——————————
Legacy of American Intel
In Autumn of 1942, Colonel William J. Donovan, Director of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)—the wartime precursor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)—sat with entrepreneur and renowned chemist, Stanley Platt Lovell, in a quiet Washington, D.C. home.
Lovell arrived at Donovan's door to express his reticence toward accepting Director Donovan's request that Lovell head the nescient Research and Development branch of the OSS, charged with the creation of experimental concealed explosive devices, communications equipment, false-bottomed luggage, and the panoply of tools to facilitate espionage and sabotage operations against the Axis,
"I'd relish this assignment, Colonel, but dirty tricks are simply not tolerated in the American code of ethics," stated Lovell—to which Director Donovan tersely responded,
"Don't be so goddamn naïve, Lovell. The American public may profess to think as you say they do, but the one thing they expect of their leaders is that we be smart".
Sharpen The Edge
Stanley Platt Lovell accepted Director Donovan's offer to head Research and Development of experimental espionage and sabotage tools at the Office of Strategic Services.
The contributions of career public servants like Donovan and civilians like Lovell, who realized the essentiality of service to their nation, proved vital toward achieving Allied success in the Second World War.