William j. Donovan

William j. Donovan

William J. Donovan

William J. Donovan (1883–1959), known as “Wild Bill,” was a towering figure in American military and intelligence history. A decorated World War I hero, earning the Medal of Honor, he later founded and led the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II, laying the groundwork for the modern CIA. His career in covert activities shaped U.S. intelligence during and after World War II.

Entry into Intelligence: Pre-WWII

In the 1920s and 1930s, Donovan, a successful Wall Street lawyer, conducted informal intelligence-gathering missions for the U.S. government. His travels to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, often under the guise of business, allowed him to report on political and military developments.

In 1919, he observed the Russian Civil War, assessing Bolshevik strength for the State Department. In the 1930s, he met with European leaders, including Benito Mussolini, to gauge fascist regimes’ intentions, providing insights to U.S. Donovan recognized the U.S.’s lack of a coordinated intelligence apparatus, unlike Britain’s MI6. His experiences convinced him of the need for a dedicated agency to conduct espionage and covert operations, especially as global tensions rose with Nazi Germany’s expansion.

Connection to Operation Gladio

While Donovan died in 1959, before Operation Gladio’s most documented activities in the 1960s–1980s, his OSS laid the groundwork for NATO’s stay-behind networks.

The OSS trained European resistance groups during WWII, many of which formed the nucleus of Gladio’s anti-communist networks in countries like Italy, France, and Belgium. For example, OSS-trained Italian partisans were later recruited into Gladio.

His active intelligence career ended in 1945, however his covert warfare and anti-communist networks directly influenced the CIA and NATO’s Cold War strategies, including Gladio. Donovan’s protégés, like Allen Dulles were instrumental in Gladio’s establishment in the late 1940s, using OSS tactics to create clandestine armies to “counter Soviet influence”.