Allen Weinstein | |
|---|---|
 Allen Weinstein, Ninth Archivist of the United States | |
| 9thArchivist of the United States | |
| In office February 16, 2005 – December 19, 2008 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | John W. Carlin |
| Succeeded by | Adrienne Thomas (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1937-09-01)September 1, 1937 New York, New York, United States |
| Died | June 18, 2015(2015-06-18) (aged 77) Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Diane Gilbert Sypolt (divorced), Adrienne Dominguez |
| Children | David Weinstein, Andrew Weinstein, Alex Content (stepson) |
| Parent(s) | Samuel Weinstein, Sarah Popkov |
| Occupation | Senior Strategist for theInternational Foundation for Electoral Systems, Professor and formerArchivist of the United States |
| Awards | United Nations Peace Medal (1986), Council of Europe's Silver Medal (1990, 1996) |
Allen Weinstein (September 1, 1937 – June 18, 2015) was an American historian, educator, and federal official who served in several different offices. Under theReagan administration, he was cofounder of theNational Endowment for Democracy in 1983.[1] He served as theArchivist of the United States from February 16, 2005, until his resignation on December 19, 2008.[2] After his resignation, he returned to theInternational Foundation for Electoral Systems as a senior strategist and was a visiting faculty member at theUniversity of Maryland.[3]
The son ofRussian Jewishimmigrants, Weinstein was born inNew York City in 1937,[4] the youngest of three children.[5] His parents owned severaldelis in theBronx andQueens.[6] He graduated fromDeWitt Clinton High School andCity College of New York, then received aPh.D. inAmerican studies fromYale University.[6]
He taught atSmith College from 1966 to 1981. Briefly, in 1981, he served on the editorial staff forThe Washington Post and was an executive editor ofThe Washington Quarterly from 1981 to 1983.[7] In 1981, he moved toGeorgetown University, where he was a professor until 1984.[7] In 1982, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to theUNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies, and in 1983 he served on the U.S. delegation to the UNESCO-sponsored International Program for the Development of Communication. He was a professor of history atBoston University from 1985 to 1989.[7] In 2009, after he resigned from the position ofArchivist of the United States, he taught history at theUniversity of Maryland.[3]
During his career in education, Weinstein received twoSenior Fulbright Lectureships, a fellowship at theWoodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a fellowship at theAmerican Council for Learned Societies.[7]
In 1985 Weinstein foundedThe Center for Democracy, where he served as president until the organization merged with theInternational Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in 2003.[3][7] At the request of SenatorsLugar andPell of theSenate Foreign Relations Committee, the Center for Democracy organized a bipartisan group of election lawyers to oversee the preparations for the February 1986 elections in thePhilippines. AtRonald Reagan's request, Weinstein returned to the Philippines to continue to monitor the election procedures. The Center drafted the official report of the U.S. Observer Delegation, and went on to work withPresident Aquino's government on matters of electoral procedure. While president he also chaired the organization's observation missions toEl Salvador (1991),Nicaragua (1989–90, 1996),Panama (1988–89), andRussia (1991, 1996, 2000).[8] After the organizations merged, Weinstein remained on staff at IFES as their senior adviser until he was selected as theArchivist of the United States.[3] He returned to IFES in 2009.[3]
For his work in international elections, Weinstein received theUnited Nations Peace Medal (1986) and theCouncil of Europe's Silver Medal (1990 and 1996).[7]
Weinstein was a founding member in 1985 of the board of directors of theUnited States Institute of Peace and chairman of its education and training committee, remaining a director until 2001, and now serves on the chairman's advisory council. He was a founding officer of theStrasbourg-basedInternational Institute for Democracy from 1989 to 2001. He chaired the judging panel for the annual International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award from 1995 to 2003. He served on the advisory council of theLBJ School of Public Affairs (University of Texas-Austin). He was chairman of theWoodrow Wilson Presidential Library's advisory council. He chaired the annual "Global Panel" in theNetherlands from 1993 to 1998. From 1982 to 1991 he was a member of theForeign Policy Association's editorial advisory board.
Weinstein died of pneumonia on June 18, 2015, aged 77, in a nursing home in Gaithersburg, Maryland, after suffering fromParkinson's disease.[6][9][10]
In 1970, Weinstein began researching theAlger Hiss case for a book. Reviewing the case, John Ehrman wrote at the official CIA website that initially, Weinstein "believed that Hiss had not been aCommunist or aspy."[11]Weinstein's extensive research included interviews with formerSovietintelligence officers who had worked with Chambers and aFreedom of Information request that eventually yielded 30,000 pages ofFBI andCIA files. Ehrman continues "Hiss also cooperated with Weinstein, granting him six interviews and access to the defense's legal files. After plowing through the data, however, Weinstein did what no previous Hiss defender had done: he changed his mind."[11]
Controversy resulted when Weinstein indicated in a 1976 book review that he now believed that Hiss was guilty, and grew with the publication in 1978 of Weinstein's book,Perjury: The Hiss–Chambers Case. The book and the conclusions expressed in it have aroused some controversy;The Nation has since published a series of articles critical of Weinstein. In 1997, editorVictor Navasky published what he claimed as evidence that Weinstein had misquoted, misrepresented, or misconstrued several of his interview subjects forPerjury. One of these subjects,Samuel Krieger, sued Weinstein for libel in 1979 for misquoting him and incorrectly identifying him as a fugitive murder suspect, leading Weinstein to settle out of court by issuing a public apology and paying Krieger $17,500.[12]In 2004,Jon Wiener accused Weinstein inThe Nation of breachingprofessional ethics by paying for exclusive access to Soviet archives for his 1999 bookThe Haunted Wood, and of refusing to allow other researchers access to his personal archives.[13]
Other sources, includingHarvard professorDaniel Aaron,[14]Sidney Hook,[15][16]Irving Howe,[17]Alfred Kazin[18] andGarry Wills,[19] support Weinstein's scholarship.Ellen Schrecker has "explicitly acknowledge[d] that the 1999 publication of Allen Weinstein'sThe Haunted Wood finally convinced me of the guilt of the major communist spies."[20] In 2009, historian Eduard Mark wrote that "The declassification ofVenona excepted, no development since the end of theCold War has affected the study ofSoviet espionage in the United States as much as the work jointly written by Allen Weinstein andAlexander Vassiliev,The Haunted Wood."[21]
In his obituary, National ArchivistDavid Ferriero noted the following achievements by Weinstein:
Another change at the Archives that Weinstein affected, albeit indirectly, was the creation of an anti-harassment policy by Ferriero in 2010, partially in response to complaints about Weinstein's conduct at the Archives. The policy was further codified and strengthened in 2013.[22]
In 2018, it came to light that Weinstein's resignation from the National Archives was forced. An investigation by theOffice of the Inspector General (OIG) found credible complaints ofsexual harassment,sexual assault, or both from six female employees from 2005 to 2007.[23] Weinstein's defense was that the medication he was taking forParkinson's disease was at fault. Eventually, despite resistance from the White House Counsel, he agreed to resign, but the reasons why were not publicly disclosed untilFOIA requests were made in 2017–2018. During his tenure as a professor at the University of Maryland afterward, according to anonymous sources quoted in an article inThe Daily Beast, Weinstein allegedly sexually assaulted a graduate student in 2010. The real reason for Weinstein's departure two weeks afterward was the administration firing him after hearing the complaint, rather than health reasons.[23]
On December 7, historian Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, submitted his resignation to the President, effective December 19, 2008. Professor Weinstein, who hasParkinson's disease, cited health reasons for his decision.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Archivist of the United States February 16, 2005–December 19, 2008 | Succeeded by Adrienne Thomas Acting |
