Jump to content

Allen Weinstein: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→The Alger Hiss Case: this nonsubscriber has no problem accessing this url
→Career: reorganized, added references, cleaned up
Line 19: Line 19:
| accessdate = 2008-12-18
| accessdate = 2008-12-18
| quote = On December 7, historian Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, submitted his resignation to the President, effective [[December 19]], 2008. Professor Weinstein, who has [[Parkinson’s disease]], cited health reasons for his decision. }}</ref>
| quote = On December 7, historian Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, submitted his resignation to the President, effective [[December 19]], 2008. Professor Weinstein, who has [[Parkinson’s disease]], cited health reasons for his decision. }}</ref>

==Early life and Education==
⚫
The son of [[Russian Jewish]] [[immigrant]]s, Weinstein was born in [[New York]] in 1937, the youngest of three children.<ref>[http://hnn.us/articles/6425.html Testimony of Allen Weinstein]</ref> His parents were [[delicatessen|deli]] owners in the [[Bronx]].{{citation needed}} He graduated from [[DeWitt Clinton High School]] and [[City College of New York]], then received a [[Ph.D.]] in [[American Studies]] from [[Yale University]]. <ref name =ifesStaff> {{cite web | title = "Allen Weinstein" | publisher = [[International Foundation for Electoral Systems]] | url = http://www.ifes.org/staffBio.html?staffid=weinstein | year = 2009 | accessdate = Oct 14, 2009}}</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
⚫
The son of [[Russian Jewish]] [[immigrant]]s, Weinstein was born in [[New York]] in 1937, the youngest of three children.<ref>[http://hnn.us/articles/6425.html Testimony of Allen Weinstein]</ref> His parents were [[delicatessen|deli]] owners in the [[Bronx]]. He graduated from [[DeWitt Clinton High School]] and [[City College of New York]], then received a [[Ph.D.]] in [[American Studies]] from [[Yale University]]. He taught at [[Smith College]] from 1966 to 1981. In 1981, he moved to [[Georgetown University]], where he was a professor until 1984. In 1982, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the [[UNESCO]] 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 at [[Boston University]] from 1985 to 1989.


He taught at [[Smith College]] from 1966 to 1981. In 1981, he moved to [[Georgetown University]], where he was a professor until 1984. In 1982, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the [[UNESCO]] 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 at [[Boston University]] from 1985 to 1989.
⚫
From 1985 to 2003, he served as President of [[The Center for Democracy]]. At the request of Senators [[Richard Lugar|Lugar]] and [[Claiborne Pell|Pell]] of the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]], the Center for Democracy organized a bipartisan group of election lawyers to oversee the preparations for the February 1986 elections in the [[Philippines]]. At [[Ronald Reagan|President 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 with [[Corazon Aquino|President Aquino's]] government on matters of electoral procedure.

===Involvement in international elections===

⚫
From 1985 to 2003, he served as President of [[The Center for Democracy]].<ref name = ifesStaff/> While president he chaired the organization's observation missions to [[El Salvador]] (1991), [[Nicaragua]] (1989-90, 1996), [[Panama]] (1988-89), the [[Philippines]] (1985-6) and [[Russia]] (1991, 1996, 2000). <ref name - ifesStaff/> At the request of Senators [[Richard Lugar|Lugar]] and [[Claiborne Pell|Pell]] of the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]], the Center for Democracy organized a bipartisan group of election lawyers to oversee the preparations for the February 1986 elections in the [[Philippines]]. At [[Ronald Reagan|President 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 with [[Corazon Aquino|President Aquino's]] government on matters of electoral procedure.

===Board and advisory positions===


Weinstein was a founding member in 1985 of the Board of Directors of the [[United 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 the [[Strasbourg]]-based [[International Institute for Democracy]] from 1989 to 2001. He chaired the Judging Panel for the annual International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award from 1995–2003. He serves on the Advisory Council of the [[LBJ School of Public Affairs]] ([[University of Texas-Austin]]). He is Chairman of the [[Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library]]'s Advisory Council. He chaired the annual "Global Panel" in the [[Netherlands]] from 1993-98. From 1982-91 he was a member of the [[Foreign Policy Association]]'s Editorial Advisory Board.
Weinstein was a founding member in 1985 of the Board of Directors of the [[United 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 the [[Strasbourg]]-based [[International Institute for Democracy]] from 1989 to 2001. He chaired the Judging Panel for the annual International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award from 1995–2003. He serves on the Advisory Council of the [[LBJ School of Public Affairs]] ([[University of Texas-Austin]]). He is Chairman of the [[Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library]]'s Advisory Council. He chaired the annual "Global Panel" in the [[Netherlands]] from 1993-98. From 1982-91 he was a member of the [[Foreign Policy Association]]'s Editorial Advisory Board.

Revision as of 14:35, 14 October 2009

Allen Weinstein
Allen Weinstein, Ninth Archivist of the United States
Born1937
New York, New York
OccupationArchivist of the United States

Allen Weinstein was the Archivist of the United States. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 16, 2005. Weinstein announced his resignation on December 7, 2008, effective December 19th, for health reasons.[1]

Early life and Education

The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Weinstein was born in New York in 1937, the youngest of three children.[2] His parents were deli owners in the Bronx.[citation needed] He graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School and City College of New York, then received a Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University. [3]

Career

He taught at Smith College from 1966 to 1981. In 1981, he moved to Georgetown University, where he was a professor until 1984. In 1982, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the UNESCO 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 at Boston University from 1985 to 1989.

Involvement in international elections

From 1985 to 2003, he served as President of The Center for Democracy.[3] While president he chaired the organization's observation missions to El Salvador (1991), Nicaragua (1989-90, 1996), Panama (1988-89), the Philippines (1985-6) and Russia (1991, 1996, 2000). Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). At the request of Senators Lugar and Pell of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Center for Democracy organized a bipartisan group of election lawyers to oversee the preparations for the February 1986 elections in the Philippines. At President 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 with President Aquino's government on matters of electoral procedure.

Board and advisory positions

Weinstein was a founding member in 1985 of the Board of Directors of the United 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 the Strasbourg-based International Institute for Democracy from 1989 to 2001. He chaired the Judging Panel for the annual International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award from 1995–2003. He serves on the Advisory Council of the LBJ School of Public Affairs (University of Texas-Austin). He is Chairman of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library's Advisory Council. He chaired the annual "Global Panel" in the Netherlands from 1993-98. From 1982-91 he was a member of the Foreign Policy Association's Editorial Advisory Board.

The Alger Hiss Case

In 1970, Weinstein began researching the Alger 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 a Communist or a spy."[4] Weinstein's extensive research included interviews with former Soviet intelligence officers who had worked with Chambers and a Freedom of Information request that eventually yielded 30,000 pages of FBI and CIA 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."[4]

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 Nation has since published a series of articles critical of Weinstein. In 1997, editor Victor Navasky published what he claimed as evidence that Weinstein had misquoted, misrepresented, or misconstrued several of his interview subjects for Perjury. 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.[5] In 2004, Jon Wiener accused Weinstein in The Nation of breaching professional ethics by paying for exclusive access to Soviet archives, and of refusing to allow other researchers access to his personal archives. [6]

Other sources, including Harvard professor Daniel Aaron[7], Sidney Hook[8], Irving Howe[9], Alfred Kazin[10] and Garry Wills[11], support Weinstein's scholarship. Ellen Schrecker has "explicitly acknowledge[d] that the 1999 publication of Allen Weinstein's The Haunted Wood finally convinced me of the guilt of the major communist spies."[12]

Notes

  1. ^ "National Archivist Allen Weinstein Resigns" (Press release). National Archives and Records Administration. 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2008-12-18. On December 7, historian Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, submitted his resignation to the President, effective December 19, 2008. Professor Weinstein, who has Parkinson's disease, cited health reasons for his decision. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Testimony of Allen Weinstein
  3. ^ a b ""Allen Weinstein"". International Foundation for Electoral Systems. 2009. Retrieved Oct 14, 2009.
  4. ^ a b Ehrman, John (May 8, 2007). "The Alger Hiss Case". CIA Center for the Study of Intelligence. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  5. ^ Navasky, Victor (November 3, 1997). "Allen Weinstein's Docudrama". The Nation. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  6. ^ Wiener, Jon (May 17, 2004). "The Archives and Allen Weinstein". The Nation. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  7. ^ "Guarding the Past: The Archivist's Mild Manner Belies the Uproar Over His New Job", Washington Post, March 31, 2005
  8. ^ Philosophy and Public Policy (Southern Illinois University Press), see also http://www.fortfreedom.org/n08.htm
  9. ^ New York Times Book Review, April 9, 1978
  10. ^ David Oshinsky, "The Meaning of the Enduring Controversy Over Alger Hiss", The Chronicle of Higher Education, December 20, 1996
  11. ^ "The Honor of Alger Hiss," New York Review of Books, vol 25 no 6, April 20, 1978
  12. ^ Schrecker, Ellen (December 18, 2000). "Comments on John Earl Haynes' The Cold War Debate Continues". Retrieved 2007-07-11.

Publications

  • Prelude to Populism: Origins of the Silver Issue, 1867–1878 (Yale University Press, 1970) (ISBN 0-300-01229-2)
  • Freedom and Crisis: An American History (Random House, 1974) (ISBN 0394326121)
  • Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case (Knopf 1978) (ISBN 0-394-49546-2)
  • The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—The Stalin Era (with Alexander Vassiliev) (Random House, 1999) (ISBN 0-679-45724-0)
  • The Story of America: Freedom and Crisis from Settlement to Superpower (with David Rubel) (DK Publishing, 2002) (ISBN 0-7894-8903-1)

Notes

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Allen Weinstein.
Government offices
Preceded by 9th Archivist of the United States
2005–2008 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Allen_Weinstein&oldid=319815690"