Heroes and Mentors: Roger Baldwin and William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan
This chapter describes Ambassador vanden Heuvel's relationship with the two most important mentors of his early life: Roger Baldwin and General William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan. His friendship with Roger Baldwin – political activist, conscientious objector and founder of the American Civil Liberties Union – lasted from 1947 until Baldwin's death in 1981. His relationship with General Donovan, the most decorated American hero of WWI and the founder of the OSS, included working as Donovan's personal adjutant when Donovan served as ambassador to Thailand 1953-1954, and accompanying him in work for the International Rescue Committee (of which Donovan was Chair) during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The chapter includes Ambassador vanden Heuvel's eulogy for Roger Baldwin, his journal entry on the fall of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam, and his report on the Hungarian Revolution.