Donald Wheeler

Donald Niven Wheeler (October 23, 1913 - November 8, 2002) was an accused Soviet spy. He was a graduate of Reed College and also attended college in England. He received a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, and there he joined the university branch of the Communist Party. He did post-graduate work at the University of Paris but dropped out to join the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. There he met Mary Lukes Vause, a fell... more

Donald Niven Wheeler (October 23, 1913 - November 8, 2002) was an accused Soviet spy. He was a graduate of Reed College and also attended college in England. He received a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, and there he joined the university branch of the Communist Party. He did post-graduate work at the University of Paris but dropped out to join the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. There he met Mary Lukes Vause, a fellow graduate of Reed College, a new mother and the widow of his best friend, Clare Vause. They were married in 1938. Duncan Lee, a college classmate described him as a really "progressive person". Wheeler was associated with various Comintern organizations before being employed by the government, first in the United States Department of Agriculture, later the Department of Treasury. From 1941 to 1946, Wheeler was employed by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in Washington, D.C. Wheeler was a member of the white collar unit of the... less