William Remington

He was raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey, by parents Lillian Maude Sutherland (1888-1969) and Frederick C. Remington (1870–1956).

His father worked for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.; his mother was an art teacher in New York.

William Walter Remington (1917–1954) was an American economist who was employed in various federal government positions for the United States.

His career was interrupted by accusations of espionage made by Elizabeth Bentley, a Soviet spy and defector.

Remington was tried twice on different charges.

William Walter Remington was born on October 25, 1917, in New York City.

Remington was admitted to Dartmouth College at age 16, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude in 1939,.

He earned a Master's degree from Columbia University in 1940.

Coming from a branch of the wealthy Remington family of Illion, New York, Remington's parents were demanding.

The son developed a somewhat unconventional and flamboyant personality.

From an early age, he was drawn to radical leftist politics, and declared to his friends when he was 15 that he was a Communist.

During the Depression, numerous intellectuals were drawn to communism.

In college, he became active with members of the Young Communist League, and later the Communist Party of the United States.

In later testimony, Remington stated that while he was a Republican when he entered college, he "moved left quite rapidly" and became a radical but was never a Communist Party or Young Communist League member at Dartmouth.

Whether or not he ever officially joined the party, later became a point of contention in his legal battles.

After getting his master's degree in economics, Remington was employed in a number of federal civil service posts, principally as an economist:

For his position with the Office of Price Administration, Remington was required to undergo a loyalty-security check, which began in 1941.

He admitted having been active in Communist-allied groups such as the American Peace Mobilization, but denied any sympathy with communism and swore under oath that he was not and had never been a member of the Communist Party.

His leftist affiliations raised concerns, but the investigation was superficial and his security clearance was approved.

In March 1942 and continuing for two years, Remington had occasional meetings with Elizabeth Bentley at which he gave her information.

This material included data on airplane production and other matters concerning the aircraft industry, as well as some information on an experimental process for manufacturing synthetic rubber.

Remington later said that he was unaware that Bentley was connected with the Communist Party, that he believed she was a journalist and researcher, and that the information he gave her was not secret.

But Bentley was a Communist and an espionage agent for the Soviet Union.

In 1945 she broke with the Communists and became an informer for the FBI.

She implicated a number of her contacts, including Remington.

Bentley's revelations of Soviet espionage activities in the United States received a great deal of press attention.

She identified more than 80 Americans—including several employees of government offices—as working for the Soviets, of whom only William Remington was still working in a government position.

Acting on Bentley's information, the FBI began secret surveillance of Remington in late 1945.

Remington was by this time disillusioned with communism and had broken off his relationships with radical organizations, so the investigation revealed nothing of interest.

In 1946, Remington was working with the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion.

From there he transferred in March 1947 to a position with the President's Council of Economic Advisers, where he was paid an annual salary of $10,305.

Because the FBI was keeping Bentley's testimony and its investigation of Remington secret, it raised no objection.

Remington continued to serve in fairly high-level government posts.

In 1947, Remington was interviewed by the FBI and also questioned before a federal grand jury in New York City about the information he had given to Elizabeth Bentley.

He testified that no secret information was involved, and the issue seemed to end there.

Remington became an anti-communist informer from this time and for the following year.

He sent the FBI information on more than fifty people, only four of whom were connected with his own case.

He was convicted of perjury in connection with these charges in 1953.

He was sentenced to three years in federal prison.

He was murdered in Lewisburg prison in November 1954.