Rufus Lackland Taylor was born in St. Louis, Missouri on 6 January 1910. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1929 and graduated with the class of 1933. On accepting his commission in the Navy in June 1934, Taylor joined the USS Arizona, serving with that ship’s aviation unit, Observation Squadron 2-B, before transfer late in 1936 to duty aboard the destroyer USS Preston.
From September 1938 until September 1941, Taylor was a student of the Japanese language at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, before transferring to Headquarters, Sixteenth Naval District, located at Cavite, Philippine Islands, for duty as a communications officer. After the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in late December 1941, and the subsequent surrender of American and Filipino forces on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island in April and May 1942, Taylor was among the very few Americans who escaped from the islands by motor torpedo boat and submarine to Australia. From April 1942 until February 1943, he served on the staff of the commander, Allied Naval Forces, Southwestern Pacific.
Returning to the United States, Taylor served from March 1943 until November 1944 in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C. Ordered to the Pacific in December 1944, he performed various intelligence duties at Headquarters, Fourteenth Naval District, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for the remainder of the war. Following the war, Taylor continued with his communications intelligence activities, serving in a series of appointments including director of the Office of Naval Intelligence.
From 19 June 1963 until 14 June 1966, Rear Admiral Taylor served as director of the U.S. Navy’s National Reconnaissance Office Program C. During his NRO tenure, Taylor was instrumental in supervising the introduction and operation of an important low-altitude signals intelligence satellite system. Following service at the National Reconnaissance Office, the Navy promoted Taylor to vice admiral and appointed him deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency, where he served until 1 February 1969. He had the distinction of being the only NRO program director to serve in this capacity within the CIA, serving as deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency during this same period. He died on 14 September 1978.
His awards and decorations, in addition to nine campaign and service medals, include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Central Intelligence Agency Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal with combat “V,” the U.S. Army Distinguished Unit Badge with oak leaf cluster, and the U.S. Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon.