# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/william-j-donovan
# Generated: 2026-08-13T21:25:04.298Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/william-j-donovan"
name: "William J. Donovan"
slug: "william-j-donovan"
description: "William Joseph \"Wild Bill\" Donovan was an American soldier, lawyer, intelligence officer and diplomat. He is best known for serving as the head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), during World War II. He is regarded as the founding father of the CIA, and a statue of him stands in the lobby of the CIA headquarters building in Langley, Virginia."
tagline: "U.S. Army soldier during WWII, lawyer, intelligence officer and diplomat, head of the OSS (1883-1959)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/William_Joseph_(Wild_Bill)_Donovan%2C_Head_of_the_OSS.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "1883-01-01"
deathDate: "1959-02-08"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           54.9
  momentum:             0.08579126488939309
  historical:           22.17876666666667
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: 229
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_J._Donovan"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%85_%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%88%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "وليام دونوفان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%85_%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%88%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "وليام دونوفان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%85_%D8%AC%DB%8C._%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%88%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "ویلیام جی. دونووان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BC_%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD"
    title: "Уилям Донован"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%85_%D8%AF%DB%86%D9%86%DB%86%DA%A4%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "ویلیام دۆنۆڤان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Donovan"
    title: "William J. Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Donovan"
    title: "William J. Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Donovan"
    title: "William J. Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Donovan"
    title: "William J. Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joseph_Donovan"
    title: "William Joseph Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%95%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%90%D7%9D_%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%91%D7%9F"
    title: "ויליאם דונובן"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joseph_Donovan"
    title: "William Joseph Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%88%D6%82%D5%AB%D5%AC%D5%B5%D5%A1%D5%B4_%D5%8B%D5%B8%D5%A6%D5%A5%D6%86_%D4%B4%D5%B8%D5%B6%D5%B8%D5%BE%D5%A1%D5%B6"
    title: "Ուիլյամ Ջոզեֆ Դոնովան"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joseph_Donovan"
    title: "William Joseph Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joseph_Donovan"
    title: "William Joseph Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A3%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BB%E3%83%89%E3%83%8E%E3%83%90%E3%83%B3"
    title: "ウィリアム・ドノバン"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9C%8C%EB%A6%AC%EC%97%84_J._%EB%8F%84%EB%84%88%EB%B2%88"
    title: "윌리엄 J. 도너번"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joseph_Donovan"
    title: "William Joseph Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Donovan"
    title: "William Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joseph_Donovan"
    title: "William Joseph Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Donovan"
    title: "William Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%2C_%D0%A3%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BC_%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B5%D1%84"
    title: "Донован, Уильям Джозеф"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joseph_Donovan"
    title: "William Joseph Donovan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0%D0%BC_%D0%8F%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B5%D1%84_%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD"
    title: "Вилијам Џозеф Донован"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D1%96%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BC_%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B5%D1%84_%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD"
    title: "Вільям Джозеф Донован"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Joseph_Donovan"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q541981"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump