Espionage is a game as old as human history, and it’s one that some people play particularly well. One of those people is John Walker, a notorious spy who committed treason against his own country and did possibly the worst damage of any Naval spy in American history. How much do you know about this infamous spy? Take our quiz to find out!
John Walker, born in 1937, spent most of his early years in Scranton, PA. He was an entrepreneurial child. In fact, he was able to buy a car on his 16th birthday using money he saved from his jobs which included working a paper route, selling home products door to door, and working in a theater as an usher.
He joined the Navy as a radioman in 1955 and went on to gain access to nuclear weapons after being approved for a “top secret crypto” clearance. He served on several submarines, rising through the ranks with excellent performance reviews and serving with distinction.
John Walker’s spy story has an unlikely beginning. Instead of being recruited, he simply walked right up to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, DC, and offered his services. The year was 1967, the Cold War was well underway, and Walker found himself sympathetic to the Soviet cause.
Walker spied for the Soviet Union for nearly two decades, from 1967 until his arrest in 1985. During his time as a spy, he recruited several new spies. Unfortunately for him, he also made a few mistakes, which eventually led to him and his entire ring of spies being caught.
Even though his spying may have had roots in sympathy with the Soviet cause, Walker is quoted as saying upon his capture, “Money was a solution. Sorry about this, Hollywood. Sorry about this, Church. Sorry about this, everybody, but money solves everything. And it did. And why did it all fall apart? You wanna know? I’ll tell you. Because the Soviets cut off the money supply…Money solves everything.”
John Walker lived the rest of his years in prison for what he did, spending the final 29 years of his life behind bars before dying in 2014.
