Leader Personality Assessments in Support of Government Policyyears talk his way into the highest political offices, hoodwink the
experienced leaders of the major powers, turn millions of highly civ-
ilized people into barbarians, order the extermination of a large seg-
ment of the population, build and control the mightiest war
machine ever known, and plunge the world into history's most dev-
astating war?" (Langer 1972, n). With the aid of three psychoana-
lytically trained researchers in New York, who reviewed the litera-
ture on file in the New York Public Library, Langer scoured the
United States and Canada for persons who had had contact with
Hitler and personally interviewed each of them. Under immense
time pressure, Langer prepared a study that was disseminated within
government circles in the fall of 1943 but was not declassified until
- Psychobiographic in approach, the study examines the forma-
tive events in Hitler's life and how they shaped his emerging per-
sonality, positing the powerful psychodynamic forces that were ,to
play out so destructively upon the political stage.
The design of Langer's study is instructive. The first section,
"Hitler as He Believes Himself to Be," is followed by "Hitler as the
German People Know Him," "Hitler as His Associates Know Him,"
and "Hitler as He Knows Himself." It is only after examination of
Hitler through these four lenses that Langer depicts "Hitler, Psy-
chological Analysis and Reconstruction," ending with "Hitler, His
Probable Behavior in the Future."
In presenting the section "Hitler as He Knows Himself," Langer
selected language from Hitler's writings and commentary to his
associates. The selection was guided by Langer's psychoanalytic
framework. He observed that Hitler's sense of his own destiny was
remarkable. When early in Hitler's career during a policy discussion
Strasser suggested that Hitler was mistaken, Hitler responded: 'I
cannot be mistaken. What I say and do is historical" (Langer 1972,
30). His exalted self-image, Langer observed, was not confined to his
role as statesman. On the field of battle, Hitler believed he had spe-
cial gifts as well. "I do not play at war. I do not allow the generals' to
give me orders. The war is conducted by me." And he considered
himself supremely gifted as a jurist. "For the last twenty-four hours,
/ was the supreme court of the German people" (original emphasis).
Commenting on Hitler's exalted belief in his own powers, Rausch-
ning observed, "He feels no one in German history is as equipped as