Kennedy’s Bill Designating the William J. Donovan Post Office Passed by House of Representatives

Legislation Renames the U.S. Post Office on William Street in Buffalo as the William J. Donovan Post Office Building

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Congressman Kennedy's legislation, H.R.1706, which designates the United States Postal Service located at 1200 William Street in Buffalo, New York as the "William J. Donovan Post Office Building." When enacted into law, this legislation would honor the legacy of William J. Donovan, a highly decorated World War I and World War II combat veteran and the founding director of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

(Congressman Kennedy's remarks here.)

"This is a simple bill with a profound purpose: to honor an extraordinary American whose life of service helped shape the course of our nation's history and the security of the free world," said Congressman Kennedy. "William J. Donovan's legacy belongs not only to Buffalo and Western New York, but to our entire nation. This designation is a recognition that honors a true American hero whose leadership, bravery, and foresight helped shape the world we live in today."

Background on William J. Donovan

William J. Donovan was born in 1883 and raised in Buffalo's Old First Ward to first-generation Irish-Americans, Timothy and Anna Donovan. Donovan attended St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute and later attended Niagara University before transferring to Columbia University. After earning his degree, Donovan spent two years at Columbia Law School, where he was a classmate of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

During World War I, Donovan was tapped to lead the 165th Infantry (69th New York), known to many as the Fighting 69th Regiment. Donovan took the helm of the unit that once included dozens of Irish-American soldiers from Buffalo's Old First Ward who bravely fought for the Union during the Civil War. In 1923, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the battle at Landres-et-Saint-Georges, where, despite sustaining three bullet wounds, he refused to leave the battlefield until all of his men were accounted for. It was this valor that gave rise to the legend of "Wild Bill" Donovan, seizing the nation's imagination and securing his place as an enduring American hero.

After WWI, Donovan served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, where he became well known as a vigorous crime-fighter. He later served as an Assistant Attorney General under President Calvin Coolidge.

During World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt looked to Donovan to build a centralized intelligence organization that could meet the demands of a modern, global conflict. Thereafter, Donovan became the founding director of the Office of Strategic Services, or the OSS, which became the blueprint for what we now know as the Central Intelligence Agency. Positioning the U.S. as a global leader in national security throughout the Cold War and beyond, the OSS coordinated intelligence gathering, carried out covert operations, and worked hand-in-hand with Allied forces and resistance movements across Nazi-occupied Europe.

In March of 1943, Donovan was promoted to Brigadier General, and by November of 1944, he earned the esteemed rank of a two-star Major General in the United States Army. Donovan's valiant efforts helped turn the tide of the war, contributed directly to the Allied victory, and built the foundation for Donovan's legacy as the "Father of American Intelligence." Today, his legacy lives on in the institutions that protect our country every single day.

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