William Colby (born January 4, 1920, St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.—died April 27, 1996, Rock Point, Maryland) was a U.S. government official who pursued a policy of openness during his turbulent tenure (1973–76) as director of the CIA. He showed unusual candour while testifying before Congress in 1975 in the wake of various leaks about CIA covert operations, such as spying on American citizens, plotting coups and assassinations abroad, conducting controversial experiments without the knowledge of the subjects, and involving itself in the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. His candidness, championed by some as having resuscitated CIA credibility during its most troubled period, led to his premature resignation and ultimately brought the agency under congressional oversight.
After graduating with honours from Princeton University (B.A., 1940), Colby joined the U.S. Army. He served with distinction in World War II as a paratrooper for the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA. After the war he earned a law degree from Columbia University, New York City (1947), and practiced law until 1950, when he joined the CIA, serving first in Stockholm (1951–53) and then in Rome (1953–58). As chief of CIA operations in Saigon, South Vietnam (1959–62), and then in all of Asia (1962–67), he orchestrated CIA activities during the Vietnam War. In 1971 he returned to the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and two years later was appointed to the directorship.
After Colby was forced into retirement by Pres. Gerald Ford, Colby resumed his law practice, worked as a risk consultant, and became an advocate for the reduction of nuclear arms. His memoirs were entitled Honorable Men (1978) and Lost Victory (1989).