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 (1962), and author of The 480 (1965).He was born in Sheldon, Iowa, the son of Marie Ellerbroek and Jack Dale Burdick. His family moved to Los Angeles, California when he was 4. He attended Stanford University and Oxford University, earning a Ph.D. in psychology.