Valerie Plame Wilson Biography
This Former Spy is a Woman of Conviction
Valerie Plame was born in 1963 on Elmendorf Air Force Base, in Anchorage, Alaska. Her father was a U.S. Air Force officer. By her own account, her parents and family instilled in her a sense of duty. It was this conviction that likely helped her through the ordeal sometimes known as “Plamegate.”
The Early Years of Valerie Plame Wilson
Mrs. Wilson, in her autobiography, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal By The White House, tells of being a teenager and reading spy novels. Her older brother by 16 years, Robert, was a Marine in Vietnam.
He was missing in action for a brief time, and his experiences in the military influenced Wilson in the direction of government service. She graduated from high school in 1981 and went on to Pennsylvania State University, graduating in 1985 with a degree in advertising.
Valerie Plame and the Central Intelligence Agency
Wilson, then Valerie Plame, joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1985. She was smart and quick and took to field training. She possessed a capacity for languages and reportedly speaks German, Greek, and French. While working and studying for the government, Wilson completed requirements for two master’s degrees. She was married to her college boyfriend for a year, from 1985-1986.
During the course of the following decade, Wilson devoted her life to intelligence work. By all accounts she produced an honorable career, of which most of the details are classified. Some of what is known is that Wilson’s latter years in the agency were devoted to ensuring that Iran did not obtain nuclear weapons.
She was able to incorporate motherhood into her work after marrying diplomat Joseph C. Wilson in 1998. Wilson is a former U.S. Ambassador to various African countries from 1976-1998.
The Valerie Plame Affair, or Plamegate
On July 14, 2003, Robert Novak, writing for The Washington Post, leaked that Wilson was an undercover CIA operative. Many believe this was in response to pressure from the Bush administration to ruin Joe Wilson for his investigations into the administration’s activities in Africa. Eventually, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a special assistant to President George W. Bush, was indicted on federal charges of obstruction and perjury. He resigned his other government positions and is now a convicted felon.
Later, Valerie and Joe Wilson filed a civil suit against Karl Rove, Libby, Vice President Cheney and others for their alleged role in disclosing Mrs. Wilson’s CIA status. It is a federal offense in the U.S. to knowingly and willingly disclose the classified status of covert operatives.
In any case, Mrs. Wilson’s career suffered for political reasons, although she agreed to a 2.5 million dollar book deal with Crown Publishing for the release of Fair Game. A movie based on Mrs. Wilson’s life and career, starring Naomi Watts, is due to be released in 2010.
Sources:
Wilson, Valerie Plame. Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007.
Valerie Plame Wilson, Woman of Conviction
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