Lautenberg was born on January 23, 1924 in Paterson, New Jersey to Jewish-Polish-Russian parents. After graduating from Nutley High School in 1941, Lautenberg served overseas in the United States Army Signal Corps during World War II from 1942 to 1946. Then, financed by the GI Bill, he attended and graduated from Columbia Business School in 1949 with a degree in economics.