Voting Station

Whittaker Chambers

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Commentator

The Resume

    (April 1, 1901-July 9, 1961)
    Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    Author and editor at Time magazine (1939-48)
    Appeared before the House Unamerican Activites Committee to accuse Alger Hiss of being a Soviet spy (1948)
    Wrote the autobiography 'Witness' (1952)

Why he might be annoying:

    As a teen, he lived with a New Orleans prostitute called 'One-Eyed Annie.'
    He dropped out of Columbia after a play he wrote for a literary magazine was denounced as blasphemous by other students.
    He joined the Communist party (1925).
    He spied for the Soviet Union.
    His first attempts to warn the FBI about Soviet spying in the US were ignored because he refused to provide names.
    His accusations against Hiss remained controversial for decades.
    A defense psychiatrist at Hiss' perjury trial called Chambers 'a psychopathic personality' and 'a pathological liar.'
    He had bad teeth.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He broke with the Communists after the Stalinist purges and the Hitler-Stalin non-aggression pact.
    After Hiss denied ever even meeting Chambers, both were questioned separately by HUAC about the time they were allegedly committing espionage together.
    Chambers provided so much detail (such as bird-watcher Hiss' excitement at spotting a prothonotary warbler) that it was clear they had known each other.
    A review of deciphered Soviet cables by a bipartisan Senate committee concluded that Hiss was indeed guilty (1997).
    He posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Ronald Reagan for his contribution to 'the century's epic struggle between freedom and totalitarianism.'
    He translated 'Bambi' from the original German into English (1924).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 22 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 19 Votes: 68.42% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 142 Votes: 51.41% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 22 Votes: 77.27% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 24 Votes: 70.83% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 26 Votes: 65.38% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 17 Votes: 64.71% Annoying