Randy Cassingham’s Honorary Unsubscribe Recognizes the Unknown, the Forgotten and the Often Obscure People who Had an Impact on Our Lives
Columnist (and spy!) Tom Braden

A syndicated newspaper columnist, Braden is best known for his 1975 autobiographical book Eight is Enough about his home life with eight children, which was turned into the hit 1977-1981 TV series of the same name, with Dick Van Patten playing the patriarch “Tom Bradford”. Braden’s personal history is worthy of another type of book: a spy novel. Before his newspaper career, Braden spent a stint in the OSS, the predecessor to the CIA, during World War II. During the Cold War he was the head of the CIA’s International Organizations Division, which sponsored cultural events overseas to help spread American ideas and values, and funneled money into the international branches of labor unions to support anti-Communist ideas. After leaving the CIA in 1954, he bought a California newspaper, which he ran for 13 years and then sold for a large profit so he could move back east and write his column. “When he was desperate for a column, he wrote about us,” said his daughter Susan, which led to his book. But he liked politics, and was one of the original co-hosts of Crossfire on CNN, where he argued politics from a liberal position against arch conservative Pat Buchanan. Braden died April 3 at his home in Denver, survived by seven of his eight kids (Tommy was killed in a car crash in 1994). He was 92. From This is True for 5 April 2009 New: Honorary Unsubscribe Books The early write-ups from This is True's popular Honorary Unsubscribe feature are now available for your Kindle (or Kindle software for your smartphone, tablet, or computer) as low-cost ebooks. See details on Volume 1 (covering 1998 through 2000), Volume 2 (covering 2001 through 2003), and Volume 3 (covering 2004 through 2006). The honorees truly are the people you wish you had known.	About the HUs About This is True Subscribe Free to This is True Your E-mail: Oldest: American scholar Seymour Lipset Newest: Comedic enabler Bernie Sahlins Complete Name List Prev: Newsman Irving R. Levine Next: Banned Books Week founder Judith Krug Complete Name List
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