November 2020 saw the passing of two giants in the field of leadership and psychological analysis, Jerrold “Jerry” Post and Laurence “Larry” Cove, who collectively served for more than 50 years with the CIA. Drawing from their psychiatric expertise, dedication to the field of political psychology, and deep commitment to national service, they made major contributions that advanced the analytic discipline and the CIA’s overall mission.
The use of psychiatrists and psychologists to assess the personalities of world leaders in support of US national security goes back to World War II when psychoanalyst Walter Langer, the brother of Office of Strategic Services and CIA pioneer William Langer, prepared a psychological analysis of Adolf Hitler for the OSS.