Eugene Leonard Burdick (December 12, 1918 – July 26, 1965) was an American political scientist, novelist, and non-fiction writer, co-author of '' The Ugly American'' (1958), ''

Fail-Safe In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that, in the event of a failure causes, failure of the design feature, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. ...

'' (1962), and author of '' The 480'' (1965).

Early life

He was born in Sheldon, Iowa, the son of Marie Ellerbroek and Jack Dale Burdick. His father was a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

who named his son after Eugene V. Debs. His family moved to Los Angeles, California when he was four years of age. One of his pastimes growing up was

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

Education and early career

He received his undergraduate degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. After the United States entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

from 1942 to 1946, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. Burdick was awarded the

Navy and Marine Corps Medal The Navy and Marine Corps Medal is the highest non-combat Military awards of the United States Department of the Navy, decoration awarded for heroism by the United States Department of the Navy to members of the United States Navy and United State ...

, the highest non-combat decoration awarded for heroism by the Navy, for rescuing four injured men by diving into a sea full of burning oil while under artillery fire. Thereafter, he pursued graduate studies at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where he was a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

in 1948 and ultimately earned a PhD with a dissertation on the role of modern

syndicalism Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through Strike action, strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goa ...

in European politics.University of California, Biography
/ref> Burdick spent much of his career as a professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where he oversaw an integrated course in the

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

(encompassing elements of political science, economics, sociology and philosophy) and served as a consultant to the university's administration. While on leave from 1950 to 1952, he served as assistant to the president of the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associa ...

. Among other professional activities, he was a member of the governing board of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions and a member of the Indonesian-American Society, the Polynesian Research Society and the Migratory Labor Association.

Writing career

He first gained national attention as a writer of fiction in 1947 when "Rest Camp on Maui," a short story derived from his wartime experiences that was published by ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', received the O. Henry Award second prize. In 1956 his first novel, ''The Ninth Wave'', was published, and was a

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selection. At the close of the 1950s, he was among the first members of the

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Political views

He was a Cold War liberal, supporting the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, though he was critical of how the United States government went about it. '' The Ugly American'' portrayed American representatives losing the battle for hearts and minds to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in the fictional Asian kingdom of Sarkhan. (The book's depictions created controversy: President

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

called the book "sickening," claiming that it distorted the truth.) He also advocated

nuclear disarmament Nuclear disarmament is the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons. Its end state can also be a nuclear-weapons-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. The term ''denuclearization'' is also used to describe the pro ...

. He was scheduled to speak in defense of the administration at the Berkeley Teach-in in May 1965 before withdrawing at the last minute, alleging that those attending weren't interested in a dialogue.

Death

Burdick died in 1965 of a heart attack, while playing tennis, in San Diego, California, at the age of 46. After his death, it was reported that he was a diabetic who struggled with chronic heart disease. He had also had a prior heart attack in 1959. He was survived by his wife Carol and three children.

Works

* ''The Ninth Wave'', 1956 (winner, Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship) * ''The Ugly American'', 1958, with William Lederer * ''The Blue of Capricorn'', 1961 * ''

'', 1962, with Harvey Wheeler * '' The 480'', 1965 * ''Nina's Book'', 1965 * ''Sarkhan: A Novel'', 1966, with William Lederer Republished under the title ''The Deceptive American'' in 1977.

References

External links

*
''The Strange Obscurity of Eugene Burdick''
by Mark Pack {{DEFAULTSORT:Burdick, Eugene 1918 births 1965 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford American futurologists American male novelists American Rhodes Scholars Novelists from Iowa People from Sheldon, Iowa Stanford University alumni United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II Writers from Los Angeles Military personnel from Iowa