the government.

During World War II, a group of American scientists and engineers began to participate in military work, applying operations research to combat operations, and achieved extraordinary results that attracted the attention of the entire Washington.

At the end of World War II~ in order to continue this "exhilarating" work.

In November 1944, General Henry Arnold, then commander of the Army Air Forces, proposed a memorandum on the "U.S. Research and Development Plan after the War and the Next War."

In the memorandum, he requested the use of this group of high-level scientific talents to establish an independent research institution that conducts objective analysis between the government and the people, so as to avoid future national disasters and win the next war!

According to his suggestion~

At the end of 1945, the U.S. Army Air Forces signed a $1000 million contract with the Douglas Aircraft Company for the "Research and Development" program.

This is the famous RAND Project!

The name Rand is the abbreviation of the English words research and development.

In 1948, the U.S. Army Air Corps was separated from the Army.

The Pentagon announced that the U.S. Air Force will be an independent military force with the same status as the Army and Navy.

In May 1948, with the help of Arnold's $5 million donation from the Ford Foundation, RAND planned to separate from Douglas Aircraft Company and formally establish the independent RAND Corporation.

But when the RAND Corporation was first established, it mainly provided research and intelligence analysis services to the U.S. military.

For example: In 1957, in its prediction report to the government, the Rand Corporation deduced in detail the time when Xiong Daguo would launch its first artificial satellite.

As a result, the RAND Corporation's prediction and the actual launch time of Xiong Daguo were only two weeks apart!

This shocked the Pentagon!

The Rand Corporation has since truly established its position in the United States.

Since then, it has gradually expanded its business scope and provided services to governments or for-profit institutions in other countries.

He also successfully predicted major events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Great Depression after the disintegration of the Bretton Woods System. These predictions made the RAND Corporation famous and became the leading think tank in the American political and military circles.

In addition, it also provides the U.S. government and the Pentagon with multiple insights into the country's nuclear weapons capabilities, the island country's high-tech development, the island country's strategic defense plan, as well as the drastic changes in the world's economic and military structure after the outbreak of the Cuban crisis, etc. Predictive + long-term research report.

Therefore, many of the ideas and predictions that the Rand Corporation always put forward were not thought of by the parties involved, and the impression that it took a long time to be confirmed later remains deeply in the memory of many people.

It was through these accurate predictions that Rand established his credibility in the consulting industry around the world.

In 1970, the RAND Corporation also founded the RAND Research Institute.

RAND Institute is an institution of higher learning with the purpose of cultivating senior decision-makers and awarded the world's first doctoral degree in decision-making analysis. It is also the highest school for decision-making analysis in the world today!

. . .

David sat on the sofa in the living room, flipping through the copy in his hand. .The research report signed by Adam Elfa couldn't help but smile bitterly. .

Although the RAND Corporation has always insisted that it is only a non-profit private research institution to maintain its independence.

However, it has always maintained a good relationship with the US government as a contract customer.

It serves the government and military and can earn at least tens of millions of dollars in revenue every year~

At the same time, RAND Corporation also has many non-governmental sector and large multinational corporate customers.

The research report in David's hand is the "On Inflation and Economic Growth" given by Adam Alfa, a scholar of domestic and international economic policy, who led a research team after the current US President Warren White won the election. Analysis of Stagnation” report.

But for some reason, this in-depth study involving the domestic economic, banking and monetary development system is only listed as the lowest-level document that can be publicly accessed. . ?

He shook the information in his hand and asked Leslie: "Did you just say... that they have all been transferred out of the confidential level?"

"Yup!"

"Have you read this research information?"

Leslie walked up to David with a little doubt and curiosity, took the report, looked at it for a few times, shook his head.

"No~"

"But I heard about this Adam Elfa, one of the people who left RAND a few years ago."

"Later, he and a group of like-minded friends established a business consulting company in Chicago. It is said that the business was very good~"

"leave?"

David rubbed his chin with his hand, invited Leslie to sit down, and asked: "Is it because the treatment at Rand Corporation has become worse...? That makes them choose to leave?"

"Hehe~"

Leslie handed the report back to David, sat down and explained.

"Although the RAND Corporation claims to the outside world that it never pays attention to the overt and covert struggles between the government and various factions of the military, it tries its best to provide valuable research reports from an objective perspective, even if it conflicts fiercely with relevant government policies."

"But as early as more than ten years ago, Rand had been sinking into the quagmire and couldn't extricate himself~"

"The most typical one is the government's attitude towards expanding the Vietnam War. There was a heated discussion within RAND that affected a wide range of people."

"Because these think tanks composed of the smartest people in the United States know in their hearts that if they continue to expand the Vietnam War, it will only do harm to the military strategy of the United States in various Asian countries, but no good!"

“But the government at the time used a variety of means to suppress the discordant voices within the RAND Corporation, and at the same time locked those research reports that mentioned that the United States was unilaterally accelerating the escalation of the Vietnam War into the highest-level confidential database. .”

"So, when Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President of the United States on the presidential plane in Dallas."

"The plan to expand the Vietnam War has already been included in the secret resolution agenda of the House of Representatives and the Senate."

"It's just that at the time, Johnson was still busy with the 64 presidential election, so he delayed the proposal until after the [-]th Honolulu Convention. Then he submitted the plan to the House of Representatives and the Senate, and it was passed by almost unanimous votes in the House of Representatives. .”

"It was also after this resolution was passed that the US military began Operation Thunder in the name of ensuring the security of airports, ports and communications."

"That operation was the first step for the United States to officially send large-scale ground troops to the Vietnam battlefield to participate in the battle."

"At the same time, it is also the first step in the outbreak of ideological differences within the Rand Corporation!"

When Leslie said this, he found that several people around him had put down the materials in their hands and looked at him silently. .

"Hehe~"

"It seems that you are all very interested in this past event?"

Livlin sat next to him holding the information in her hand and said with a smile, "Go on!"

"..ok!"

Leslie winked at David, Giles, and Bloomer and smiled in a deliberately funny way.

“To talk about RAND Corporation’s internal problems, you have to mention Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.”

"President Kennedy announced as soon as he took office that he would neither propose nor support any civil rights bill."

"He will rely solely on the executive branch to take action and try to control the civil rights movement through soft means."

"Kennedy also ordered the Coast Guard Academy to recruit blacks, appointed blacks as senior government officials and federal judges, established the President's Fair Employment Commission, issued an executive order and stipulated that racial discrimination was not allowed in federally built or sold housing."

“Meanwhile, the Department of Justice aggressively litigated civil rights cases in court, prompting the Commerce Commission to issue new rules prohibiting racial segregation on interstate railroads and bus lines and supporting black voter registration drives in the South.”

"But these... strategic actions of the executive branch have not alleviated the discrimination and persecution suffered by black people, but have intensified racial conflicts."

"Someone within the RAND Corporation has submitted relatively drastic research reports to President Kennedy's cabinet on many occasions."

"They claimed in these reports that they gave positive affirmation and support to Kennedy's active push to include a treaty prohibiting nuclear testing on the ground, in the atmosphere, or underwater into the bill~"

"But they strongly opposed and criticized the Kennedy administration for agreeing to let the FBI conduct eavesdropping on some people who were actively involved in social activities."

"Although, President Kennedy's brother Robert Kennedy, as Attorney General, only gave written permission to the FBI to carry out wiretapping operations to a limited extent."

"But the FBI, under the control of Hoover's forces, expanded its power to monitor any person for any matter."

"And they really think it's necessary to do this."

Leslie waved the document in his hand to everyone and said with a smile: "Director Hoover, who was once so feared by countless people, even when he went on a date with his lover, he had to have someone check whether he was being monitored. .”

"So ah~"

"If it were more than ten years ago, when Hoover ruled the FBI, if we, a group of young people from different families, wanted to speak freely like we do now, we would have had to ask someone to search for a ring of bugs in the room. . . ”

"Hahaha~"

Everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter as Leslie actually made fun of the famous Director Edgar Hoover~

Bloomer and Giles are about the same age as David and others. In the era of President Kennedy's single-choice election, they were just kids in the kindergarten who occasionally peed their pants~

But Kihara Nobunari, the oldest among them, could often see President Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson mentioned by Leslie on TV news or in newspapers when he was a teenager and studying.

He had a deeper understanding of Leslie's historical commentary than those who were younger.

Especially to the "FBI Emperor", Edgar Hoover!

. . .

After talking and laughing.

Leslie continued to talk about the past events between the Rand Corporation and President Johnson.

"President Johnson discovered a book titled The Great Society written by the British political thinker Graham Wallas."

"He thought the title was very innovative, so he used it as a policy slogan and formally proposed the Great Society plan in a speech at the University of Michigan."

"Later, he successively proposed a series of huge social plans, which were all-encompassing and designed almost every aspect of domestic society at that time, arousing widespread attention and debate."

“Especially his three proposals on health, education, and investment in the development of depressed areas, and requiring Congress to significantly increase the fiscal budget, aroused opposition and doubts from many people.”

"For example: In terms of education, he believes that education is the main factor leading to a great society!"

"Proposals such as the need to build new buildings for primary and secondary schools, expand the teaching staff, increase teacher salaries, pay attention to expanding and strengthening higher education and funding adult education are highly recognized by the teachers' unions."

"But in terms of parliament, the education reform plan he proposed has been supported and opposed by many lawmakers."

"Supporters among them believe that increasing investment in education is a long-term plan that must be sustained~"

"If it is just a formal symbolic allocation, it will definitely not be able to meet the rapid development of this project."

“Therefore, Congress must incorporate this proposal into its annual budget and increase the budget for this plan year by year to ensure it.”

"Those opponents believe that the peak of the baby boom period when the domestic population is booming has passed. If we continue to increase the number of primary and secondary schools, build new school buildings, and expand the teaching staff, there will definitely be a waste of teacher resources, and as time goes by, Population growth is slowing down and waste is becoming more and more..."

"So, they believe that teachers' salaries can be appropriately increased and the popularity of higher education can be expanded and strengthened, but they cannot continue to increase the financial budget too much."

"Therefore, when people later looked at Johnson's political achievements during his administration, they believed that more poor people in the country had received social assistance, their living and education standards had generally improved, and the unemployment rate had also declined."

"From this point of view, he is a good president who actually benefits the poor..."

"Also~"

"In 1965, President Johnson and Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which established a new immigration policy, abandoned the previous quotas that favored Nordic people, and established the immigration policy on the basis of equality for all ethnic groups."

"Asians, Latin Americans and Africans began to pour into the United States in large numbers, bringing their religious food, music and ideas with them."

"At the same time, he also signed a Civil Rights Act that prohibited discrimination in public places and employment. African Americans can now legally stay in all hotels and dine in all restaurants."

"Almost all state legislators in the central and southern states had to express their strong opposition to his concession."

"Because these state capitals, which have legally held slaves for hundreds of years, have always had strong discrimination against black people."

"Especially President Johnson himself, who came from Texas, the most conservative state!"

"In the eyes of most Americans, he can be called a typical Texan: tall and tall, with a loud voice, impatient, friendly, informal, very casual, and at the same time aggressive, vulgar and reckless, brave and good-tempered war."

"In addition, Johnson also has an amazing memory and strong work energy."

“Not only does he keep himself working day and night, but he urges his people to work as hard as he does.”

"So, members of his cabinet during his administration in Washington would often complain on various occasions that President Johnson was a workaholic."

"As long as someone fails to meet his job requirements, he will get angry and yell at these people: It's not the time for you to be lazy yet! Cheer up!"

"Hehe~"

Leslie spread her hands to everyone and said with a smile: "Of course~"

"Just like people are more interested in gossiping about President Kennedy, I also like to inquire about those who like to comment on President Johnson in private~"

"For example: A reporter once said publicly that President Johnson seemed to have no political principles in his heart. For most of his congressional career, he was a typical southern conservative."

"Also, Johnson is power-hungry, ruthless, opinionated, hypocritical, greedy and even morally bankrupt."

"During his tenure in the Senate, he publicly reprimanded and belittled his subordinates, used racial epithets at will, repeatedly cheated in the election, and raised staggering amounts of cash donations."

"As for how many campaign donations ended up in Johnson's pocket, we have no way of guessing, but it was his insider trading in Washington that ultimately made him a millionaire when he retired from politics."

"...?!"

David, one of the "melon-eating people", saw Leslie suddenly stop talking, and felt that he was still unfinished and asked.

"What about the Rand Corporation? How were its internal problems resolved in the end?"

"Go on and finish talking!"

"..solve?"

"How can it be solved?"

Leslie put her arm around Livlin's shoulders and asked David: "Do you think it is necessary to manage thousands of the smartest people in the country and resolve the differences between them due to their own positions and beliefs? A series of sharp contradictions...is it easy?”

"Uh..." David was speechless.

More than ten years ago, the 60s was the climax of various sports in the United States~

It is inevitable that there will inevitably be differences and contradictions in ideas, interests or beliefs among these "most powerful brains".

And to solve these problems, the only way is. . The "winners" stay, the "losers" turn around and leave~

Leslie, who had been silently observing David, saw some "answers" that she was satisfied with in his eyes and smiled.

"Yes!"

"The overt and covert struggles within RAND Corporation have caused many people with different ideas to choose to leave."

“Research scholars like Adam Elfa are not the first, nor will they be the last, to leave.”

"The departure of some core members will definitely weaken the RAND Corporation."

“That’s why the RAND Corporation established the RAND Institute to actively attract more outstanding young people to join~”

"but.."

"A few years ago, the Washington Post obtained the top-secret document kept by the Rand Corporation for the Pentagon from a former RAND Corporation employee and published it~"

"Many more RAND Corporation members who didn't know about this also chose to leave!"

"Because that document concealed many top-secret files on the government's involvement in the Vietnam War, which resulted in a large number of casualties."

"At the same time, the leak of the Pentagon Papers also marked the beginning of the disrepute of the federal government led by Nixon~"

"The subsequent Watergate scandal directly led to unprecedented doubts about President Nixon's personal credibility."

"But these FBI eavesdropping operations in secret are not unique to the Nixon era...a fine tradition~"

"As early as World War II, Director Hoover had already started a large-scale surveillance operation across the country~"

"It's just that these FBI secret wiretapping operations were openly and legally mentioned during President Kennedy's term."

"The rest of the time, people tend to keep it secret, keep their mouths shut, and act like they don't know anything about it."

Leslie said this and looked deliberately. .Former CIA agent Toby Olga, and the three secretaries Maggie and Kihara Nobunari beside her, pursed their lips and smiled~

Kihara Nobunari's brain reacts very quickly!

He immediately understood Leslie's "silent expulsion", pulled the little secretary Maggie, and smiled at David.

"Let's go prepare the typewriter and office supplies we'll use later. We'll be back soon~"

"Yes!" David glanced over the three of them and nodded slightly in response.

Toby Olga, the office's "elite agent" who had been "struggling" for many years in the City of London, also stood up with a wink, nodded to David and the others, and left quickly~

Leslie turned her head and glanced at Lilith and Tilda Swinton sitting next to David, thought for a while, and asked.

"I heard... that Donald D. Klein introduced his good friend Davis D. Leahy to you?"

"Yes~"

"They came over for dinner a few days ago, and we talked a lot about investing in Silicon Valley." David immediately understood his friend's intention and asked.

"Are you trying to say...that Akie Asama next to Davis?"

"That's right!"

Leslie withdrew her arm from Livlin's shoulder, "sit upright" and looked at David, and whispered.

"The internal fighting within the military for their own interests is far beyond your expectation!"

"Especially between the Air Force, the Navy, and the Army, the complex struggle of interests that has been entangled for decades has made almost every president avoid it!"

"In 1948, the Army Flying Corps was separated and the United States Air Force was established."

"In 49, former Secretary of Defense James Forrest resigned from his position as secretary because he needed treatment for mental illness and was admitted to the Naval Medical Center in Maryland."

"But just a few days later, General Forrest fell to his death from the window of his ward on the 16th floor in a dark midnight."

"The day he... fell from the building was less than two months after he resigned as Minister of Defense, and exactly one week after he got his wish..."

Leslie narrowed her eyes slightly, and found surprise and confusion in David's eyes.

"During World War II, the United States did not have a Department of Defense or the position of Secretary of Defense~"

"Military affairs are generally handled by the secretaries of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Navy, who are responsible for reporting to the president in person!"

"In 47, President Truman approved the establishment of a national military agency, which gave rise to the predecessor of the Department of Defense."

"In 49, the functions of the Ministry of National Defense were revised again. The Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the newly established Department of the Air Force all became directly subordinate departments of this agency. At the same time, the power of these three ministers was weakened in a disguised manner. "

"But ~ General Forrest was directly promoted from the then Secretary of the Navy to the position of Secretary of Defense."

"Therefore, he is the last cabinet-level Secretary of the Navy and the first Secretary of Defense in the history of the United States."

"But when he accidentally fell down and died, many people didn't understand..."

"A man as powerful as him who created history could actually fall down from a building due to mental problems?"

"Hehe~"

"About the internal struggle within the military... the overt and covert struggle between super aircraft carriers and super long-range bombers; the struggle between the army, navy and air force for the command of their respective aviation forces; the struggle over the amount of military funding allocated by Congress every year; the struggle over the procurement and research and development direction of the latest major weapons, etc. .”

"I won't tell you too much~"

"I'll take... a fighter jet launched by McDonnell Douglas more than ten years ago. Let me give you an example~"

"In 1961, McDonnell Douglas officially delivered its newest fighter aircraft to the Navy: the Phantom!"

"In 1963, due to the excellent combat parameters of the Phantom fighter, the Air Force also purchased the fighter on a large scale and named it: Phantom!"

"..." After hearing these two names, David immediately understood what Leslie meant.

He frowned, took Lilith's little hand, and asked: "Then do you think... it would be better for me to keep a certain distance from Davis?"

"Hehe~"

"Davis's situation is more complicated than you think!"

"Most of the assets he is responsible for taking care of are... after the defeat of the island country, the Kimchi people who poured into the island country are openly holding it as agents..."

"Even in the most prosperous Shinjuku area in Tokyo, the entire street of shops and apartments are the personal assets of a certain kimchi countryman~"

"So, whether it's cid or cis, it's unlikely to find anything from Davis~"

"If you think it's a good idea to partner with him on venture capital in Silicon Valley..."

"I can talk to him first and hear what he means."

"...Phew~" David took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it.

He tilted his head and glanced at Lilith beside him, thought for a moment, and shook his head.

"No~thank you!"

"I still prefer it to be more simple and direct!"

"It's excessively mixed with those... I don't think it's necessary~"

"Because neither he nor Klein have ever deliberately hidden anything from me ~ I won't treat him... in a different light!"

"Business matters should be handled according to the business rules that everyone agrees on!"

"Yeah!" Leslie sat back on the sofa, nodded and smiled with great satisfaction.

"Then you...will you continue today?"

"Go on~ Time is precious, don't waste it!"

"Come on, I've got the entire book's table of contents here, take a look at it first."

"When Maggie and the others come back later, we will officially start!"

"Hahaha~"

Bloomer, who had been silent just now, winked at Giles beside him and smiled.

"Look~this guy...is resurrected again!"

"...!" Giles rolled his eyes at his friend angrily, smiled at David, nodded, and said while holding up the information in his hand.

"What I have here is..."

. . .

On the lawn outside the holiday home.

Toby Olga stood under a small tree far away from the holiday home, looking to the west at the sun slowly sinking into the sea level, and exhaled a sigh of relief in his chest.

It's still not that easy to get rid of the identity of a former CIA agent. . !