William C. Bullitt was born on 25 January 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Aime Ernesta Dinker and Louise Bryant. He died on 15 February 1967 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.
In March 1919 President Woodrow Wilson sent him on a clandestine mission to Moscow to negotiate the removal of Allied troops deployed to Russia during its civil war.