William L. Langer | |
|---|---|
 Langer in 1946 | |
| Born | (1896-04-16)April 16, 1896 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | December 26, 1977(1977-12-26) (aged 81) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | Harvard University (BA,PhD) |
| Occupation(s) | academic historian, intelligence analyst, policy advisor |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 2 |
| Parents |
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| Relatives |
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| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service | United States Army,Office of Strategic Services |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | |
| Battles / wars | |
| Notes | |
William Leonard Langer (March 16, 1896 – December 26, 1977) was an American historian, intelligence analyst and policy advisor. He served as chairman of the history department atHarvard University. He was on leave during World War II as head of theResearch and Analysis Branch of theOffice of Strategic Services. He was a specialist on the diplomacy of the periods 1840–1900 and World War II. He edited many books, including a series onEuropean history, a large-scale reference book, and a university textbook.
Born inSouth Boston, Massachusetts on March 16, 1896, he was the second of three sons of recent German immigrants, Charles Rudolph and Johanna Rockenbach. His elder brother,Rudolf Ernest Langer, became a mathematician and his younger brother,Walter Charles Langer, apsychoanalyst.[4][7]
When William was only three, his father died unexpectedly, leaving the family in difficult circumstances. Nevertheless, his mother, who supported the family by working as a dressmaker, made education a priority for her children. After studying at theBoston Latin School, Langer attendedHarvard University.
Langer was fluent inGerman, and taught German atWorcester Academy while furthering his own education with courses oninternational relations atClark University.
His job and education were interrupted by military serviceWorld War I. After the war, he returned to his studies and obtained hisPh.D. in 1923. In 1921 he marriedSusanne Katherina Langer (née Knauth) who became a noted philosopher. They had two sons together before divorcing in 1942.
He taught modern European history atClark University for four years before accepting an assistant professorship at Harvard. In 1936 Langer became the first to hold theArchibald Coolidge chair.
Langer was remembered at Harvard especially for his History 132 course on modern European history, History 157 on the Ottoman Empire, and the graduate seminars held at his home.[8][9] He also taught at theHarvard Extension School.[10]
With the help of other scholars during the 1930s, Langer completely revised theEpitome of History by German ScholarKarl Ploetz. Langer's massive work was published in 1940 under the titleAn Encyclopedia of World History.[11] Its fifth edition (1972) is the last to be edited by Langer.Peter N. Stearns and thirty other prominent historians edited the sixth edition, published in 2001. Stearns paid tribute to Langer's great achievement in the introduction to the new edition.
In 1932, as an associate professor Langer was chosen by Harpers as editor for their series on modern Europe.[12] He wrote the volume covering 1832-1852, "Liberalism, Nationalism and Socialism." Originally in hardcover, the series was republished in the 1960s in paperback as "The Rise of Modern Europe."
In 1957, Langer urged historians to expand their insights with techniques from modern psychology.[13]
Langer was an enlisted man in the United States Army Chemical Service inWorld War I, and saw combat in achemical weapons unit on theWestern Front in France. He described the experience in a book he wrote with another man in hiscompany.[6]
During World War II, Langer served in the newOffice of Strategic Services (OSS) as deputy chief and later chief of the Research and Analysis Branch until the end of the war. In correspondence he was identified asOSS 117,[14] a codename which enteredFrench popular culture in 1949 for an unrelated iconic fictional character of books and film. He was special assistant for intelligence analysis toU.S. Secretary of StateJames F. Byrnes. In 1950 Langer organized theoffice of National Estimates in the newly establishedCentral Intelligence Agency.[15][non-primary source needed]
After the war, Langer returned to academia, but from 1961 to 1977 he served on the President'sForeign Intelligence Advisory Board.
The US government asked to Langer to justify this policy initially very favourable toVichy France: this book was entitledOur Vichy Gamble (1947) and it almost totally whitewashed the policy.[16] Langer’s book was then used as new evidence to request a review of the trial ofPétain by his lawyer in 1950 (the case was eventually dismissed).[17] According to one reviewer, this book should have been calledOur Vichy Fumble.[18]
William Langer was awarded theMedal for Merit by President Truman in July 1946 in recognition of his wartime service. He was also awarded theBancroft Prize in 1954. Postwar, both Harvard andYale University awarded LangerLL.D. degrees as did theUniversity of Hamburg in 1955. Among his many involvements, Langer served as president of theAmerican Historical Association for 1957. Langer received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement in 1965.[19]
William Langer Award for outstanding analytic contributions to the DI. Langer - a distinguished scholar and pioneer OSS analyst - was the first chairman of CIA's Office of National Estimates and later served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB). During his career, Langer demonstrated the feasibility of performing intelligence analysis by combining information from multiple intelligence collection disciplines, including imagery, signals intercepts, and human intelligence.
Langer served as an engineer in Company E of the 1st Gas Regiment, Chemical Warfare Service, of the U.S. Army.
Walter Langer was born in Boston on Feb. 9, 1899, the son of Charles Rudolph and Johanna Rockenbach Langer. He was a practicing psychoanalyst from the late 1930s until about 1960, and he was the brother of William L. Langer, the Harvard historian, and Rudolph Ernest Langer, chairman of the mathematics department at the University of Wisconsin.
William L. Langer, Asst. Dir. for National Estimates
