Implicitly understood American historian (7)
I believe the answer is:
tacitus
'historian' is the definition.
(Roman historian)
'implicitly understood american' is the wordplay.
'implicitly understood' becomes 'tacit' (I've seen this before).
'american' becomes 'us'.
'tacit'+'us'='TACITUS'
(Other definitions for tacitus that I've seen before include "Roman politician and historian" , "Old historian" , "Writer" , "Roman historian, annalist" , "Old history master" .)