Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control

E149412

biographical book nonfiction book

"Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control" is a nonfiction book by Stephen Kinzer that investigates the life of CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb and his central role in the agency’s secret MK-Ultra mind control experiments.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control canonical	1
Project MKUltra	1
book "Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control"	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1308553 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control
Context triple: [Stephen Kinzer, notableWork, Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control]

A. Honorable Men: My Life in the CIA
"Honorable Men: My Life in the CIA" is the memoir of former CIA Director William Colby, recounting his decades in U.S. intelligence and the moral and political controversies surrounding the agency’s activities during his tenure.
B. Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981–1987
Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981–1987 is a non-fiction book by investigative journalist Bob Woodward that examines the covert operations, internal politics, and controversies of the CIA during the Reagan administration.
C. Before the Lobotomy
"Before the Lobotomy" is a multi-part punk rock song by Green Day from their rock opera album *21st Century Breakdown*, exploring themes of disillusionment and societal decay.
D. The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate is a 1962 political thriller film about brainwashing and Cold War conspiracy, widely regarded as a classic of American cinema.
E. The Craft of Intelligence
The Craft of Intelligence is a seminal book on espionage and intelligence operations written by former CIA Director Allen Dulles, offering an insider’s perspective on the theory and practice of modern intelligence work.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control
Target entity description: "Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control" is a nonfiction book by Stephen Kinzer that investigates the life of CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb and his central role in the agency’s secret MK-Ultra mind control experiments.

A. Honorable Men: My Life in the CIA
"Honorable Men: My Life in the CIA" is the memoir of former CIA Director William Colby, recounting his decades in U.S. intelligence and the moral and political controversies surrounding the agency’s activities during his tenure.
B. Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981–1987
Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981–1987 is a non-fiction book by investigative journalist Bob Woodward that examines the covert operations, internal politics, and controversies of the CIA during the Reagan administration.
C. Before the Lobotomy
"Before the Lobotomy" is a multi-part punk rock song by Green Day from their rock opera album *21st Century Breakdown*, exploring themes of disillusionment and societal decay.
D. The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate is a 1962 political thriller film about brainwashing and Cold War conspiracy, widely regarded as a classic of American cinema.
E. The Craft of Intelligence
The Craft of Intelligence is a seminal book on espionage and intelligence operations written by former CIA Director Allen Dulles, offering an insider’s perspective on the theory and practice of modern intelligence work.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (38)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	biographical book ⓘ nonfiction book ⓘ
about	CIA search for mind control techniques ⓘ U.S. government secrecy ⓘ human rights violations in intelligence programs ⓘ
author	Stephen Kinzer ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
depicts	CIA Technical Services Staff ⓘ assassination research programs ⓘ unwitting human test subjects ⓘ
examines	legacy of CIA mind control research ⓘ origins of MKUltra ⓘ relationship between science and intelligence agencies ⓘ scope of MKUltra experiments ⓘ
focusesOn	CIA chemical and biological programs ⓘ CIA covert operations ⓘ ethical abuses in human experimentation ⓘ use of LSD by the CIA ⓘ
genre	history ⓘ intelligence studies ⓘ political nonfiction ⓘ
hasSubtitle	Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control ⓘ
hasTitle	Poisoner in Chief ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
mainCharacter	Sidney Gottlieb ⓘ
mediaType	print ⓘ
portrays	Sidney Gottlieb as chief chemist of the CIA ⓘ Sidney Gottlieb as head of MKUltra ⓘ
publisher	Henry Holt and Company ⓘ
subject	Central Intelligence Agency ⓘ Cold War ⓘ Project MKUltra ⓘ Sidney Gottlieb ⓘ mind control experiments ⓘ
timePeriodCovered	1950s ⓘ 1960s ⓘ Cold War era ⓘ
workType	investigative journalism ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Stephen Kinzer → notableWork → Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control ⓘ

A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror → relatedTo → Project MKUltra ⓘ

linked to: Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control

Sidney Gottlieb → subjectOf → book "Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control" ⓘ