The Administration of President Hayes

What it is

This is a book by John W. Burgess, a professor of political science and constitutional law at Columbia University, about the administration of Rutherford B. Hayes. The cover shows a dark navy binding with gold title text and the author's name. The book grew out of the Larwill Lectures that Burgess gave at Kenyon College, Hayes's alma mater, in 1915, and it was published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1916.

Why it matters

Burgess wrote from a view formed decades after Hayes left office. In his introduction he argues that Hayes's personality and administration had not been fully appreciated by his countrymen and the world. Reading the book shows how a university scholar of the early twentieth century judged a president of the 1870s.

Look closer

• What does the author say he believes about Hayes, and what evidence does he offer for it?
• Why might a book written in 1916 praise a president who had left office decades earlier?
• What might a study like this leave out compared with letters or records written during Hayes's own presidency?