William Colby

William Egan Colby ( born January 4, 1920 in St. Paul, Minnesota, † April 27, 1996 in Rock Point, Maryland) was an American government official and from September 1973 to January 1976 Director of the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA).

Life

The first twelve years for the CIA spent Colby in Stockholm, where he did construction work for the secret NATO Gladio, a covert, organized by CIA and British MI6, paramilitary operation.

Then Colby was accredited from 1959 to 1962 at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. He headed the rural development programs and the Operation Phoenix. From 1973 to 1976 he was director of the CIA until he was replaced by the later U.S. President George Bush.

On April 27, 1996 Colby drowned probably in a boating accident. He died shortly after the announcement of his planned summons to the Olson affair. Contrary to his usual habits, he had been wearing a life vest and also told his wife anything about his planned trip. His household was in a state which started off with a hasty departure. His canoe was 400 meters away from his weekend home in Rock Point, about 40 miles from Washington DC at the confluence of the Wicomico River and the Potomac River, found his body on May 6.

His final resting place is the Arlington National Cemetery.