Leonard Marks, 90, USIA Official
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Leonard Marks, 90, a communications lawyer who headed the U.S. Information Agency during the Vietnam War, died Friday in Washington, D.C. Marks was a trusted figure in President Johnson’s inner circle and a top Democratic fund raiser.
Marks had long represented Johnson’s radio and television assets at his Washington law firm, Cohn & Marks.
During three years at USIA Marks oversaw a $178 million operation that published magazines in dozens of languages, distributed hundreds of films and documentaries, and beamed pro-American news abroad through the Voice of America.
He also became a member of the National Security Council during the Vietnam war and sat in on discussions involving top-level generals and policymakers. In his 2004 memoir “The President Is Calling,” Marks said he implemented a plan to explain U.S. policy to the Vietnamese by spreading gossip among fishmongers.
Marks later served as president of the International Rescue Committee, which helped Vietnamese boat people.
