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In the summer of 1953, CIA operative Kermit Roosevelt Jr. paced around his office at the American Embassy in Tehran, or as he'd like to call it, his battle station.

Kermit was the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt and took real pleasure in feeling

like he was in charge.

But outside the embassy in the Iranian streets, it didn't seem like anyone was in command

of anything.

Beyond the gates at the edge of the embassy compound, crowds of protesters were moving down the street,

chanting anti-American slogans. What sounded like a glass bottle exploded on the street,

Kermit moved to his window and flipped the blinds shut.

Iran's government was friendly with the U.S. in those days, but Tehran, the capital, had been in chaos for the past

three days. There had been protests and riots all over the city, and now the violence was reaching

a crescendo. Statues of former Iranian leaders had been torn down one by one. The crowds had

also looted every building in the main city square and opened fire on counter-protesters and passers-by alike.

So far, hundreds had died in the riots, and inside the American embassy, the tension was high.

Kermit, the CIA's director of operations, took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. Then the door to his office

swung open and his radio operator stumbled in, already on the verge of tears. With a shaky hand,

he held up a cable transmission. It had been sent almost 24 hours ago, but there had been some

kind of delay. The operator looked sick as he read the transmission aloud,

urging Kermit and his people to evacuate to Iran.

Washington wanted them gone before the mobs had a chance to storm the embassy,

before it was too late for them to get out of Iran alive.

...