William Egan Colby (January 4, 1920 – April 27, 1996) spent a career in intelligence for the United States, culminating in holding the post of Director of Central Intelligence from September, 1973, to January, 1976. William Edward Colby (May 28 1875 — November 9 1964) was an American lawyer, conservationist, and first Secretary of the Sierra Club. ... is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... For other uses, see Intelligence (disambiguation). ... The Office of Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) was established on January 23rd 1946 with Adm. ... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

During World War II Colby served with the Office of Strategic Services. After the war he joined the newly created CIA. Before and during the Vietnam War, Colby served as Chief of Station in Saigon, Chief of CIA's Far East Division, and head of the Civil Operations and Rural Development effort; he was responsible for the Phoenix Program. After Vietnam, Colby became Director of Central Intelligence and during his tenure revealed a large amount of information about U.S. intelligence activities to the Church Committee. Colby served as DCI under President Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford and was replaced by future President George H.W. Bush on January 30, 1976. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency and was the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Special Forces, and Navy SEALs. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thành Chí Minh) is the largest city in Vietnam, located near the delta of the Mekong River. ... The Phoenix Program (Vietnamese: Kế Hoạch Phụng Hoàng, a word related to fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix) or Operation Phoenix was a military, intelligence, and internal security coordination program designed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Vietnam War. ... The Church Committee is the common term referring to the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, a U.S. Senate committee chaired by Senator Frank Church (D-ID) in 1975. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ... Nixon redirects here. ... For other persons named Gerald Ford, see Gerald Ford (disambiguation). ... Order: 41st President Vice President: Dan Quayle Term of office: January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 Preceded by: Ronald Reagan Succeeded by: Bill Clinton Date of birth: June 12, 1924 Place of birth: Milton, Massachusetts First Lady: Barbara Pierce Bush Political party: Republican George Herbert Walker Bush, KBE (born June... is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Central Intelligence Agency Director William Colby discusses the situation in Vietnam with Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller and Deputy Assistant For National Security Affairs Brent Scowcroft during a break in a meeting of the National Security Council., 04/24/1975

Early life and family

William Egan Colby was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1920. His father, Elbridge Colby, was a professor of English and an Army officer who served in the Army and in university positions in Tientsin, China; Georgia; Vermont; and Washington, DC. His grandfather, Charles Colby, had been a professor of chemistry at Columbia University but had died prematurely. William Colby attended public high school in Burlington, Vermont and then Princeton University, graduating in 1940 and entering Columbia Law School the following year. State capitol building in Saint Paul Saint Paul is the capital and second-largest city of the state of Minnesota in the United States of America. ... Tianjin (Chinese: 天津; pinyin: tiān jīn; Postal System Pinyin: Tientsin) is a harbour municipality in China on the Hai He River (from Beijing) and Bohai Gulf of the Yellow Sea (Pacific Ocean). ... Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. ... Columbia Law School, located in the New York City borough of Manhattan, is one of the professional schools of Columbia University, a member of the Ivy League, and one of the leading law schools in the United States. ...

Colby was for most of his life a staunch Roman Catholic.^[1] He was often referred to as "the warrior-priest." He married Barbara Heinzen in 1945 and they had five children. In 1984 he divorced her and married Democratic diplomat Sally A. Shelton. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ...

Career

Office of Strategic Services

Colby volunteered for the Army and served with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, parachuting behind enemy lines twice and earning the Silver Star as well as commendations from Norway, France, and Great Britain. In his first mission he deployed to France as a Jedburgh commanding Team BRUCE, in mid-August 1944, and operated with the Maquis until he joined up with Allied forces later that fall. In April of 1945, he led the NORSO Group into Norway on a sabotage mission designed to tie down German forces in Norway from reinforcing the final defense of Germany. After the war, Colby graduated from Columbia Law School and then briefly practiced law in William Joseph Donovan's New York firm. Bored by the practice of law and inspired by his liberal beliefs, he moved to Washington to work for the National Labor Relations Board. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency and was the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Special Forces, and Navy SEALs. ... For other uses, see Wild Bill and/or Bill Donovan. ... The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the United States Government charged with conducting elections for union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. ...

Central Intelligence Agency

Shortly thereafter, an OSS friend offered him a job at the CIA, and Colby accepted. Colby spent the next twelve years in the field, first in Stockholm, Sweden. There, he helped set up the stay-behind networks of Gladio, a covert paramilitary organization organized by the CIA to make any Soviet occupation more difficult, as he later described in his memoirs.^[2] For other uses, see Stockholm (disambiguation). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Operation Gladio Operation Gladio was a clandestine stay-behind operation sponsored by the CIA and NATO to counter communist influence in Italy, as well as in other European countries. ...

Colby then spent much of the 1950s based in Rome, where he led the Agency's covert political operations campaign to support anti-Communist parties in their electoral contests against left wing, Soviet Union-associated parties. The Christian Democrat and allied parties won several key elections in the 1950s, preventing a takeover by the Communist Party. For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... Anti-communism is opposition to communist ideology, organization, or government, on either a theoretical or practical level. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms that refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially but not exclusively in the American sense of the word... The Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI) or Italian Communist Party emerged as Partito Comunista dItalia or Communist Party of Italy from a secession by the Leninist comunisti puri tendency from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) during that bodys congress on 21 January 1921 at Livorno. ...

Vietnam

In 1959, Colby became the CIA's Deputy Chief and then Chief of Station in Saigon, Vietnam, where he served until 1962. In 1962 he returned to Washington to become the Deputy and then Chief of CIA's Far East Division. During these years he was deeply involved in Washington's policies in East Asia, particularly with respect to Vietnam, as well as Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and China. He was deeply critical of the Kennedy Administration's decision to abandon support for Republic of Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem, and believed this played a material part in the weakening of the South Vietnamese position in the years following. In 1968, despite preparing to take up the post of Chief of Station Moscow, President Johnson sent Colby back to Vietnam as Deputy to Robert Komer, who had been charged with streamlining the civilian side of the American efforts against the Communists. Shortly after arriving Colby succeeded Komer as head of the U.S./South Vietnamese rural pacification effort. This was an attempt to quell the Communist insurgency in South Vietnam. Part of the effort was the controversial Phoenix Program, an initiative designed to identify and attack the "Viet Cong Infrastructure". There is considerable debate about the merits of the program, which has been alleged to have involved assassination and torture. Along with Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker and MACV Commander General Creighton Abrams, Colby was part of a leadership group that worked to apply a new approach to the war. Some, including Colby later in life, argue that this approach succeeded in quelling the Communist insurgency in South Vietnam, but that South Vietnam, abandoned by the United States after the 1973 peace accords, was ultimately overwhelmed by a conventional North Vietnamese assault. Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thành Chí Minh) is the largest city in Vietnam, located near the delta of the Mekong River. ... The Phoenix Program (Vietnamese: Kế Hoạch Phụng Hoàng, a word related to fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix) or Operation Phoenix was a military, intelligence, and internal security coordination program designed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Vietnam War. ... A Viet Cong soldier, heavily guarded, awaits interrogation following capture in the attacks on Saigon during the festive Tet holiday period of 1968. ... Assassin and Assassins redirect here. ... For other uses, see Torture (disambiguation). ...

William Colby, Director of Central Intelligence, briefs President Ford and his senior advisors on the deteriorating situation in Vietnam, April 28, 1975. (clockwise, left to right) Colby; Robert S. Ingersoll, Deputy Secretary of State; Henry Kissinger; President Ford;James Schlesinger, Defense Secretary; William Clements, Deputy Secretary of Defense; Vice President Rockefeller; and General George S. Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

CIA Director

Colby returned to Washington in 1971 and became Executive Director of CIA. After long-time DCI Richard Helms was dismissed by President Nixon in 1973, James Schlesinger assumed the helm at the Agency. A strong believer in reform of the CIA and the Intelligence Community more broadly, Schlesinger had written a 1971 Bureau of the Budget report outlining his views on the subject. Colby, despite a career spent in the DDP, agreed with Schlesinger's reformist approach and Schlesinger appointed him head of the clandestine branch in early 1973. When Nixon reshuffled his agency heads and made Schlesinger Secretary of Defense, Colby emerged as a natural candidate for DCI--apparently based on the recommendation that he was a professional who would not make waves. Richard Helms, Director of Central Intelligence, 1966-1973 Richard McGarrah Helms (March 30, 1913 – October 23, 2002) was the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from 1966 to 1973. ...

Colby's tenure as DCI, which lasted two and a half tumultuous years, was overshadowed by the Church and Pike congressional investigations into alleged U.S. intelligence malfeasance over the preceding twenty-five years, including 1975, the so-called "Year of Intelligence." Colby cooperated, not out of a desire for major reforms, but in the belief that the actual scope of such misdeeds — encapsulated in the so-called "Family Jewels" — was not great enough to cause lasting damage to the CIA's reputation. He believed that cooperating with Congress was the only way to save the Agency from dissolution. Colby also believed that the CIA had a moral obligation to cooperate with the Congress and demonstrate that the CIA was accountable to the Constitution. This caused a major rift within the CIA ranks, with many old-line officers such as former DCI Richard Helms believing that the CIA should have resisted congressional intrusion. The Family Jewels is the informal name used to refer to a set of reports that detail activities conducted by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. ...

Colby's time as DCI was also eventful on the world stage. Shortly after he assumed leadership, the Yom Kippur War broke out, an event that surprised not only the American intelligence agencies but also the Israelis. This intelligence surprise reportedly affected Colby's credibility with the Nixon Administration. Meanwhile, after many years of involvement, South Vietnam fell to Communist forces in April 1975, a particularly difficult blow for Colby, who had dedicated so much of his life and career to the American effort there. Events in the arms control field, Angola, the Middle East, and elsewhere also demanded attention. Combatants  Israel  Egypt,  Syria,  Iraq Commanders Moshe Dayan, David Elazar, Ariel Sharon, Shmuel Gonen, Benjamin Peled, Israel Tal, Rehavam Zeevi, Aharon Yariv, Yitzhak Hofi, Rafael Eitan, Abraham Adan, Yanush Ben Gal Saad El Shazly, Ahmad Ismail Ali, Hosni Mubarak, Mohammed Aly Fahmy, Anwar Sadat, Abdel Ghani el-Gammasy, Abdul Munim...

Colby also focused on internal reforms within the CIA and the Intelligence Community. He attempted to modernize what he believed to be some out-of-date structures and practices, including by disbanding the Board of National Estimates and replacing it with the National Intelligence Council.^[3]

President Ford, advised by Henry Kissinger and others concerned by Colby's controversial openness to Congress and distance from the White House, replaced Colby late in 1975 with George H. W. Bush during the so called "Halloween Massacre" in which Secretary of Defense Schlesinger was also replaced (by Donald Rumsfeld). Colby was offered the position of U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO but turned it down. Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger on May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, and 1973 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. ... The Halloween Massacre (November 4, 1975) was the term given by political commentators to U.S. President Gerald R. Fords reorganization of his Cabinet. ...

William Colby, outgoing Director of Central Intelligence, with President Ford and incoming DCI George Bush, 1975.

Post-CIA career

In later life, and in consonance with his long-held liberal views, Colby became a supporter of the nuclear freeze and of reductions in military spending. He practiced law and advised various bodies on intelligence matters. He also wrote two books, one of memoirs entitled Honorable Men, the other on Vietnam, called Lost Victory. In the latter, Colby argued that the U.S.-RVN counterinsurgency campaign in Vietnam had succeeded by the early 1970s and that South Vietnam could have survived had the U.S. continued to provide support after the Paris Accords. Though the topic remains open and controversial, some recent scholarship, including by Lewis "Bob" Sorley, supports Colby's arguments.

Colby also lent his expertise and knowledge, along with Oleg Kalugin, to the Activision game Spycraft: The Great Game, which was released shortly before his death. Both Colby and Kalugin played themselves in the game. Oleg Kalugin Oleg Danilovich Kalugin (Russian: ), (born September 6, 1934) is a former KGB spy. ... Activision, Inc. ...

Colby assisted author, attorney and former CIA aide John DeCamp in his investigation of the Franklin child abuse allegations. John W. DeCamp (born July 6, 1941), a Republican, is a former member of the Nebraska Legislature and author of the book The Franklin Coverup. ...

Death

On April 27, 1996, Colby died in an apparent boating accident near his home in Rock Point, Maryland, although his body was actually found, underwater, on May 6, 1996. The subsequent inquest found that he died from drowning and hypothermia after collapsing from a heart attack or stroke and falling out of his canoe, and there was no further investigation. is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Largest metro area Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,407 sq mi (32,133 km²)  - Width 101 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37° 53′ N to 39° 43′ N... is the 126th day of the year (127th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...

Theories about death

Although the inquest into Colby's death found he had died of natural causes, there were some suspicious circumstances: he rarely went canoeing at night; he had not spoken to his wife of any plans to go canoeing; his house was unlocked, with the radio and computer on and the remains of a meal on the table; there was no sign of the life-jacket his friends said he usually wore; and his body was found approximately 20 yards from the canoe (itself found 100 yards from the house) after the area had been thoroughly searched several times. Some allegations that Colby was murdered have been made:

• Dr. Deko Dekov asserts that the former FBI Director Louis Freeh killed Colby. [1]

• Dr. Steven Greer, alleges that the U.S. government killed Colby because of his knowledge of extraterrestrial technology.^[4]

• Kay Griggs, ex-wife of United States Marine Corps Colonel George Griggs, has alleged that Colby was murdered.^[5]

• John DeCamp, who claims to have been a close friend of Colby, has stated in his book, The Franklin Coverup, that Colby was murdered because he knew too much about corruption in US politics.^[6]

Official FBI Seal The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force and intelligence agency which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Louis Freeh was the fifteenth director of the FBI. He oversaw the agency for nearly 10 years during one of the most difficult periods of its history. ... Steven Greer is the founder and international director of CSETI, the only worldwide organization dedicated to establishing peaceful and sustainable relations with extraterrestrial life forms. ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States military responsible for providing force projection from the sea,[1] using the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces and is one of seven uniformed services. ... John W. DeCamp (born July 6, 1941), a Republican, is a former member of the Nebraska Legislature and author of the book The Franklin Coverup. ...

Quotes

• "South Vietnam faces total defeat, and soon."
• "We disbanded our intelligence [after both world wars] and then found we needed it. Let's not go through that again. Redirect it, reduce the amount of money spent, but let's not destroy it. Because you don't know 10 years out what you're going to face."^[7]

References

"The CIA owns everyone of any significance in the major media." This article concerns the British newspaper. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 127th day of the year (128th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... For other uses, see Hustler (disambiguation). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... John W. DeCamp (born July 6, 1941), a Republican, is a former member of the Nebraska Legislature and author of the book The Franklin Coverup. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 336th day of the year (337th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ...

Additional sources

• Colby, William; James McCargar (1989). Lost Victory: A Firsthand Account of Americas Sixteen-Year Involvement in Vietnam. Chicago: Contemporary Books. ISBN 0809245094. OCLC 20014837. 
• Prados, John (2003). Lost Crusader: The Secret Wars of CIA Director William Colby. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195128478. OCLC 49493468. 
• William Colby: Retrospect. Central Intelligence Agency (2007-05-08). Retrieved on 2007-09-07. Evaluation of his tenure by CIA historian/official.

The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... CIA redirects here. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 128th day of the year (129th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• William Colby at Find A Grave Retrieved on 2008-02-11
• William Colby: Midnight Canoeist. Rotten.com.

v • d • e Directors of Central Intelligence & Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency
DCI	Sidney Souers · Hoyt Vandenberg · Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter · Walter B. Smith · Allen W. Dulles · John McCone · William Raborn · Richard Helms · James R. Schlesinger · William Colby · George H. W. Bush · Stansfield Turner · William J. Casey · William H. Webster · Robert Gates · R. James Woolsey, Jr. · John M. Deutch · George Tenet
D/CIA	Porter J. Goss · Michael Hayden