[2] For five summers as a child, he spent time in the wilderness of the Adirondacks, learning how to ride a horse and camp in the woods.

[6] Goodfellow entered the newspaper business at the age of fourteen as a copyboy, and was a seasoned reporter before graduating high school.

‘It is for a christening we are bound,’ he explained to his horror-stricken officers, ‘and those exuberant Texans thought they would give us a baptism of fire.

In the interwar years, Goodfellow continued his rise in the journalism industry, returning to work at the Brooklyn Eagle as circulation director and then advertising manager.

[7][12] On 1 August 1938, after a workers' strike organized by the Newspaper Guild, Goodfellow sold his stake in the Brooklyn Eagle to Frank D.

[15] At this time, Goodfellow was already responsible for the deployments of soldiers and marines to the Far East, North Africa, and Europe to monitor the unfolding situation of the Axis powers.

[2][14] In October 1941, Goodfellow became the Director of the newly established Special Activities/Goodfellow (SA/G), replacing the duties of Robert Solberg at COI.

[2][14] In December 1941 with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States officially entered the war, providing for Goodfellow and Donovan the opportunity to deploy uniformed soldiers, no longer having to rely entirely on undercover operations.

[14] Goodfellow, Bruce, and Donovan collaborated to create the first Operational Groups (OGs), which were special warfare guerrilla units, then still under the auspices of the structure of the COI.

[2] Primarily, Goodfellow used a team of War Department inspectors to condemn the properties, and then approached NPS with a deal: OSS would only pay a dollar a year in lease, if they agreed to keep the place clean while they were occupying it.

On 23 February 1942, Goodfellow was placed in charge of the newly activated COI Service Command, and a staff of 51 officers.

[26] Grombach established the Foreign Broadcast Quarterly (FBQ), which was the front alias for the communications center, and COI purchased NBC's Long Island radio station.

[26] The FBQ, however, was also dismantled in May when Donovan's rivals convinced President Roosevelt to order the COI to relinquish control over any communications efforts and propaganda.

[2] In August 1942, Goodfellow officially left his duties at G-2, and transferred to COI, now finally able to dedicate all of his efforts into the new agency and Special Operations.

[14] At this point in the war, the OSS Assessment Unit had not yet been established, and recruiting for the organization was performed irrespective of assignment.

Memos to Donovan that were declassified by the CIA in 2023 read:[14] "Two kinds of men then recruited by Goodfellow – Those with quality of initiative to carry on individual missions.

Officers and operators recruited into OSS by Goodfellow at this time include; In December 1942, when the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued the 'Golden Directive,' it fundamentally reorganized the SO; it was no longer authorized to operate in the Western Hemisphere, and the OGs were to come under the direct control of Theatre Commanders while deployed.

British historian Max Hastings wrote that Goodfellow provided Rhee with the passport that allowed him to return to Korea.

[29] Goodfellow organized South Korea's democratic Council, becoming a key figure in the building of the country's new government.