No one would ever refer to CIA Director William J. Burns as “Wild Bill,” the nickname of William J. Donovan, who led the OSS, the agency’s swashbuckling predecessor, during World War II. But the self-effacing Burns has bravely commanded a CIA force in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion nearly three years ago.

Words matter, but looking back on his time as the head of the world’s most important spy agency, Burns also had numbers on his mind. By his own count, he had made 84 trips overseas during his four years as director of the CIA.

And is probably still at it. As newly released classified documents confirm activists’ long-held suspicions, the disclosures should also alert us to current dangers.

In a wide-ranging exit interview, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly asks Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns about the resurgence of ISIS, and what's next for the intel community.

On a shelf in his office at CIA headquarters, Director Bill Burns keeps a tiny scaled model of a house. It's the house in Kabul, Afghanistan, where Al Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by a U.

In a wide-ranging exit interview, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly asks Central Intelligence Agency Director William ... CIA officers contribute to them. Kelly: Same format as Joe Biden gets? Burns ...