Episode 93: The Spymaster Who Created Modern American Espionage, Part IV

When Donovan was promoted to brigadier general, he had his uniform tailor made in New York and would often wear it and one single ribbon on his chest - the one representing the Medal of Honor - to remind the senior officers he worked with and who had rows and rows of ribbons on their chests, that he had earned the only commendation that really mattered.

In November 1944, he was promoted to major general, the rank he felt most befitting of his command.

Though many senior officers were initially wary of Donovan and his Office of Strategic Services, by the end of the war, they had proven their worth providing critical intelligence and conducting clandestine operations in all theaters of the war. Above, we see Donovan review an OSS team in 1945 prior to its deployment to China.

If pop culture has taught me anything (I'm looking at you Q from the James Bond series), any spy service worth its salt needs to have cool gadgets to help it accomplish its goals. The OSS had many of these, including T13 Beano grenades which exploded on impact and uniform buttons with compasses hidden in them.

Episode 92: The Spymaster Who Created Modern American Espionage, Part III

 

William Donovan resigns from the Justice Department when he is not appointed attorney general by his friend and newly elected president, Herbert Hoover. He returnes to law and comes out of the Great Depression a self-made millionaire. He also finds common cause with Franklin D. Roosevelt when he replaces Hoover in the White House, and in time, begins to convince FDR of the need for a centralized intelligence manager - something that J. Edgar Hoover and other influential Washington figures do everything in their power to prevent because they don't want some legal dilettante horning in on their territory. But when the US is pulled into World War II, FDR is glad that he listened to his new friend, Wild Bill.