POLITICIAN

William J. Donovan

1883 - 1959

Photo of William J. Donovan

Icon of person William J. Donovan

William Joseph "Wild Bill" Donovan (January 1, 1883 – February 8, 1959) was an American soldier, lawyer, intelligence officer and diplomat, best known for serving as the head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency, 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. A decorated veteran of World War I, Donovan is the only person to have received all four of the United States' highest awards: the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal, and the National Security Medal. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of William J. Donovan has received more than 690,867 page views. His biography is available in 23 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 20 in 2019). William J. Donovan is the 10,896th most popular politician (up from 11,068th in 2019), the 4,625th most popular biography from United States (up from 4,671st in 2019) and the 286th most popular American Politician.

Memorability Metrics

  • 690k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 61.28

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 23

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.68

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.44

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of William J. Donovans by language


Among POLITICIANS

Among politicians, William J. Donovan ranks 10,896 out of 15,710. Before him are Mohammad Hidayatullah, José Alencar, August Zaleski, Wan Li, Luis Herrera Campins, and Henri Callot. After him are Brent Scowcroft, Mohammed Mzali, Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Otto Tief, Ahhotep II, and Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1883, William J. Donovan ranks 148. Before him are D. S. Senanayake, Pavel Filonov, Demyan Bedny, Rube Goldberg, Jens Hundseid, and August Zaleski. After him are Raimu, Franklin Clarence Mars, Olaf Bull, Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, Gheorghe Argeșanu, and Paul Götz. Among people deceased in 1959, William J. Donovan ranks 104. Before him are William D. Leahy, Erhard Schmidt, Aleksandr Khinchin, Alfonso López Pumarejo, Lou Costello, and Ernst Fast. After him are Maxie Long, Max O. Lorenz, Fernand Bouisson, Maxwell Anderson, Paul Rivet, and Galaktion Tabidze.

Others Born in 1883

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Others Deceased in 1959

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In United States

Among people born in United States, William J. Donovan ranks 4,625 out of 15,968. Before him are Milton Berle (1908), Jack Nitzsche (1937), Tyler, the Creator (1991), Benny Urquidez (1952), XXXTentacion (1998), and Timothée Chalamet (1995). After him are Chuck Connors (1921), Lester Allan Pelton (1829), Glenn Danzig (1955), Brent Scowcroft (1925), Mary Beth Peil (1940), and Lou Henry Hoover (1874).

Others born in United States

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Among POLITICIANS In United States

Among politicians born in United States, William J. Donovan ranks 286. Before him are John Warner (1927), Margaret Taylor (1788), Edmund Randolph (1753), Osceola (1804), Ambrose Burnside (1824), and Jeannette Rankin (1880). After him are Brent Scowcroft (1925), Lou Henry Hoover (1874), Oliver North (1943), Ron Johnson (1955), John Hay (1838), and Abigail Fillmore (1798).

American born Politicians

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