World
A Terrorist Target?
Max Fisher sought FBI protection after Munich Olympics assault,
according to U.S. government.
Ken Thomas
Associated Press
Washington
D
ays after the Israeli
hostage crisis at the
1972 Munich Olympics,
Detroit oil and real estate mag-
nate Max Fisher sought security
protection from the FBI for a
series of fund-raising trips for
President Nixon, according to
newly declassified government
records.
Fisher, a leading philanthro-
pist who died in March 2005,
told authorities that friends had
warned him that his status as
a Jewish leader in the United
States and his ties to Nixon made
him "a logical target for terrorist
attack by Arabs or Arab sympa-
thizers:' the FBI memo said.
The Sept. 8, 1972, memo was
written by W Mark Felt, the
FBI's deputy director and later
revealed to be Deep Throat,
the source who helped guide
Washington Post reporter Bob
Woodward during Watergate..
It followed the hostage-tak-
ing of Israeli athletes by the
Palestinian terrorist group
"Black September" at the Munich
Games. Eleven Israelis and a
German police officer were killed
during a nearly two-day standoff.
Felt's memo indicated Fisher's
concerns were warranted; it
said the bureau's Domestic
Intelligence Division had
"advised that Fisher has, in fact,
been mentioned as a possible
target."
The memo was among more
than 150 pages of FBI docu-
ments involving Fisher obtained
by the Associated Press through
a Freedom of Information Act
request. Long before the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks, it offers a window
into early terrorism concerns and
sheds more light on a subject
Max Fisher pictured in 2003 at his Franklin home
that Fisher rarely discussed and
was known only by family and
close friends.
Peter Golden, the author of the
1992 biography of Fisher, Quiet
Diplomat, wrote that Fisher
regularly received "crackpot mail
and phone calls" but once his ties
with Nixon and Israeli leaders
emerged, "the letters and phone
calls took a terrifying turn."
Golden said that Fisher used
private and official security dur-
ing the period but "went about
his business" and displayed a
"quiet courage'
"Since 9-11, of course, ter-
rorism has moved to the center
of our national agenda, but it's
been with us for a long time
Golden said in an interview Iasi
Thursday. "Max simply got an
earlier glimpse of it than most
of us:'
. Fisher's son, Phillip Fisher,
principal of the Fisher Group in
Detroit, said Riday that he was
unaware of the specific concerns
cited in the memo but his father
always had security with him.
"My father did such incredible
work for everyone on the local,
national and international corn-
munities that there was always
a price to pay;' Fisher said. "The
benefits that he brought to the
world far outweighed the risks."
One of Fisher's daughters,
once said, "Republican presidents
inherit Max Fisher."
Felt described Fisher as "a
close friend of the president and
regarded as the president's No. 1
fund-raiser:'
Dozens of pages in the file
include glowing testimonials
about Fisher's civic-mindedness,
intelligence and integrity from
interviews conducted by the
FBI in 1969. Fisher was being
considered for an appointment
by Nixon and was later named
to head a volunteer post under
U.S. Housing Secretary George.
Romney, a former Michgan gov-
ernor.
In the memo, Felt wrote that
Fisher had called the Detroit
office of the FBI on the morn-
ing of Sept. 8 to report that he
planned to visit several cities in
connection with fund-raising
and was worried about his safety.
Two agents from the FBI's
Detroit field office told him the
agency couldn't provide prbtec-
tion but- asked Fisher for a list of
cities he planned to. visit. They
told him local authorities would
be contacted and keep them
apprised of any developments.
Fisher later placed calls to
Attorney General Richard
Kleindienst, former Attorney
Jane Sherman of Franklin also
General John Mitchell and Nixon.
remembers her father getting
A
handwritten notation on the
protection, but was hazy on the
memo,
apparently initialed by
details as well.
acting
director
L. Patrick Gray,
She said that her father didn't
said
"this
is
a
matter
for private
get protection for the rest of
guards.
CRP
could
provide."
the family. "We were living in
CRP was the acronym for
Birmingham and he never men-
the
Committee to Re-elect the
tioned our having separate secu-
President,
the fund-raising orga-
rity," she said.
nization
that
was later implicated
Fisher served as a close adviser
in
Watergate.
Fisher was never
to several Republican presidents
accused
of
any
wrongdoing.
on Israeli-Palestinian relations
Fisher
was
a
leading and
and raised millions of dollars for
esteemed
member
of the global
Detroit, local charities and Jewish
❑
Jewish
community.
organizations. His 90th birthday
celebration was attended by
Presidents George H.W. Bush and Staff writer Harry Kirsbaum
contributed to this report.
Gerald Ford. President Reagan
March 30 a 2006
27