'', published in 1972 Langer's most popular work,
The Mind of Adolf Hitler, helped put psychology on the map in American popular culture. Despite many controversies, the profile has been influential in the field of profiling political leaders. Langer himself offered a statement on the value of psychobiography for political means, stating: "I may be naïve in diplomatic matters, but I like to believe that if such a study of Hitler had been made years earlier, under less tension, and with more opportunity to gather first-hand information, there might not have been a
Munich; a similar study of
Stalin might have produced a different
Yalta; one of
Castro might have prevented the
Cuban situation; and one of
President Diem might have avoided
our deep involvement in Vietnam. Studies of this type cannot solve our international problems. That would be too much to expect. They might, however, help to avoid some of the serious blunders we seemed to have made because we were ignorant of the psychological factors involved and the nature of the leaders with whom we were negotiating.” Following the Langer profile,
U.S. presidents began requesting profiles of foreign diplomats before important events and meetings.
John F. Kennedy requested a profile of Soviet Premier
Nikita Khrushchev as part of preparing for the 1961
Vienna summit, and President
Richard Nixon asked the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for profiles of both
Mao Zedong and
Zhou Enlai before embarking on
his first visit to China. From 1965 to 1986, the CIA operated a Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior, directed by Gerald M. Post, who cited Langer as an influence. Although the center was closed with the dissolution of the
Cold War, personality research and psychobiography of political leaders continues to be of interest to both government agencies and the general public. ==In popular culture==