Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler
| Author | Henry A. Murray, M.D., Harvard Psychological Clinic (for the Office of Strategic Services) |
|---|---|
| Published | October 1943 |
| Format | Report |
| Original | Read the original |
TL;DR — Harvard psychologist Henry Murray’s 1943 OSS profile of Hitler, with predictions of his behaviour (including suicide in defeat) and advice on dealing with him.
A wartime psychological profile, marked “O.S.S. Confidential,” written in October 1943 by Henry A. Murray of the Harvard Psychological Clinic for the Office of Strategic Services. Its full title adds “with predictions of his future behavior and suggestions for dealing with him now and after Germany’s surrender.” The copy is number 3 of 30, from the papers of OSS chief William J. Donovan held by Cornell University Law Library, which has made it available online.
Murray built the profile from secondary material — Hitler’s own writings and speeches, biographies, and accounts by people who had known him — interpreted through psychoanalytic theory. The report describes Hitler’s personality type, traces it to his childhood, and ends with predictions of how he might behave as Germany lost the war (it lists suicide among the most likely outcomes) and recommendations for psychological warfare and for handling Germany after surrender.
Historians have since disagreed about its value: some treat it as an early example of political personality profiling, others as speculative psychoanalysis based on weak evidence.
What it is: A primary source: a declassified wartime intelligence-commissioned report, typescript, hosted by Cornell Law Library. Historically significant, methodologically dated. Cornell holds the copyright by gift of Murray’s widow and asks for a credit line.
Where this came from
- A copy saved in October 2026.
- Public copy: https://law.library.cornell.edu/analysis-hitler/
240 pages. A copy is archived locally against link rot; the header links the original source.