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AUTHORS ON THE RECORD

Your latest book tells the story o William Wild Bill Donovan,

who ounded the national intelligence agency known as the Ofce

o Strategic Services. What prompted you to ocus on the lie o

this unusual character?

I am attracted to controversial historical gures or biographies. My

previous biography, A Question o Loyalty, was on Gen. Billy Mitchell,

the World War I hero and ather o the Air Force, who demonstrated that

planes could sink a battleship. People either loved or hated Billy Mitchell.

No one was neutral on the guy. During the 1920s, Mitchell was court-

martialed or insubordination in advocating air power. His Washington

trial was a media spectacular in its day. Tousands o pages o his trial

records are stored at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland,

where I spent many months reviewing them. Interestingly, Wild Bill

Donovan, who was an assistant attorney general in the Coolidge

administration at the time, attended Mitchells trial. Donovan, like

Mitchell, also was someone people revered or hateda very controversial

character whom I ound ideal or a biography.

Te previous biographies o Donovan were almost 30 years old.

Practically all o the OSS documents have been declassied sincethen and are stored at the Archives Maryland acility. A historical

biographer quickly learns that the archivist is his best riend

particularly with a collection as huge as OSS records, which number

in the millions o pages. I spent about a year at the National Archives

wading through OSS records and through documents rom other

government agencies. Larry McDonald, an Archives expert on the

OSS records, along with eight other archivists or other collections,

were a godsend or my research.

In researching Donovans lie, you went to three o the 13

presidential libraries: Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower. Had

you done any research at the presidential libraries beore? Were

you able to access all the documents you requested, or were some

still classied?

Tis was the rst time I had visited the Roosevelt, ruman, and

Eisenhower libraries, and it was a rewarding experience. Robert Clark,

the archivist at the FDR Library, unearthed a lot o gems or me

rom the Roosevelt papers, all o which are declassied. Liz Safey, as

she had done or countless authors, took me under her wing in the

reading room o the ruman Library. She and archivist Randy Sowell

dug up hundreds o Donovanand OSS-relatedpapers rom the

ruman collections, many o them not seen by previous biographers.

David Haight, an archivist at the Eisenhower Library, helped me

track down Donovan records rom Ikes presidency and his days as

Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. A ew o that librarys records

were still classied, but I got them declassied.

Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower were very dierent men intheir experiences and background. Did the documents in the

libraries reveal an equally dierent attitude toward Donovan?

Were there any unexpected nds?

Te presidential library documents reveal markedly dierent

attitudes by their Presidents toward Donovan. Donovan had a

complicated relationship with Roosevelt, who signed the orders setting

up the OSS and protected him rom bureaucratic rivals who wanted

to shut him down. Te FDR Library papers reveal that Roosevelt was

creating the modern spyHow Wild Bill Donovan Ran the OSS and

Put America in the Espionage Businessby hilary parkinson

DouglasWaller

Beore World War II, intelligence gathering was not institutionalized in the U.S. government as it is today.

But President Franklin D. Roosevelt had a keen interest in what his spies around the world could nd

out or him as war clouds began to orm in the late 1930s. Ater Pearl Harbor, FDR created an intelligence

agency, the Oce o Strategic Services (OSS), the orerunner o todays CIA.

o run it, he chose William J. Wild Bill Donovan, who had won a Medal o Honor or his service in

World War I and become rich as a Republican lawyer in New York. In running the OSS, Donovan directed

his agents to do things legal and not-so-legal to scoop up intelligence or FDR and his commanders. At the

same time, Donovan himsel engaged in the kind o exploits that are today more commonly associated with

James Bond; he could be a loose cannon but usually got the job done.

In his new book on Donovan, veteran journalist Douglas Waller takes a close, detailed look at Donovans

career, drawing in part on documents rom the National Archives never beore mined. Waller, a ormer

correspondent or ime and Newsweek, is the author o ve previous books, including best-sellers Te

Commandosand BIG RED as well as a biography o Gen. Billy Mitchell,A Question of Loyalty.

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Authors on the Record

intrigued by espionage and liked Donovans being a spark plug or

ideas in his administration. But the papers also reveal that FDR kept

Donovan on a short leash (though Donovan oten didnt know he was

on it), and the Democratic President never allowed this millionaire

Republican lawyer rom Wall Street to be an intelligence czar over the

Army and Navyas Donovan clearly wanted to be.

ruman and Donovans relationship was pretty straightorward;

neither man particularly liked the other. RandySowell ound documents or me no one had ever

seen beore on how bad the blood was between

these two men. One gem Randy uncovered:

Tree years ater ruman closed down the OSS,

an aide sent him the drat o a speech he was to

deliver or a Sons o St. Patrick Society dinner,

which listed Donovan among the countrys

Irish American heroes. Te document shows

that ruman had crossed out Donovans name.

Eisenhower and Donovan were always good

riends. Ike thought highly o the OSS work in

his European theater. When he became President,Eisenhower made Donovan his ambassador

to Tailand in 1953. Te Eisenhower papers

were critical in reconstructing Donovans year

in Tailand, when he was trying to build that

country into a bulwark against communism in

Asia. Te National Security Council records that

have been declassied were also extremely helpul

in documenting how Donovan big-ooted other

ambassadors in the region.

Eisenhower and Donovan had a long history togetherDonovan

helped Eisenhower with his presidential campaign. Were you ableto learn more about the relationship between the two men? Did

these documents show any signicant changes?

Te documents did show changes in the relationship. Eisenhower

had a sot spot or Donovan. Te Eisenhower papers show that sot

spot wasnt always shared by other senior members o his military

sta, such as Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, who thought Donovan could

oten be a bull in a china shop. Eisenhower retained his ondness

or Donovan ater the war, but that ondness went only so ar, his

presidential papers show. I ound interesting documents in the library

that showed Donovan had intermediaries lobby Ike in 1952, beore

he was sworn in as President, to make him CIA director. But the

papers show that Allen Dulles, whose brother was John Foster and

Ikes uture secretary o state, always had the inside track to lead the

CIA. Te ambassadorship to Tailand was sort o a consolation prize

or Donovan. Ten toward the end o Donovans lie, when he was

stricken with a severe orm o dementia, there are touching documents

in the collection that show Eisenhower and his sta arranging to have

Donovan admitted to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to live out

his nal year and a hal.

In addition to the presidential libraries, you requested the

military records o Bills son, David Donovan, rom the National

Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. You have written

other military biographieswere you amiliar with the holdings

o the NPRC? What did the records o David Donovan tell you

about his amous ather?

I am very amiliar with NPRCs records. I made a trip to St. Louis

to view Gen. Billy Mitchells personnel recordsor that biography. Donovan had a distant

relationship with his son, David, who wanted

no part o his athers liestyle or the spotlight

that ollowed him. During the war, David

joined the Navysome relatives say because

he wanted to be as ar away as possible rom

his ather, who was in the Army. Te NPRC

records enabled me to trace Davids story in

the Navy or the book, particularly when it

intersected with Donovans career with the OSS.

Donovan also participated in the Nurembergtrials, although he was eventually dismissed

rom the prosecuting team. Were you

surprised to learn he had been attempting to

impress Gring so that the Reichsmarschall

could be persuaded to coness in return or

a plea bargain?

I was very surprised over the plea bargain

deal Donovan tried to hatch with Gring:

In exchange or Gring copping a plea and ratting on his ellow

Nazis, the Reichsmarschall would be allowed to die by a ring

squad instead o being hanged as a common criminal. Donovan

had a total o 10 meetings with Gring. Donovans papers romhis Nuremberg days are stored at Cornell Universitys law library.

Tey show that the chie prosecutor, Supreme Court Justice Robert

Jackson, wanted mainly to introduce mounds o documents at the

trial to convict the top Nazis. Donovan thought that reading dreary

records day ater day would bore everyone to tears. When Jackson

learned o the plea bargain deal Donovan was cooking up, he

closed down the negotiations, wanting no part o putting Gring

on the stand as a prosecution witness. Donovan and Jackson ended

up having a bitter alling out over trial tactics, and Donovan let

Nuremberg an angry man.

You come rom a military amily. Have you ever considered

researching your own amily history through the National Archives?

Or do you have the subject or another book already in mind?

Tats an interesting idea, although my le at NPRC rom my

short stint in the Army will be pretty thin. My ather was a career

Naval ocer, so his le would be thicker. I dont have another

book in mind, although I would love or it to be another historical

biography.

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