--- aliases: - Daniel O. Graham - Daniel Orrin Graham - Dan Graham - Danny Graham - Lt. Gen. Daniel O. Graham - Lieutenant General Daniel O. Graham - Lt. Gen. Daniel Graham - General Graham - Gen. Graham born: 1925-04-13 category: Intelligence & Government created: 2026-10-08 died: 1995-12-31 relations: - end: 1974 fn: 2 role: staff officer, Office of National Estimates; later deputy to the Director of Central Intelligence for the Intelligence Community Staff start: 1963 type: employed_by with: '[[Central Intelligence Agency]]' - end: 1976-01-01 fn: 7 role: director start: 1974-09 type: head_of with: '[[Defense Intelligence Agency]]' - end: 1976 fn: 10 role: member start: 1976 type: participant_in with: '[[Team B]]' - fn: 3 role: adjunct professor of military strategy start: 1976 type: employed_by with: '[[University of Miami]]' - end: 1980 fn: 3 role: military adviser to the 1976 and 1980 presidential campaigns start: 1976 type: participant_in with: '[[Ronald Reagan]]' - fn: 3 role: co-chairman start: 1978 type: head_of with: '[[Coalition for Peace through Strength]]' - fn: 2 start: 1981 type: founded with: '[[High Frontier]]' - fn: 2 role: director start: 1981 type: head_of with: '[[High Frontier]]' - end: 1980 fn: 18 role: member start: 1980 type: member_of with: '[[National Strategy Committee]]' - fn: 19 role: advisory board start: 1983 type: member_of with: '[[National Intelligence Study Center]]' - fn: 26 role: leader, as described in a 1995 letter type: head_of with: '[[Space Transportation Association]]' - end: 1987 fn: 2 role: deponent before the Senate Select Committee, May 26, 1987 start: 1987 type: participant_in with: '[[Iran-Contra Affair]]' summary: Lieutenant general who directed the Defense Intelligence Agency from September 1974 to January 1976, founded High Frontier in 1981 to promote space-based missile defense, and was deposed in the Iran-Contra inquiry in 1987. tags: - Person - DefenseIntelligenceAgency - CentralIntelligenceAgency - TeamB - HighFrontier - StrategicDefenseInitiative - PsiResearch - Stargate - IranContra - GeoMiliTech - SpaceTransportation title: Daniel O. Graham updated: 2026-10-08 --- Daniel Orrin Graham (1925 to December 31, 1995) was an Army officer and intelligence official who served on the staff of the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/), directed the [Defense Intelligence Agency](/organizations/defense-intelligence-agency/) from September 1974 to January 1, 1976, and afterward led the campaign for space-based missile defense through High Frontier, which he founded in 1981. The [New York Times](/organizations/new-york-times/) called him "probably the most persistent advocate" of the approach.[^1] He was deposed by the Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition on May 26, 1987 about his acquaintance with [Barbara Studley](/people/barbara-studley/) and her firm [GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp.](/organizations/geomilitech-consultants-corp/)[^2] ### Birth, schooling and early service The New York Times obituary of January 3, 1996 gives his birth as April 13, 1925, near Medford, Oregon, and says he was the son of farmers who worked in sawmills and orchards as a teenager.[^1] The finding aid for his papers at the University of Miami gives his birthplace as Portland, Oregon.[^3] In his deposition he listed public schools in Oregon, then West Point, which he entered in 1943 and left with a commission in 1946.[^2] After West Point he served in Germany until 1951, was assigned to the 11th Airborne Division, was sent to Monterey to learn Russian, and served in [Special Forces](/organizations/united-states-army-special-forces/). He commanded an infantry company in Korea from 1954 to 1956, then returned to the 101st Airborne Division and attended the Command and General Staff College at [Fort Leavenworth](/places/fort-leavenworth/). In 1958 he became assistant chief of staff for intelligence at the [Pentagon](/organizations/pentagon/).[^2] ### Central Intelligence Agency, 1963 to 1974 In 1963 Graham joined the Office of National Estimates of the CIA as a staff officer covering Soviet military affairs. He returned to the Army in 1966 to command the 319th Military Intelligence Battalion in the Pacific. In 1967 he attended the Army War College and then served as chief of current intelligence and estimates at the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam from August 1967 to August 1968. He went back to the Office of National Estimates until 1971.[^2] In 1971 he became a brigadier general and was assigned to the DIA as director of collections, which he described as running the attache corps and coordinating collection among the services, and then as the agency's first director of estimates.[^2] In 1972 he returned to the CIA as a major general on the new Intelligence Community Staff. In early 1973 he became deputy to Director of Central Intelligence [William E. Colby](/people/william-colby/) for intelligence community affairs.[^2] On January 21, 1974 he sent [James R. Schlesinger](/people/james-r-schlesinger/) at the Pentagon a copy of a preliminary post-mortem report on the Middle East crisis of the previous autumn, describing it as "rather candid."[^4] He received the Distinguished Intelligence Medal at a CIA ceremony on August 29, 1974 for his service as deputy to the Director for the Intelligence Community.[^5] ### Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Graham became director of the DIA in September 1974. A biographical note in his 1976 monograph "U.S. Intelligence at the Crossroads" states that he declared his intention to retire on November 3, 1975, when the dismissal of Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger and Director of Central Intelligence William E. Colby was announced, and that he retired on January 1, 1976.[^6] In his deposition he said he was reassigned to the DIA as director in 1974 and retired from the position in January 1976 as a lieutenant general.[^2] The same note gives his earlier DIA posts as Assistant Director for Collection from January to November 1970 and Deputy Director for Estimates until May 1973, when he joined the Intelligence Community Staff; the deposition places the first DIA assignment in 1971 and the Intelligence Community Staff in 1972.[^6] In his deposition he said the DIA "coordinates all military intelligence activities," that it ran the attache corps, and that it had no covert logistics branch while he was director. He reported to the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[^7] On June 23, 1975 he submitted a written statement to the House Appropriations Military Construction Subcommittee asking for $86.1 million in the fiscal 1976 budget for a new DIA building.[^8] ### Team B A CIA memorandum of August 18, 1976, addressed to the Director of Security, lists "General Daniel O. Graham" among the senior people who might serve on the outside group reviewing Soviet strategic objectives, known as Team B. Graham is shown with the affiliation "Center for Advanced International Studies," in a list that also includes Van Cleave, Thomas W. Wolfe and Paul Wolfowitz.[^9] The team's report, dated December 1, 1976, names Richard Pipes as team leader, William Van Cleave as associate, and "Lt. Gen. Daniel Graham, USA, (Ret.)" with Thomas Wolfe of the [RAND Corporation](/organizations/rand-corporation/) and General John Vogt as members. The advisory panel listed [Paul Nitze](/people/paul-nitze/), Foy Kohler, Seymour Weiss, Jasper Welch and Paul Wolfowitz.[^10] The report says its members were "deliberately selected from among experienced political and military analysts of Soviet affairs known to take a more somber view of the Soviet strategic threat than that accepted as the intelligence community's consensus."[^10] ### Psychic research during his directorship The Defense Intelligence Agency issued "Soviet and Czechoslovakian Parapsychology Research" in September 1975, while Graham was director. The report, DST-1810S-387-75, was prepared by Louis F. Maire III and Major J. D. LaMothe of the Army Medical Intelligence and Information Agency, Office of the Surgeon General, under DIA task PT-1810-12-75, with an information cut-off of April 15, 1975. Its contents include telepathy, psychotronic generator research, psychokinesis and remote viewing.[^11] In January 1984 [Time](/organizations/time/) reported that the Pentagon denied any interest in parapsychology, and quoted retired Lieutenant General Daniel O. Graham, a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who had been interviewed by the New York Times. Time wrote that Graham "indicated that the military had unquestionably been involved in psychic research," and that he considered the $6 million annual figure in Ronald McRae's forthcoming book Mind Wars to be an exaggeration. He said: "I wouldn't be surprised if the intelligence community were following this. They would be remiss if they didn't."[^12] Graham's papers at the University of Miami contain a file titled "SRI - Sov. Exchange," which the finding aid lists without description.[^3] ### High Frontier and the Strategic Defense Initiative Graham retired from the Army in 1976. According to his deposition, he then took a post as adjunct professor of military strategy at the University of Miami, in a think tank called the Institute for Advanced Strategic Studies.[^2] Journalist George Lardner Jr. reported that Graham had been on the staff of the American Security Council, headed by John Fisher, and Graham told him that Fisher "really didn't think much of this idea" of space defense.[^13] The University of Miami finding aid says Graham became co-chairman of the Coalition for Peace through Strength in 1978.[^3] Graham founded High Frontier in September 1981 and served as its director.[^2] He told the [Washington Post](/organizations/washington-post/) in 1985 that he had raised about $500,000 in private funds, "mostly from individuals," and that the checks for the study, which the Post described as 175 pages long and issued under the imprimatur of the Heritage Foundation, were made out to Heritage although Heritage had little to do with the project. He said: "We went public in March 1982 and by March 1983 we had the president of the United States going our way."[^13] The Post reported that Graham had been "claiming much of the credit for the Star Wars initiative since President Reagan announced it in a speech in 1983." The paper quoted other SDI supporters and critics who said he overstated his importance.[^13] At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the SDI program on June 6, 1985, Representative William L. Dickinson referred to "Danny Graham and the High Frontier people" and asked whether High Frontier had been right all along; John Gardner, director of the Systems Division of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, answered that at an earlier time "when General Graham was associated with the DIA" Graham "saw some evidence of these Soviet direct energy weapons programs."[^14] On January 8, 1982 Casey wrote to Graham thanking him for the "prospectus on the High Frontier project," called it "very well done and deserving of close attention," and said he found "something of a disconnect" in the budget paragraphs, which moved from a $35 billion figure to a higher $50 billion figure.[^15] The CIA reading room lists a letter from Graham to [William J. Casey](/people/william-j-casey/) about High Frontier dated December 9, 1982. On December 20 Casey replied that he had "enjoyed your talk at the National Strategy Information Center breakfast" and offered to arrange for Graham to exchange ideas with CIA officers knowledgeable about space and missile technology.[^16] ### Advisory roles and awards In May 1980 the New York Times listed Graham with Richard Pipes, William Van Cleave and Seymour Weiss among the handful of former Team B members at the core of Ronald Reagan's foreign policy and defense working groups.[^17] A partial membership list of the National Strategy Committee, sent with a letter from Graham to Walter Pforzheimer on September 23, 1980, names Graham as a member.[^18] In 1983 he was named to the advisory board of the National Intelligence Study Center in Washington. That board included Casey and Paul Nitze, and Ray Cline sat on the board of directors.[^19] In early 1984 the International Strategic Studies Association named five recipients of its Award for Outstanding Contributions to Strategic Progress, among them Graham and Senator [John Tower](/people/john-tower/). The association's invitation to Casey was declined for him by the CIA Public Affairs office on February 9, 1984.[^20] ### Challenger and the sabotage question In May 1986, while the presidential commission investigating the loss of the space shuttle Challenger was sitting, Graham called for an inquiry into sabotage. He told the Washington Times: "The case for foul play is undeniably strong." The commission's spokesman declined to say whether sabotage was being investigated. Graham, then head of High Frontier, said by telephone that he doubted it was being investigated "because I know what kind of reaction one gets when you bring up such a possibility." In the same interview he said he was not making a case for sabotage, that "you ought to look awfully close at it," and that the Titan, Nike-Orion and Delta failures, with the shuttle, made four space launch systems failing in a row.[^21] On July 23, 1986 Graham wrote to Casey enclosing a paper titled "Is the KGB Sabotaging SDI?" He wrote that "My experts calculate the odds against this being coincidence" were 250 million to one, listed among his further suspicions the absence of normal Soviet surveillance of the Challenger flight, the 1983 disappearance of an Air Force officer expert in destruct systems, and French suspicions of sabotage of Ariane, and wrote that "none of this adds up to proof of Soviet sabotage." He urged Casey and [Edwin Meese](/people/edwin-meese/) to "leave no stone unturned" in getting answers. Casey's note of July 28, 1986 asked the Deputy Director for Science and Technology to draft a reply. Casey replied on August 16, 1986, acknowledging Graham's letters of July 23 and 29, 1986, and the Challenger and Delta failures Graham had cited: "I am very concerned about the possibility of Soviet sabotage; however, based on the information developed in investigations of all aspects of the accidents, we do not believe the U.S. space launch failures you cited were due to Soviet action." He wrote that the specific technical failures had been identified and traced to "errors or procedural problems," that investigations had found no evidence of Soviet involvement, and that the similarity in detonation times "was a true coincidence." He also addressed a separate claim about an Air Force officer who disappeared in 1983, saying the officer "was never involved with rockets, satellites, launch control, missile destruction systems, or any similar duties."[^22] On December 8, 1986 Graham wrote to [Robert M. Gates](/people/robert-gates/), then deputy director of the CIA, praising his assessment of Soviet strategic defense efforts, and copied Casey.[^23] ### Iran-Contra deposition Graham was deposed on May 26, 1987 by Charles Kerr, associate counsel to the Senate Select Committee, at the committee's offices in the Hart Senate Office Building.[^2] He said he had known Studley since about 1977, when she was a Miami radio broadcaster who invited him onto her talk show, and that he met her again when she came to Washington. Counsel dated her move to about June 1984. Graham said he did not know. Asked about GeoMiliTech, he said "all I know is that she runs it and it's an international trading firm in high-tech items." He said he had no function with the company and had received no remuneration from it.[^2] He said that in early 1985 he recommended Werner Glatt to Studley as an honest arms broker, after Studley and [John Singlaub](/people/john-singlaub/) had been looking for a broker to supply arms to the [Contras](/organizations/contras/). He had earlier placed the conversation in early 1986. He described Glatt as "a combination of a sheep farmer and arms trader," and said he arranged a lunch, at what he recalled as the Carlton hotel, where he introduced Glatt and Studley, stayed about ten minutes, and received no feedback about the deal. He said that Singlaub was not present, that he had never introduced Glatt to Singlaub, and that Glatt had donated to High Frontier in 1984.[^2] Graham said that after the delivery Studley told him of "some folks that were not part of the deal showing up when the ship arrived." Counsel asked, "This would be Mario Dellamico?" and Graham answered "Okay." He said he did not know their names. He then arranged a meeting at Langley with Casey, himself and Studley so that she could tell Casey directly. Counsel put the date at about December 20, 1985, and Graham said it was "Toward the end of '85." He said: "I introduced Mrs. Studley to Bill." He said the meeting lasted "about 30 minutes, 20, 30 minutes," that Studley left documents with Casey, and that Casey "did not admit to any connection with any of the people that she named" and "just nodded like a wise old owl."[^2] Counsel showed Graham Exhibit 1, a memorandum from Studley to Lt. Col. [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/) dated October 30, 1985. It describes a call from an agent called "W" and says that Mario Dellamico, working with Ron Martin, had asked the company to help sell Martin's arms to the Contras. The memorandum ends: "General John K. Singlaub has been advised of this information." Graham said he had not reviewed the memorandum but knew the events in general from Studley, who had told him enough to say "you need to inform Casey, not me."[^24] Graham said Studley had her own concern that the affair would hurt Glatt's business and, through him, hers.[^2] Counsel also showed Graham Exhibit 2, a quotation dated July 28, 1986 on GeoMiliTech letterhead, over Singlaub's signature as "Consultant," offering arms to Casey. Graham said he had never seen it, and he said he knew of no relationship between Glatt and North.[^25] Graham said he met Studley and Glatt together in [Frankfurt](/places/frankfurt/), Germany, on or about May 1, 1987. He said the two were more concerned about publicity than about the law, and that he had discussed the matter with Studley three times after the story became public.[^2] ### Later years and space transportation In a letter dated May 10, 1995, printed in the Congressional Record in February 1996, House Speaker Newt Gingrich thanked Graham for leading High Frontier and its "sister organization, the Space Transportation Association," and wrote that the X-33 reusable launch program "would not be happening today without the contributions of you and your colleagues."[^26] Graham's papers at the University of Miami cover 1967 to 1991. They include files on the Westmoreland v. CBS suit, Arlington County politics, drafts of the High Frontier study, a file on Soviet-American relations, materials on the Strategic Defense Initiative and the CIA, and press clippings.[^3] ### Death Graham died at his home in Arlington, Virginia, on Sunday, December 31, 1995, aged 70. The New York Times reported that he died of colon cancer.[^1] He was survived by his second wife, Adele Piro Graham, whom he married in 1994. His first wife, Ruth Maxwell Graham, had died in 1989.[^1] He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.[^3] [^1]: "Lt. Gen. Daniel O. Graham" obituary, New York Times, January 3, 1996, reprinted in Congressional Record, vol. 142, Extensions of Remarks, pp. E143-E144 (February 1, 1996), "Tribute to General D.O. Graham," remarks of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1996_cr/h960201a.htm [^2]: Deposition of Daniel O. Graham, May 26, 1987, Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition, in Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Depositions), pp. 972-1040, Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234. The career chronology is at pp. 974-979. The Studley, Glatt, Dellamico and Casey meeting passages rest on this deposition. Sole source for the witness's own account of those passages. [^3]: University of Miami Special Collections, "Daniel O. Graham papers," ASM0492, finding aid, biographical sketch and series list. https://atom.library.miami.edu/index.php/asm0492 and https://atom.library.miami.edu/downloads/asm0492.pdf [^4]: Letter, Daniel O. Graham to James R. Schlesinger, January 21, 1974, CIA reading room, CIA-RDP80M01082A000800060030-9. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp80m01082a000800060030-9 [^5]: "Honor and Merit Awards Ceremony [Distinguished Intelligence Medal to Daniel O. Graham]," August 29, 1974, CIA reading room, CIA-RDP80R01731R002000060020-6. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp80r01731r002000060020-6 [^6]: Daniel O. Graham, "U.S. Intelligence at the Crossroads," United States Strategic Institute, USSI Report 76-1 (1976), author biographical note, CIA reading room, CIA-RDP91M00696R000900060007-5. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp91m00696r000900060007-5 [^7]: Deposition of Daniel O. Graham, May 26, 1987, Appendix B, vol. 12, pp. 976-978. [^8]: Statement of Lieutenant General Daniel O. Graham, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, before the Military Construction Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations, June 1975 (archive date June 23, 1975), CIA reading room, CIA-RDP80B01495R000300020008-2. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp80b01495r000300020008-2 [^9]: Memorandum, "Status Report on the Experiment in Competitive Analysis and Request for Your Assistance," August 18, 1976, CIA reading room, CIA-RDP91M00696R000600180054-3. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp91m00696r000600180054-3 [^10]: Team B report, published December 1, 1976, CIA reading room, CIA-RDP91M00696R001000110006-8 (56 pages, released November 7, 2006), team and advisory panel roster (p. iv) and introduction. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/node/975749 [^11]: Louis F. Maire III and J. D. LaMothe, "Soviet and Czechoslovakian Parapsychology Research," Defense Intelligence Agency, DST-1810S-387-75, September 1975, DIA task PT-1810-12-75, CIA-RDP96-00792R000600350001-3, cover and table of contents. [^12]: "An E.S.P. Gap: Exploring psychic weapons," Time, January 23, 1984, p. 17, CIA reading room, CIA-RDP96-00791R000200230025-5. Quotations are as reported by Time from Graham's interview with the New York Times. Sole source for the quotations. [^13]: George Lardner Jr., "GEN. GRAHAM'S STAR WARS: The one-man lobby to fill space with weaponry," Washington Post, November 17, 1985, CIA reading room, CIA-RDP90-00965R000403710030-7. Statements attributed to Graham are his own, as reported by the Post. [^14]: Strategic Defense Initiative [SDI] Program, hearing before the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, 99th Congress, 1st session, H.A.S.C. No. 99-30, June 6, 1985, pp. 21 and 41 (exchange of Rep. Dickinson and John Gardner). Internet Archive item micro_IA41152646_0474. Gardner's statement is his description of Graham's earlier DIA exposure; sole source for it. [^15]: Letter, William J. Casey to Lt. Gen. Daniel O. Graham, January 8, 1982, CIA reading room, CIA-RDP83M00914R001900220074-1. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp83m00914r001900220074-1 [^16]: CIA reading room record CIA-RDP83M00914R002400010001-8, catalogued as a letter from Daniel O. Graham to William J. Casey regarding High Frontier, December 9, 1982 (the released pages show Casey's December 20, 1982 reply and one denied page); reply, William J. Casey to Graham, December 20, 1982, CIA-RDP88B00443R001203980021-9. [^17]: Hedrick Smith, "Reagan Advisers Hold Somber View of Soviet Intentions," New York Times, May 25, 1980, CIA reading room, CIA-RDP90-00552R000505080020-3. [^18]: National Strategy Committee, partial membership listing enclosed with a letter from Daniel O. Graham to Walter Pforzheimer, September 23, 1980, CIA-RDP02T06251R000900300002-4. [^19]: National Intelligence Study Center, invitation to the Russell J. Bowen collection exhibit, Georgetown University, November 3, 1983, with advisory board and board of directors lists, CIA-RDP90-00806R000100430001-2. [^20]: International Strategic Studies Association, letter to William J. Casey naming the 1984 award recipients, January 1984, and Central Intelligence Agency Public Affairs Office, letter to Kaswell Perazich & Watson, February 9, 1984, CIA-RDP86M00886R002100010008-3. [^21]: Walter Andrews and Warren Strobel, "Shuttle explosion probers warned to suspect sabotage," Washington Times, May 22, 1986, CIA reading room, CIA-RDP90-00965R000100190002-2. [^22]: Letter, Daniel O. Graham to William J. Casey, July 23, 1986, enclosing "Is the KGB Sabotaging SDI?", with the July 28, 1986 cover memorandum "Possible Soviet Sabotage of Our Space Program," CIA-RDP88B00443R001904460005-6. Reply, William J. Casey to Graham, August 16, 1986, CIA-RDP88B00443R002004470017-0 (also filed as CIA-RDP90B01390R000300340046-0). The reply acknowledges Graham's letters of July 23 and 29, 1986. [^23]: Letter, Daniel O. Graham to Robert M. Gates, December 8, 1986, CIA-RDP88G01116R000700840002-1, copy to William J. Casey. [^24]: Deposition of Daniel O. Graham, May 26, 1987, Graham Exhibit 1, memorandum from Barbara F. Studley to Lt. Col. Oliver North, October 30, 1985, Appendix B, vol. 12, pp. 1029-1030 of the OCR text. The OCR of the closing sentence reads "informacion"; the wording here follows the Barcella and Singlaub pages. [^25]: Deposition of Daniel O. Graham, May 26, 1987, Graham Exhibit 2, quotation dated July 28, 1986 on GeoMiliTech letterhead, enclosed with a "Dear Bill" letter to Casey, Appendix B, vol. 12, pp. 1034-1037 of the OCR text. [^26]: Letter, Newt Gingrich to Daniel O. Graham, May 10, 1995, printed in Congressional Record, "Tribute to General D.O. Graham," February 1, 1996. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1996_cr/h960201a.htm --- *The Info Web has an MCP server for agents at https://theinfoweb.org/mcp (streamable HTTP, no auth): search by meaning, exact text, source or date, and follow typed, footnoted connections. Setup and the same tools over GET: https://theinfoweb.org/llms.txt*