William Eldridge Odom
Encyclopedia
William Eldridge Odom was a retired U.S. Army 3-star general
, and former Director of the NSA
under President Ronald Reagan
, which culminated a 31 year career in military intelligence, mainly specializing in matters relating to the Soviet Union. After his retirement from the military he became a think tank
policy expert and a university professor and became known for his outspoken criticism of the Iraq War and warrantless
wiretapping of American citizens.
He died of an apparent heart attack at his vacation home in Lincoln, Vermont
.
, he nonetheless managed to smuggle out a large portion of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's archive, including the author's membership card for the Writers' Union and Second World War military citations; Solzhenitsyn subsequently paid tribute to Odom's role in his memoir "Invisible Allies" (1995). http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/weodom.htm
Upon returning to the United States, he resumed his career at West Point where he taught courses in Soviet politics. Odom regularly stressed the importance of education for military officers.
In 1977, he was appointed as the military assistant to Zbigniew Brzezinski
, the hawkish assistant for national security affairs to President Jimmy Carter
.
Primary issues he focused on at this time included American-Soviet relations, including the SALT
nuclear weapons talks, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iran hostage crisis
, presidential directives on the situation in the Persian Gulf
, terrorism and hijackings
, and the executive order on telecommunications policy.
From 2 November 1981 to 12 May 1985, Odom served as the Army's Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence. From 1985 to 1988, he served as the director of the National Security Agency
, the United States' largest intelligence agency, under president Ronald Reagan
.
Odom was a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute
, where he specialized in military issues, intelligence, and international relations. He was also an adjunct professor at Yale University
and Georgetown University
, where he taught seminar courses in U.S. National Security Policy and Russian Politics.
Since 2005 he had argued that US interests would be best served by an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, having called the Iraq war the worst strategic blunder in the history of U.S. foreign policy. He had also been critical of the NSA's warrantless wiretapping of international calls, having said "it wouldn't have happened on my watch". Odom was also openly critical of the Neocon influence in the decision to go to war, having said "It's pretty hard to imagine us going into Iraq without the strong lobbying efforts from AIPAC and the neocons, who think they know what's good for Israel more than Israel knows."
General Odom is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame
. He is also a member of the advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
.
Also has published newspaper op-ed
pieces in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and others.
using terrorist tactics, the slogans of today's war on terrorism merely makes the United States look hypocritical to the rest of the world."
Lieutenant General (United States)
In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...
, and former Director of the NSA
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
under President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, which culminated a 31 year career in military intelligence, mainly specializing in matters relating to the Soviet Union. After his retirement from the military he became a think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
policy expert and a university professor and became known for his outspoken criticism of the Iraq War and warrantless
Warrant (law)
Most often, the term warrant refers to a specific type of authorization; a writ issued by a competent officer, usually a judge or magistrate, which permits an otherwise illegal act that would violate individual rights and affords the person executing the writ protection from damages if the act is...
wiretapping of American citizens.
He died of an apparent heart attack at his vacation home in Lincoln, Vermont
Lincoln, Vermont
Lincoln is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,214 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 44.0 square miles , of which 44.0 square miles is land and 0.04 square mile is...
.
Military career
- 1954 Graduated from the United States Military AcademyUnited States Military AcademyThe United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. - 1954–1960, Served in both the United States and West GermanyWest GermanyWest Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. - 1962, Earned a Masters Degree from Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and married Anne Weld Curtis. - 1964–1966, Served as part of the military liaison mission to the Soviet Union at PotsdamPotsdamPotsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, Germany. - 1966–1969, Taught at West Point as an assistant professor of government.
- 1970, Completed a Ph.D.Ph.D.A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
at Columbia. - 1970–1971, At this point a Lieutenant ColonelLieutenant Colonel (United States)In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
, served in VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, being on the Staff of Plans, Policy, and Programs, and working on the VietnamizationVietnamizationVietnamization was a policy of the Richard M. Nixon administration during the Vietnam War, as a result of the Viet Cong's Tet Offensive, to "expand, equip, and train South Vietnam's forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of U.S....
phase of the war. - 1971–1972, Odom was a visiting scholar at the Research Institute on Communist Affairs at Columbia.
- 1972–1974, US assistant military attachéMilitary attachéA military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
at the United States embassy in Moscow. - 1974, Published The Soviet Volunteers: Modernization and Bureaucracy in a Public Mass Organization, (Princeton, N.J.Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
: Princeton University PressPrinceton University Press-Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...
, 360 pp.) - 1974–1975, Associate of the Research Institute on International Change at Columbia
- 1974–1977, Associate professor, Department of Social Science at West Point.
- 1975–1976, Associate member of the Columbia University Seminar on Communism
- 1975–1977, Senior research associate, Research Institute on International Change at Columbia
- 1981, promoted to Major GeneralMajor general (United States)In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
- 1977–1981, Military assistant to Zbigniew BrzezinskiZbigniew BrzezinskiZbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....
, the assistant to the president for national security affairs. - 1981–1985, Assistant chief of staff for intelligence, United States Army.
- 1984, promoted to Lieutenant GeneralLieutenant General (United States)In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...
. - 1985–1988, Director of the National Security AgencyNational Security AgencyThe National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
, Fort Meade, MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
Post-Military
- 1989, Director of national security studies, Hudson InstituteHudson InstituteThe Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
, Indianapolis, IndianaIndianapolis, IndianaIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S... - 1989, Adjunct professor, political sciencePolitical sciencePolitical Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
. - Extensive publications; see bibliography below
Biography
General Odom earned a national reputation as an expert on the Soviet Union. Early in his military career he had an opportunity to observe Soviet military activities while serving as a military liaison in Potsdam, Germany. Later, he taught courses in Russian history at West Point, New York, and while serving at the United States embassy in Moscow in the early 1970s, he visited all of the republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Although constantly trailed by KGBKGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, he nonetheless managed to smuggle out a large portion of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's archive, including the author's membership card for the Writers' Union and Second World War military citations; Solzhenitsyn subsequently paid tribute to Odom's role in his memoir "Invisible Allies" (1995). http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/weodom.htm
Upon returning to the United States, he resumed his career at West Point where he taught courses in Soviet politics. Odom regularly stressed the importance of education for military officers.
In 1977, he was appointed as the military assistant to Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....
, the hawkish assistant for national security affairs to President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
.
Primary issues he focused on at this time included American-Soviet relations, including the SALT
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty refers to two rounds of bilateral talks and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union—the Cold War superpowers—on the issue of armament control. There were two rounds of talks and agreements: SALT I and SALT...
nuclear weapons talks, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iran hostage crisis
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
, presidential directives on the situation in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, terrorism and hijackings
Wiktionary
Wiktionary is a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in 158 languages...
, and the executive order on telecommunications policy.
From 2 November 1981 to 12 May 1985, Odom served as the Army's Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence. From 1985 to 1988, he served as the director of the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
, the United States' largest intelligence agency, under president Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
.
Odom was a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
, where he specialized in military issues, intelligence, and international relations. He was also an adjunct professor at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, where he taught seminar courses in U.S. National Security Policy and Russian Politics.
Since 2005 he had argued that US interests would be best served by an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, having called the Iraq war the worst strategic blunder in the history of U.S. foreign policy. He had also been critical of the NSA's warrantless wiretapping of international calls, having said "it wouldn't have happened on my watch". Odom was also openly critical of the Neocon influence in the decision to go to war, having said "It's pretty hard to imagine us going into Iraq without the strong lobbying efforts from AIPAC and the neocons, who think they know what's good for Israel more than Israel knows."
General Odom is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame
Military Intelligence Hall of Fame
The Military Intelligence Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame established by the Military Intelligence Corps of the United States Army in 1988 to honor soldiers and civilians who have made exceptional contributions to Military Intelligence...
. He is also a member of the advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is a non-profit educational organization in the United States, established as a result of an Act of Congress in 1993 with the purpose to commemorate "the deaths of over 100,000,000 victims in an unprecedented imperial communist holocaust"...
.
Books
- The Soviet Volunteers: Modernization and Bureaucracy in a Public Mass Organization, (Princeton, N.J.Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
: Princeton University PressPrinceton University Press-Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...
, 360 pp., 1974) - On Internal War: American and Soviet Approaches to Third World Clients and Insurgents, (Duke University PressDuke University PressDuke University Press is an academic publisher of books and journals, and a unit of Duke University. It publishes approximately 120 books annually and more than 40 journals, as well as offering five electronic collections...
, 1992) - Trial After Triumph: East Asia After the Cold War, (Hudson InstituteHudson InstituteThe Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
, 1992) - America's Military Revolution: Strategy and Structure After the Cold War, (American University Press, 1993)
- Commonwealth or Empire? Russia, Central Asia, and the Transcaucasus, with Robert Dujarric, (Hudson InstituteHudson InstituteThe Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
, 1995). - The Collapse of the Soviet Military, (Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
, 1998, ISBN 0-300-08271-1). Won the Marshall Shulman Prize. - Fixing Intelligence For a More Secure America(Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
, 2003) - America's Inadvertent Empire, co-authored with Robert Dujarric, (Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
, 2004) ISBN 0300100698
Congressional Testimony
- June 21, 2002, "Testimony before the Senate Government Affairs Committee on creating a Department of Homeland Security", online version retrieved April 6, 2008.
- January 18, 2007, "Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee", online version retrieved April 6, 2008.
- April 2, 2008, "Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Iraq", online version retrieved April 6, 2008.
Journal publications
Includes pieces in:- Foreign Affairs
- World Politics
- Foreign Policy
- Orbis
- Problems of Communism
- The National Interest
- The Washington Quarterly
- Military Review
- Journal of Cold War Studies
Television and radio appearances
- Major news shows such as PBS' "The NewsHour with Jim LehrerThe NewsHour with Jim LehrerPBS NewsHour is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. The show is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, a company co-owned by former anchors Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, and Liberty Media, which owns a 65% stake in the...
", ABC's "Nightline", BBC's "The World TonightThe World TonightThe World Tonight is a British current affairs radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4, every weekday evening, which started out as an extension of the 10pm news. It features news, analysis and comment on domestic and world issues...
" - CNN, NBC News
- C-Span
- Hugh HewittHugh HewittHugh Hewitt is an American radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network, lawyer, academic, and author. An outspoken Republican, evangelical Christian, he comments on society, politics, and media bias in the United States. Hewitt is also a law professor at Chapman University School of Law.-...
on February 15, 2007. Transcript Here.
Also has published newspaper op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
pieces in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and others.
Quotes
- "The president has let (the Iraq war) proceed on automatic pilot, making no corrections in the face of accumulating evidence that his strategy is failing and cannot be rescued. He lets the United States fly further and further into trouble, squandering its influence, money and blood, facilitating the gains of our enemies."http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4757716.html
- "An attempt to extort Congress into providing funds by keeping U.S. forces in peril.. surely would constitute the 'high crime' of squandering the lives of soldiers and Marines for his own personal interest."http://www.cosmictap.com/odom-says-withdraw-troops-or-impeach-bush/
- "As many critics have pointed, out, terrorism is not an enemy. It is a tactic. Because the United States itself has a long record of supporting terrorists and
using terrorist tactics, the slogans of today's war on terrorism merely makes the United States look hypocritical to the rest of the world."
- "The invasion of Iraq may well turn out to be the greatest strategic disaster in American history."http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=63
General
- Odom papers archive at the Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
- official biography
- Staff Bio at Hudson Institute
- SourceWatch profile of General Odom
- Profile of General Odom, Notable Names DataBase.
- William Odom, Daily Kos.
- General says Bush 'AWOL' on Iraq
- 'The Commander-in-Chief seems to have gone AWOL'
- Review of America's Inadvertent Empire in Foreign Affairs
Iraq related
- NSA DIRECTOR ODOM DISSECTS IRAQ BLUNDERS- Hammernews
- Interview. General Odom Calls For U.S. Troop Withdrawal From Iraq, Democracy Now, May 12, 2004.
- What’s wrong with cutting and running?, Nieman Watchdog, August 3, 2005
- Interview. General Odom: U.S. Should "Cut and Run" From Iraq, Democracy Now, October 4, 2005.
- General William Odom Supports the U.S. Empire
- http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2522/
- Victory Is Not an Option Washington Post, Feb 12, 2007
- Retired Gen.: Bush should sign Iraq bill
- General says Bush 'AWOL' on Iraq
- 'The Commander-in-Chief seems to have gone AWOL'