SWEARING-IN CEREMONY FOR WILLIAM E. COLBY THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 1973 (10 MINUTES) THE OVAL OFFICE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-298-1-11-8
• Release Decision: RIFLIM
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: October 15, 2009
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: August 9, 1973
• Content Type: MEMO

No Objection To Declassification 2009/10/15: LOC-HAK-298-1-11-8
* TEN1O1 .\N7:)UN1 ! -
SWEARING-IN CEREMONY FOR WILLIAM E. COLBY
Thursday, August 9, 1973
(10 minutes)
The Oval Office
From: Henry A. Kissinger
I. PURPOSE
-- To emphasize the importance of the role of the Director of
Central Intelligence in national security affairs.
II. BACKGROUND, PARTICIPANTS, PRESS PLAN
A. Back,.round: Your nomination of Colby for the position of
Directo, of Central Intelligence was confirmed by the Senate
on August 1. His hearings involved unprecedented public
scrutiny of his past and of the activities of CIA in Vietnam
and Laos.
Colby takes over at a critical time in the history of the
Intelligence Community. Budgets will be constrained; new
Congressionally imposed restrictions on CIA operations are
possible; improved intelligence is needed; the momentum of
Schlosinger's vigorous efforts to implement your November 5,
1971 reorganization plan must not be lost.
B. Particants: Colby's family and representatives from depart-
ments and agencies of the Intelligence Community. (A list is
attached at Tab A. )
C. Press Plan: Press photo opportunity.
111. RECOMMENDED TALKING POINTS
~- It is a particular Pleasure to participate today in the swearing
in of Mr. William E. Colby as Director of Central l utelligence.
ON-FILE NSC RELEASE
INSTRUCTIONS APPLY
No Objection To Declassification 2009/10/15: LOC-HAK-298-1-11-8
 No Objection To Declassification 2009/10/15: LOC-HAK-298-1-11-8
I.VRITE 4382
Page 2
-- Mr. Cole's long and distin; uished career of Government service
has uniquely qualified him for his position.
The position of Director of Central intelligence calls for a man
of very special qualities. He must have the judgment, courage
and independence of mind to assess foreign situations accurately
and i:nparti.ally.
lie must have the knowled-4e and ability to manage the overseas
operations of the Central Intelligence Agency in the manner which
adheres scrupulously to the policy guidance be, receives from the
President and the tSC.
?.. He must have, as the President's principal intelligence officer,
the administrative ability to ensure that needed foreign intelli-
gence is collected, but that marginal activities throughout the
Intelligence Community are eliminated.
-- Mr. Colby takes up his'new responsibilities at a critical time
in the history oZ the Iz tell; ::~.c Commu .it7 n ! of t .:zs country.
intelligence is more important than ever; but budgets will be
stringent, and new management problems pressing.
-- In my judgment and, after exhaustive hearings, in the judgment
of a great majority of the Senate, Mr. Colby has amply derron-
sstrated that he has the qualities and the qualifications to be
Director of Central Intelligence.
I know he will carry out his job with distinction and with proper
appreciation for the role of the Central Intelligence Agency, in the
Government today. He will need the help of all those gathered
here, his family and the representatives of the major departments,
agencies, and elements of the Intelligence Community.
Attachmsentss:
Tab A - List of participants
Tab lS - Biography of William E. Colby
Rewetn:HAK:BS:ms:8/8/73 `
No Objection To Declassification 2009/10/15: LOC-HAK-298-1-11-8
 No Objection To Declassification 2009/10/15: LOC-HAK-298-1-11-8
TIIE WHITE' HOUSF,
WYASIIINCTOri
SWEARING--IN CEREMONY FOR WILLIAM F, COLBY
List of Participants
Mrs. William F. Colby
Jonathan Colby, (27, former NSC staff memmber, now in U. S. Army)
Carl Colby (22)
Paul Colby (will be 18 this month)
Christine Colby (13)
~Z`etcx-z"Sr--F}~-rSt~~~e?-1'tFrf~~'C'S""`"'
Secretary of Defense Schlesinger
Ray .cline., Director-x Dur_a"u..of-latelligencc and Research (State)
Deputy Secretary Clements (Defense)
Albert IIa1l?...Assistant Secretary for Intelligence (Defense)
Vice Admiral Vincent DePoix, Director, Defense Intelligence
Director Ke,lley.. (FSI)-
Cjen al_.Ph.ilzp Diz..ecGor, NSA
ttornc -rah-R* :r "c ,rxzr (7us-tice)
T- 'r,v I(;caiT-1 rni- \r
r~1; ~~Q4=rcroft (NSC)
No Objection To Declassification 2009/10/15: LOC-HAK-298-1-11-8
 No Objection To Declassification 2009/10/15: LOC-HAK-298-1-11-8
Mr. 1,\i .liazzi E. Colby was horn in St. Paul, I141inneesota, in I C)20.
The son of an Army officer, his early life was spent in Various
including a threw-year period in 'l'ientsin, China.
In 194 he was graduated from Princeton University and in 19-11.
join: d the United States Army, serving in the Parachute Field Art:ille:ry.
When the Office of Strategy is Services put out a call for French speakers
in 1913, IvMr. Colby volunteered and in 1944 was parachuted behind enemy
lines in north central France to work with a resistance unit. Shortly be-
fore the end of the war, in 1915, he led a team dropped in northern Norway
to destroy a rail line used for transporting German reinforcements.
Following the war, Mr. Colby obtained his law degree from Columbia
Law School and joined a New York law firm headed by William J. Donovan,
former head of OSS. He is a member of the New York State and U. S.
Supreme Court bars.
In 1949 Mr. Colby accepted his first U. S. Government position as
an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board in Washington. In 1951
he ioined the staff of they Arne,?;,nn
- -- ) ?.+ Off-.. v ct LL:-y. Al LJSit y 7 ~~
to 1958 served in the American Embassy in Rome, Italy.
Mr. Colby became First Secretary of the American Embassy in
Saigon in ieavinl in i.'e. ton an assignment as L.nzet 01 CI-le .bar -t,ast
Division of the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, D. C.
In March 1968 Mr. Colby joined the Agency for International Devel-
opment and was posted to Saigon to assume the post of Assistant Chief of
Staff and in November 1968 of Deputy to the Commander of MAC V for the
CORDS program of support to the Government of Vietnam's pacification
campaign, with the personal rank of Ambassador. He was reassigned to
the Department of State on 30 June 1971.
On 10 Jan?aary 1972 Mr. Colby was appointed Executive Director-
Comptroller of the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. Colby was appointed
Deputy Director for Operations effective 3 March 1973).
Mr. Colby is married to the former Barbara Heinze:n. They have
four children and reside in Bethesda.
No Objection To Declassification 2009/10/15 LOC-HAK-298-1-11-8