With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

William Odom, 75, National Security Director, Dies

William E. Odom, a director of the National Security Agency in the Reagan administration who became an early and outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, died last Friday at his vacation home in Lincoln, Vt.. He was 75.

The cause was a heart attack, his family said.

Mr. Odom, who also worked at the National Security Agency under President Jimmy Carter, was once described as a “blue-ribbon hawk” for his opposition to détente with the Soviet Union. His long military and national security career added gravitas to his warnings during the approach to the invasion of Iraq four years ago, when he became one of the first former top military officers to speak out against the war.
Read entire article at NYT