Everything about William Joseph Donovan totally explained
» For other uses, see Wild Bill and/or Bill Donovan.
Major General William Joseph Donovan,
KBE United States Army (
January 1,
1883 –
February 8,
1959) was an
American soldier, lawyer and intelligence officer, best remembered today as wartime head of the
Office of Strategic Services (OSS). He is also widely known as the "father" of today's
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Early life
Donovan was born in Buffalo, New York, attending
St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute and
Niagara University before starring on the football field at
Columbia University. On the field, he got the nickname that he'd earn over and over again in a long and eventful life: "Wild Bill". Donovan was also a member of
Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. He graduated in 1905.
Donovan was a member of the
New York City "Establishment," a powerful
Wall Street lawyer and a
Columbia Law School classmate (1908) (but credited to 1907) of
Franklin D. Roosevelt, although they were not close at the time.
In 1912, Donovan formed and led a troop of
cavalry of the New York
State Militia, that in 1916 served on the
U.S.-Mexico border in the
Pancho Villa campaign.
World War I
During
World War I, Donovan organized and led a battalion of the
United States Army, designated the
165th Regiment of the
42nd Division, the federalized designation of the famed 69th New York Volunteers, (the "
Fighting 69th"). In France one of his charges was poet
Joyce Kilmer. For his service near Landres-et-St. Georges, France, on 14 and 15 October 1918, he was awarded the
Medal of Honor. By the end of the war he received a promotion to
colonel, the
Distinguished Service Cross and three
Purple Hearts (the full text of his Medal of Honor Citation can be found further below).
Between the wars
After the war, he was the
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, famous for his energetic enforcement of
Prohibition. He ran unsuccessfully as a
Republican for
Governor of New York in 1932 and was soundly defeated by
Democrat Herbert H. Lehman. President
Calvin Coolidge named him to the
United States Department of Justice's
Antitrust Division.
World War II
After the start of
World War II, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt began to put the United States on a war footing. On the recommendation of
United States Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, Roosevelt gave Donovan a number of increasingly important assignments, trusting him absolutely until Roosevelt's death in 1945, even though they were political opponents — Roosevelt was a
Democrat and Donovan a lifelong
Republican.
In 1940 and 1941 he served as an
emissary and information gatherer for Knox and President Roosevelt, traveling to
Britain and parts of
Europe that were not under
Nazi control.
OSS
In June 1941, Donovan received what would be his most important assignment: Roosevelt named him
Coordinator of Information (COI). This made him the first overall chief of the United States
Intelligence community, which at the time was fragmented into Army, Navy,
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
United States Department of State, and other interests. The FBI retained its independence, and control of intelligence in South America, at the insistence of FBI Director
J. Edgar Hoover.
It was Donovan who crucially organized the COI's New York headquarters in Room 3603 of
Rockefeller Center in October, 1941 and asked
Allen Dulles to head it; the offices Dulles took over had been the location of the operations of Britain's
MI6.
In 1942, the COI became the
Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and Donovan was returned to active duty in his World War I rank of colonel (by war's end, he'd be promoted to major general). The OSS was responsible for espionage and sabotage in Europe and in parts of Asia. The OSS was kept out of South America by Hoover's hostility to Donovan, and out of the Philippines by the antipathy of
Douglas MacArthur.
For many years, the exploits of the OSS remained secret, but in the 1970s and 1980s, significant parts of the OSS history were declassified, making Donovan a household name to a new generation.
After Roosevelt's death, Donovan's political position, which depended on his personal connection to the President, was substantially weakened. He argued forcefully for the retention of the OSS in the years after the war, but President Harry S. Truman wasn't interested (although the subsequent formation of the CIA did generally follow a related proposal initiated by Donovan).
Post-war era
After the war, Donovan reverted to his lifelong role as a lawyer to perform one last duty: he served as special assistant to chief
prosecutor Telford Taylor at the
Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal.
There, he'd the personal satisfaction of seeing
Nazi leaders responsible for the torture and murder of captured OSS agents brought to justice. For his World War II service, Donovan received the
Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award the United States military gives for service (rather than valor). He also received an honorary British knighthood.
At the conclusion of the
trial, he returned to Wall Street where his law firm,
Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine, was a powerhouse. He remained always available to the postwar Presidents who needed his counsel — or his intelligence management experience.
In 1949, he became chairman of the newly-founded
American Committee on United Europe, which worked to counter the new Communist threat to Europe by promoting European political unity.
Donovan's son, David Rumsey Donovan, was a naval officer who served with distinction in WWII. His grandson William James Donovan served as an enlisted soldier in Vietnam.
Donovan died on
February 8,
1959, at
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in
Washington, D.C. at the age of 76, and is buried in Section 2 of
Arlington National Cemetery.
President
Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to him as "the Last Hero," which later became the title of a biography of him. After his death, Donovan was awarded the
Freedom Award of the
International Rescue Committee (not, as some biographies state, the "Medal of Freedom," a different award).
The law firm he founded,
Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine was dissolved in 1998.
Major General Donovan is a member of the
Military Intelligence Hall of Fame.
List of honors and decorations
American Awards
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 165th Infantry, 42d Division. Place and date: Near Landres-et-St. Georges, France, 14-15 October 1918. Entered service at: Buffalo, N.Y. Born: 1 January 1883, Buffalo, N.Y. G.O., No.: 56, W.D., 1922.
Citation:
» Lt. Col. Donovan personally led the assaulting wave in an attack upon a very strongly organized position, and when our troops were suffering heavy casualties he encouraged all near him by his example, moving among his men in exposed positions, reorganizing decimated platoons, and accompanying them forward in attacks. When he was wounded in the leg by machine-gun bullets, he refused to be evacuated and continued with his unit until it withdrew to a less exposed position.
Quotes
"Espionage isn't a nice thing, nor are the methods employed exemplary. Neither are demolition bombs nor poison gas.... We face an enemy who believes one of his chief weapons is that none but he'll employ terror. But we'll turn terror against him...."
"The door for intelligence work opened for me when I undertook my first secret mission while on my honeymoon in Japan in 1919. The United States Government asked me to take a two-month trip to Siberia to report on the anti-Bolshevik movement in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. Well, it wasn't your usual honeymoon, but Mrs. Donovan was very understanding. The mission was successful and opened doors to many more missions for the government. I was heading down the intelligence path and I was loving it."
Fiction
Donovan is featured among other historical figures in the novel "Las Increíbles Aventuras de Rex Stark y el Holocausto Secreto" (The Incredible Adventures of Rex Stark and The Secret Holocaust) by Juan Miguel de la Torre, Devir, 2004.
A character loosely based on Donovan appears in the film The Good Shepherd, under the name William Sullivan. It is played by Robert De Niro.
Donovan is a central figure in the WEB Griffin series The Corps, Men at War and Honor Bound.
Donovan is referenced in Three Days of the Condor. Higgins asks Wabash, "You served in the OSS with Colonel Donovan during the war, didn't you, sir?" Wabash replies, "I sailed the Adriatic with a movie star at the helm".
Donovan is featured in Peter Quinn's historical novel, The Hour of the Cat.
Donovan is featured in Gordon Stevens' novel And All the Kings Men. The novel is based in Britain during a successful Nazi invasion. In it, Donovan is credited for, among other things, persuading President Franklin D. Roosevelt to sign the Lend-Lease act and delivering intelligence about the German nuclear energy project and Nazi concentration camps.
Donovan is a major character in the 1940 blockbuster movie "The Fighting 69th"(External Link
), set during World War I. It features Pat O'Brien in one of his best roles as Father Francis P. Duffy, Jeffrey Lynn as the poet Joyce Kilmer, and George Brent as Major 'Wild Bill' Donovan.
Music
The musician Stan Ridgway on his album Black Diamond included a song title "". The song deals somewhat vaguely with his founding of the OSS and Cold War exploits.
Further Information
Get more info on 'William Joseph Donovan'.
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