Martin Van Buren was Secretary of Defense.
Morris `` Moe '' Berg -LRB- March 2 , 1902 -- May 29 , 1972 -RRB- , was an American catcher and coach in Major League Baseball who later served as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II .. catcher. catcher. coach. coach ( baseball ). Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball. Office of Strategic Services. Office of Strategic Services. Although he played 15 seasons in the major leagues , almost entirely for four American League teams , Berg was never more than an average player , usually used as a backup catcher , and was better known for being `` the brainiest guy in baseball '' than for anything he accomplished in the game .. catcher. catcher. American League. American League. Casey Stengel once described Berg as `` the strangest man ever to play baseball '' .. Casey Stengel. Casey Stengel. A graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School , Berg spoke several languages and regularly read 10 newspapers a day .. Princeton University. Princeton University. Columbia Law School. Columbia Law School. His reputation was fueled by his successful appearances as a contestant on the radio quiz show Information , Please , in which he answered questions about the derivation of words and names from Greek and Latin , historical events in Europe and the Far East , and ongoing international conferences .. quiz show. quiz show. derivation. etymology. Greek. Attic Greek. Latin. Latin. Far East. Far East. As a spy working for the government of the United States , Berg traveled to Yugoslavia to gather intelligence on resistance groups the U.S. government was considering supporting .. Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia. resistance groups. Resistance in Yugoslavia. U.S. government. Federal government of the United States. He was then sent on a mission to Italy , where he interviewed various physicists concerning the German nuclear program .. German. Nazi Germany. nuclear program. German nuclear energy project. After the war , Berg was occasionally employed by the OSS 's successor , the Central Intelligence Agency , but , by the mid-1950s , was unemployed .. Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency. He spent the last two decades of his life without work , living with various siblings .