Browse oral history

Interview with Bolster, Archie*

Date

February 23, March 24 and May 3, 1988

Location

Washington, D.C.

Interviewer

Burr, William

Language

English

Abstract

Recollections of childhood in Iran; U.S. Consulate in Tabriz and its functions; on the state of the agricultural sector in the 1950s and after the land reform in the 1960s; assessment of the White Revolution of 1963; workings of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran; extent of intelligence gathering by the Embassy; debates over the political future of Iran at the Embassy; U.S. Embassy and the National Front; contacts between the Embassy and the clergy in the 1960s; on the events of 1963-64; U.S. policy towards Iran; assessment of CIA operations in Iran; on the Shah and his leadership style; on the conclusions presented in James Bill’s The Eagle and the Lion; U.S.-Iranian strategic relations; U.S. policy-making on Iran.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Transcripts

Archie-Bolster-Vol-I Archie-Bolster-Vol-II Archie-Bolster-Vol-III Archie-Bolster-Vol-IV Archie-Bolster-Vol-V Archie-Bolster-Vol-VI Archie-Bolster-Vol-VII Archie-Bolster-Vol-VIII Archie-Bolster-Vol-X Archie-Bolster-Vol-XI Archie-Bolster-Vol-XII Archie-Bolster-Vol-VIIII

Contents

244pp. + biographical note + index

About the interviewee

Bolster, Archie*

U.S. Vice-Consul in Tabriz, 1961-1964; Senior Officer and Analyst at the U.S. Embassy in Iran, 1974-1976.