Pearcey 1 Traitor The Story of Robert Hanssen Desirae Pearcey American Government HIST 4020 CRN 22643 Professor Moulton 14 January 2009 Honors Project Paper Pearcey 2 Table of Contents Introduction 3 The Childhood and Development of Robert Hanssen 4 Hanssen s Obsessions 8 The Betrayal 10 Friends with the Enemy 13 The Clues and Hints 15 Conclusion 17 Pearcey 3 Introduction The world is not always as it appears People are not always as they appear Society is full of secrets and people can build their lives based on lies Society and the country is a network of communications that interact for the benefit of the citizens that live within its borders Some of these connections prove to be genuine while others ultimately harm society s safety and betray patriotism and morale The society is much like a library Each book is completely separate but is composed similarly Each book has a specific plot theme and story line Books have concepts and ideas that are meant to be read and understood Some books deal with violence and suspense while others portray comedy or life lessons People are library books within society Each person has his or her own theme plot and story line in life Some people are naturally enthusiastic while others are violent and ill natured One book had a very elaborate and stunning cover but the pages were ripped torn and very unlike the beautiful binding This book fit on the library shelves very well and was rarely opened This book was about Robert Hanssen and the plot was very different than other books Pearcey 4 The Childhood and Development of Robert Hanssen On April 18 1944 Vivian Hanssen gave birth to her only child Robert Philip Hanssen At the time of Robert s birth Howard Robert s father was away on duty with the Navy Howard had spent time as a cop in Chicago before joining the Navy and later returned to the Chicago police force The small Hanssen family moved into a conservative two bedroom home in a well respected section of Chicago Howard s mother later moved in with the family Havill Howard was the strong silent type He was very strict and looked down on Robert Howard was involved in the Chicago Police organization known as the Red Unit This organization dealt with political activity in communist groups Many of these groups were involved in trying to overthrow the government and implement communism Howard was very focused on uncovering politicians who had communist ties Havill Howard was not only verbally abusive but physically abusive toward his only child Robert Howard was down right mean and hurtful toward Robert The stereotypical father son relationship was non existent between Robert and Howard Howard constantly complained that his son Robert would be a failure in life and would amount to absolutely nothing Robert wanted to make his father proud and follow in his foot steps Howard disapproved and wanted Robert to pursue a medical degree Howard spent much of his free time at horse races betting and gambling Family vacations and trips were planned around horse races to appease Howard Robert picked up these bad habits as he aged Vivian rarely spoke out of place and followed in Howard s shadow Wise 10 11 As a child Robert attended Norwood Park Grammar School and later finished his education at the Taft High School Robert was a very shy boy through his education but was extremely intelligent Robert compared to other adolescent males in some ways He liked fast cars and looking at women but went on few dates After completing high school Robert received Pearcey 5 a scholarship to Knox College in Galesburg Illinois Robert majored in chemistry and math at Knox College and took Russian as his foreign language Robert graduated from Knox College in 1966 with a bachelor s degree in chemistry Robert then applied to the highly secretive National Security Agency NSA as a cryptographer but was rejected due to budget cuts within the organization The NSA is a cryptology intelligence agency for the United States government The NSA is responsible for collecting and analyzing foreign communications and signals Robert was very disappointed with his rejection and decided to further his education so he would not get drafted into the army Instead of pursuing a medical degree like his father wanted him to Robert studied dentistry for three years at Northwestern University At Northwestern Robert met his future wife Bernadette Wauck also known as Bonnie a very dedicated Catholic from a large family Wise 11 13 Bonnie and Robert dated for a little over a year before getting married on August 9 1968 Robert discontinued his efforts in dentistry at Northwestern and pursued his accounting degree instead Shortly after their marriage Bonnie received numerous phone calls from other women concerning her new husband Each pertained to cheating and sexual activities that were taking place between the women and Robert Bonnie brushed off the accusations and continued with their everyday lives Bonnie finally confronted Robert after the phone calls persisted and Robert admitted to some hugs and kisses Bonnie kept every phone call in the back of her mind and became more observant toward her husband She never questioned his authority or faith again but kept the accusations in mind Wise 14 15 Robert was inevitably bound to join the Catholic Church having married into a very prominent Catholic family Before converting to Catholicism Robert discussed the move with his very dear and supportive mother Vivian Vivian supported Robert s actions and believed that Pearcey 6 the conversion would be beneficial to his marriage Robert joined the Church and soon became a very dedicated and devout Catholic Wise 15 In 1971 Robert graduated from Northwestern University with a Masters in Accounting He worked a year in Chicago for an accounting firm and became a C P A in 1973 Robert then pursued a career in law enforcement following the foot steps of his father Howard s career was soon coming to an end as retirement moved closer Robert joined the police force in October of 1972 three months after his father retired Robert was automatically assigned to an intelligence division investigating police corruption This was very unusual for a new rookie cop coming into a division After three years of uneventful activities with the Chicago police department Robert applied to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Robert was accepted and sworn in as a special agent on January 12 1976 at the age of thirty one Wise 15 18 Hanssen started