Project ARTICHOKE: The Manchurian Candidate Project ARTICHOKE (also referred to as Operation ARTICHOKE) was a CIA project that arose from Project BLUEBIRD.

Project ARTICHOKE: The Manchurian Candidate

Project ARTICHOKE (also referred to as Operation ARTICHOKE) was a CIA project that arose from Project BLUEBIRD.

ARTICHOKE was a mind control program that gathered information together with the intelligence divisions of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and FBI. In addition, the scope of the project was outlined in a memo dated January 1952 that stated, "Can we get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against fundamental laws of nature, such as self-preservation?"

A memorandum by Richard Helms to CIA director Allen Welsh Dulles indicated Artichoke became Project MKULTRA on April 13, 1953.