William Eldridge Odom William Eldridge Odom ( June 23 , 1932 – May 30 , 2008 ) was a retired U . S . Army 3 - star general , and former Director of the NSA under President Ronald Reagan , which culminated a 31 - year career in military intelligence , mainly specializing in matters relating to the Soviet Union . After his retirement from the military , he became a think tank policy expert and a university professor and became known for his outspoken criticism of the Iraq War and warrantless wiretap ping of American citizens . He died of an apparent heart attack at his vacation home in Lincoln , Vermont . Biography . Early in his military career , he observed Soviet military activities while serving as a military liaison in Potsdam , Germany . Later , he taught courses in Russian history at West Point , New York , and while serving at the United States embassy in Moscow in the early 1970s , he visited all of the republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Although constantly trailed by KGB , he nonetheless managed to smuggle out a large portion of Alexander Solzhenitsyn ' s archive , including the author ' s membership card for the Writers ' Union and Second World War military citations ; Solzhenitsyn subsequently paid tribute to Odom ' s role in his memoir " Invisible Allies " ( 1995 ) . Upon returning to the United States , he resumed his career at West Point where he taught courses in Soviet politics . Odom regularly stressed the importance of education for military officers . In 1977 , he was appointed as the military assistant to Zbigniew Brzezinski , the hawkish assistant for national security affairs to President Jimmy Carter . Among the primary issues he focused on were American - Soviet relations , including the SALT nuclear weapons talks , the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan , the Iran hostage crisis , presidential directives on the situation in the Persian Gulf , terrorism and hijackings , and the executive order on telecommunications policy . From 2 November 1981 to 12 May 1985 , Odom served as the Army ' s Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence . From 1985 to 1988 , he served as the director of the National Security Agency , the United States ' largest intelligence agency , under president Ronald Reagan . Odom was a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute , where he specialized in military issues , intelligence , and international relations . He was also an adjunct professor at Yale University and Georgetown University , where he taught seminar courses in U . S . National Security Policy and Russian Politics . He earned a national reputation as an expert on the Soviet military . Since 2005 , he had argued that U . S . interests would be best served by an immediate withdrawal from Iraq , having called the 2003 invasion the worst strategic blunder in the history of U . S . foreign policy . He had also been critical of the NSA ' s warrantless wiretapping of international calls , having said " it wouldn ' t have happened on my watch " . Odom was also openly critical of the Neocon influence in the decision to go to war : " It ' s pretty hard to imagine us going into Iraq without the strong lobbying efforts from AIPAC < nowiki > [ < / nowiki > American Israel Public Affairs Committee < nowiki > ] < / nowiki > and the neocons , who think they know what ' s good for Israel more than Israel knows . " General Odom is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame . He is also a member of the advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation . Bibliography . Journal publications . Includes pieces in : Television and radio appearances . Also has published newspaper op - ed pieces in the " New York Times , Wall Street Journal , Washington Post " and others .