William Francis Raborn, Jr., (June 8, 1905 – March 6, 1990) was the United States

Director of Central Intelligence The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1946 to 2004, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Se ...

from April 28, 1965 until June 30, 1966. He was also a career

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

officer who led the project to develop the

Polaris missile The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel rocket, solid-fueled nuclear warhead, nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s the Navy ...

system and retired from the navy in 1963 as a

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Early life and naval career

Born in

Decatur, Texas Decatur is the county seat of Wise County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,538 in 2020. History Wise County was established in 1856, and Taylorsville (in honor of Zachary Taylor) was made the county seat. Absalom Bishop, an early s ...

, he graduated from the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...

in 1928. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he directed the Gunnery Training Section at the

Bureau of Aeronautics The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (''i.e.'', responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and rela ...

. He also served in the Pacific on

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s: Raborn was the

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

of the carrier when her deck was damaged by a

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

attack. He had the deck repaired in four hours, allowing the ship's aircraft (which had been airborne when the kamikaze struck) to land safely – for this Raborn was awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

."A PERT Man for the CIA"
''Time'' magazine, April 23, 1965 He later commanded the carriers and . Raborn was a rear admiral when he was appointed, on November 8, 1955, as director of special projects at the Bureau of Weapons. His task was to develop a

submarine-launched ballistic missile A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from Ballistic missile submarine, submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which ...

. He reported directly to Chief of Naval Operations Admiral

Arleigh Burke Arleigh Albert Burke (October 19, 1901 – January 1, 1996) was an Admiral (United States), admiral of the United States Navy who distinguished himself during World War II and the Korean War, and who served as Chief of Naval Operations during th ...

and the

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

Charles Thomas. Raborn was told the new system had to achieve interim capability by early 1963 and full capability by early 1965. The , the first ballistic missile submarine, was commissioned December 30, 1959, fired its first test missile July 20, 1960, and departed on the navy's first deterrent patrol on November 15, 1960. Raborn received the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation, state or country. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in act ...

and was appointed Vice Admiral in 1960. The same year he was awarded the

Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is awarded annually "for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been t ...

for his work on Polaris.Collier 1960-1969 Winners
, National Aeronautic Association Raborn had delivered Polaris three years ahead of schedule, due in part to his application of the

PERT Pert or PERT may refer to: Ships * - see List of United States Navy ships: P * , a World War II corvette, originally HMS ''Nepeta'' * Pert (sidewheeler), ''Pert'' (sidewheeler), a 19th-century steamboat that operated in British Columbia, Canada ...

methodology. He became Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Development in 1962. Raborn retired from the navy in 1965 and on April 28 of that year, despite his having no intelligence experience,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

appointed Raborn as the seventh director of Central Intelligence (DCI). As DCI, one of his primary responsibilities was to direct the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. ''Time'' magazine wrote that his organizational skills would be invaluable in a CIA that admitted it was in danger of being "drowned in data", but his tenure was not successful: author David Barrett described Raborn as "incompetent at CIA, not understanding the agency or the intelligence business",''The CIA and Congress: The Untold Story From Truman to Kennedy''
David Barrett, University Press of Kansas, (quote sourced vi

Jeff Stein, ''

Congressional Quarterly ''Congressional Quarterly'', or ''CQ'', is an American publication that is part of the privately owned publishing company CQ Roll Call, which covers the United States Congress. ''CQ'' was formerly acquired by the U.K.-based Economist Group and ...

'', May 9, 2006) and even the CIA's own historians said "Raborn did not 'take' to the DCI job"."John McCone and William Raborn: New Kind of DCI"
''Directors of Central Intelligence as Leaders of the U.S. Intelligence Community'', Douglas F. Garthoff, CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence A later CIA director, William Colby, described Raborn as focused on intelligence technology and not sufficiently attuned to the cultural issues involved in dealing with foreign nationals and governments. Raborn resigned on June 30, 1966, having served for only fourteen months as DCI. He was replaced by his deputy,

Richard Helms Richard McGarrah Helms (March 30, 1913 – October 23, 2002) was an American government official and diplomat who served as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from 1966 to 1973. Helms began intelligence work with the Office of Strategic Ser ...

. He was involved, during his time at the CIA, in its early activities against ''Ramparts'' magazine and its editors. Raborn is buried in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland.

Awards

Raborn was also: *Vice admiral (

) *Director, U.S. Navy Special Projects Office *Deputy Chief of Naval Operation

*32° Mason ( Scottish Rite, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite Of Freemasonrybr>

Other honors and recognition

In 1962, Raborn received the Golden Plate Award of the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement.

External links

FBI files on William Raborn
William F. Raborn Collection, 1932-1964, MS 490
held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raborn, William 1905 births 1990 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II Collier Trophy recipients Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency People from Decatur, Texas Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Silver Star United States Naval Academy alumni United States Naval Aviators United States Navy vice admirals Burials at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery Military personnel from Texas