# William Lederer > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Lederer > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Lederer.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lederer > Source revision: 1352507947 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American novelist}} {{distinguish|William J. Lederer (Pennsylvania politician)}} {{more citations needed|date=May 2014}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2013}} {{Infobox writer | name = William Lederer | image = | imagesize = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1912|3|31}} | birth_place = [New York City](/source/New_York_City), U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2009|12|5|1912|3|31}} | death_place = [Baltimore, Maryland](/source/Baltimore%2C_Maryland), U.S. | occupation = American author | nationality = | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | debut_works = | spouse = Ethel Hackett (1940–1965) (3 children)
Corinne Lewis (1965–1976){{cite web |title=William J. Lederer Papers |url=http://scua.library.umass.edu/ead/mums158.pdf |publisher=[UMass Amherst](/source/University_of_Massachusetts_Amherst) |work=Special Collections & University Archives |date=2013 |access-date=January 11, 2017}} | partner = | children = W. Jonathan Lederer
Brian J. H. Lederer
Bruce Allen Lederer{{cite news |first=Bruce |last=Weber |title=William J. Lederer, Co-Author of 'The Ugly American,' Dies at 97 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/arts/14lederer.html?_r=0 |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |date=January 14, 2010 |access-date=January 11, 2017}} | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''William Julius Lederer Jr.''' (March 31, 1912 – December 5, 2009) was an American author and naval officer.{{cite news |first=Matt |last=Schudel |title=Novel 'The Ugly American' blasted policy in Southeast Asia |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/09/AR2010010902148.html |work=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post) |date=January 10, 2010 |access-date=January 11, 2017}} ==Biography== ===U.S. Navy service=== After dropping out of high school, Lederer enlisted in the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) in 1930. He graduated from the [United States Naval Academy](/source/United_States_Naval_Academy) in 1936. His first appointment was as the junior officer aboard {{USS|Tutuila|PR-4}}, a [river gunboat](/source/river_gunboat) of the [Yangtze Patrol](/source/Yangtze_Patrol) on the [Yangtze River](/source/Yangtze_River) in [China](/source/China). After the entry of the [United States](/source/United_States) into [World War II](/source/World_War_II) in December 1941, he was a [line officer](/source/line_officer) first in [Asia](/source/Asia) and then in the [European Theater](/source/European_theatre_of_World_War_II), serving as a ship's navigation officer in the 1943 [Allied invasion of Sicily](/source/Allied_invasion_of_Sicily). He spent the later years of his naval service as a [public information officer](/source/public_information_officer), and in that capacity eventually was posted to [The Pentagon](/source/The_Pentagon) and later as special assistant to [Commander-in-Chief, Pacific](/source/United_States_Indo-Pacific_Command), [Admiral](/source/Admiral_(United_States)) [Felix Stump](/source/Felix_Stump) at [Pearl Harbor](/source/Pearl_Harbor), [Territory of Hawaii](/source/Territory_of_Hawaii). He rose to the rank of [captain](/source/Captain_(United_States_O-6)). ===Writing career=== Lederer's best-selling work, 1958's ''[The Ugly American](/source/The_Ugly_American)'', was one of two novels he co-wrote with [Eugene Burdick](/source/Eugene_Burdick), a former U.S. Navy [lieutenant commander](/source/Lieutenant_commander_(United_States)) and [Oxford](/source/Oxford_University) don. Disillusioned with the [United States](/source/United_States)'s diplomatic efforts in [Southeast Asia](/source/Southeast_Asia), Lederer and Burdick sought to demonstrate that American officials and civilians could make a substantial difference in Southeast Asian politics if they were willing to learn local languages, follow local customs, and use regional military tactics. They were concerned that if American policy makers continued to ignore the logic behind these lessons, Southeast Asia would fall under [Soviet](/source/Soviet_Union) or [Chinese Communist](/source/Chinese_Communist) influence. In the book's epilogue, they argue for the creation of "a small force of well-trained, well-chosen, hard-working and dedicated professionals" fluent in the local language, which presaged the [Peace Corps](/source/Peace_Corps), which [John F. Kennedy](/source/John_F._Kennedy) proposed in 1960.{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Meyer |title=Still 'Ugly' After All These Years |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/books/review/Meyer-t.html |work=The New York Times |date=July 10, 2009 |access-date=January 11, 2017}} In ''A Nation of Sheep'' (1961), Lederer identifies intelligence failures in [Asia](/source/Asia). In "Government by Misinformation," he investigates the sources that he believes lead to American foreign policy, namely trusted local officials; local (foreign) newspapers, magazines, books, radio broadcasts, etc.; paid local informers; personal observations by U.S. officials; and American journalists. In ''Our Own Worst Enemy'' (1968), Lederer relates that as a young U.S. Navy [lieutenant (junior grade)](/source/lieutenant_(junior_grade)) in 1940, he had a chance meeting with a [Jesuit](/source/Society_of_Jesus) priest, Father Pierre Cogny, and his Vietnamese assistant, "Mr. Nguyen," while he was waiting out a Japanese bombing raid in China. Father Pierre asked Lederer if he had a copy of the [United States Declaration of Independence](/source/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence) on his [gunboat](/source/gunboat), and Lederer said that he did and provided them with a copy. "Mr. Nguyen" was eager to deliver the document to "Tong Van So," who later became known as [Ho Chi Minh](/source/Ho_Chi_Minh), the Vietnamese Communist revolutionary and statesman. The 1945 [Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam](/source/Proclamation_of_Independence_of_the_Democratic_Republic_of_Vietnam), written by Ho, begins by quoting from the American document. Ho went on to serve as prime minister (1946–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the [Democratic Republic of Vietnam](/source/Democratic_Republic_of_Vietnam) (i.e., North Vietnam).{{cite web |first=Paul |last=Halsall |title=Vietnamese Declaration of Independence, 1945 |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1945vietnam.html |work=Modern History Sourcebook |publisher=[Fordham University](/source/Fordham_University) |date=August 1977 |access-date=January 11, 2017}} ''Our Own Worst Enemy'' describes how the United States supported a corrupt President [Ngo Diem](/source/Ngo_Diem) in [South Vietnam](/source/South_Vietnam), ignored massive black market selling of stolen U.S. military supplies, food, and foreign aid, and refused to stand up to corrupt local officials who stole donated food and supplies, took kickbacks, and bullied their own population, as Americans continued saying, "It's their country, and we Americans are only guests here." Other Lederer works were intended to be light-hearted and humorous fantasies. His early works, ''All the Ships at Sea'' (1950) and ''[Ensign O'Toole and Me](/source/Ensign_O'Toole_and_Me)'' (1957) are both. A children's book, ''Timothy's Song'', with illustrations by [Edward Ardizzone](/source/Edward_Ardizzone), appeared in 1965. ===Television and film=== Two of his 1949 short stories published in [Reader's Digest](/source/Reader's_Digest) ''I Taught My Wife to Keep House the Navy Way'' and ''The Skipper Surprised His Wife'' were filmed in 1950 as ''[The Skipper Surprised His Wife](/source/The_Skipper_Surprised_His_Wife)''/ The [television series](/source/television_series) ''[Ensign O'Toole](/source/Ensign_O'Toole)'', a [situation comedy](/source/situation_comedy) which starred [Dean Jones](/source/Dean_Jones_(actor)) and aired on [NBC](/source/NBC) from 1962 to 1963, was based on ''All the Ships at Sea'' and ''Ensign O'Toole and Me'' and depicted the misadventures of the crew of the fictional U.S. Navy destroyer USS ''Appleby'' in the early 1960s. Lederer served as [technical adviser](/source/technical_adviser) for the series.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, Fourth Edition'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, {{ISBN|0 14 02 4916 8}}, p. 258.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–present (Sixth Edition)'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, {{ISBN|0-345-39736-3}}, p. 316. He co-wrote the [screenplay](/source/screenplay) of the 1965 feature film ''[McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force](/source/McHale's_Navy_Joins_the_Air_Force)''. ===Death=== Lederer died of [respiratory failure](/source/respiratory_failure) on December 5, 2009, at the age of 97. ==Eugene Burdick collaborations== * ''[The Ugly American](/source/The_Ugly_American)'', 1958 (co-author, with Eugene Burdick) * ''Sarkhan: a Novel'',{{cite book |last1=Lederer |first1=William J. |authorlink1=William Lederer |last2=Burdick |first2=Eugene |authorlink2=Eugene Burdick |title=Sarkhan |url=https://archive.org/details/sarkhanlede00lede |url-access=registration |year=1965 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |oclc=1061482}} republished under the title ''The Deceptive American'' in 1977.{{cite book|last1=Lederer|first1=William J|authorlink1=William Lederer|last2=Burdick|first2=Eugene|authorlink2=Eugene Burdick|title=The Deceptive American|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EZnrIAAACAAJ|date=November 1977|publisher=W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-08802-1|oclc=3203901}} ==Selected works== * ''All the Ships at Sea'', 1950 (author) * ''The Last Cruise; the story of the sinking of the submarine, {{USS|Cochino|SS-345|6}}'', 1950 (author){{cite web |title=The Last Cruise |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3022850-the-last-cruise |work=[Goodreads](/source/Goodreads) |access-date=January 11, 2017}} * ''Spare-Time Article Writing for Money'' (1954) * ''[Ensign O'Toole and Me](/source/Ensign_O'Toole_and_Me)'', 1957 (author) * ''A Nation of Sheep'', 1961 (author) * ''[McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force](/source/McHale's_Navy_Joins_the_Air_Force)'', 1965 (co-screenwriter) * ''Timothy's Song'', 1965 (author) * ''The Story of Pink Jade'', 1966 (author) * ''Our Own Worst Enemy'', 1968 (author) * ''The Anguished American'', 1968 (author) * ''The Mirages of Marriage'', 1968 (co-author with [Don D. Jackson](/source/Don_D._Jackson)) * ''Complete Cross-Country Skiing and Ski Touring'', 1970 (co-author with [Joseph Peter Wilson](/source/Joseph_Peter_Wilson)) * ''Marital Choices: Forecasting, Assessing, and Improving a Relationship'', 1981 (author) * ''A Happy Book of Happy Stories'', 1981 (author) * ''New Complete Book of Cross Country Skiing'', 1983 (author) * ''[I, Giorghos](/source/I%2C_Giorghos)'', 1984 (author){{cite web |title=William J. Lederer |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/49285.William_J_Lederer |work=Goodreads |access-date=January 11, 2017}} * ''Creating a Good Relationship'', 1984 (author) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/arts/14lederer.html ''New York Times'' Obituary] * [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/09/AR2010010902148.html ''Washington Post'' Obituary] * [http://www.answers.com/topic/william-j-lederer Answers.com] (Author's works) * [http://takenforranted.com/lederer-nation-sheep-40/ Government by Misinformation] (Review of ''Nation of Sheep'') * [http://www.panarchy.org/lederer/secrecy.html William Lederer, Secrecy in Government] (1961) {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Lederer, William}} Category:1912 births Category:2009 deaths Category:20th-century American novelists Category:American male novelists Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II Category:American science fiction writers Category:American futurologists Category:Writers from Baltimore Category:United States Naval Academy alumni Category:United States Navy captains Category:Novelists from New York City Category:20th-century American male writers Category:Novelists from Maryland --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [William Lederer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lederer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lederer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.