The Administration of President Hayes: the Larwill lectures, 1915

What it is

This is the printed book of the Larwill Lectures of 1915, delivered at Kenyon College and published by Charles Scribner's Sons in April 1916. The title page names the author as John W. Burgess, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Political Science and Constitutional Law at Columbia University. The opening pages include a list of Burgess's other books and a table of contents for the lectures, which deal with the political, economic and social situation in 1876 and with the election and inauguration.

Why it matters

The lectures were given to the authorities and students of Hayes's own college, so they show how his alma mater and a leading scholar of the time understood his presidency. The book is a later study, written decades after Hayes's term from 1877 to 1881, and it reflects the views of its author.

Look closer

• Why does the first lecture begin with the situation in 1876, and what does that choice suggest about how the author explains Hayes's presidency?
• Who was the audience for these lectures, and how might that shape what the author emphasizes?
• What questions about Hayes does this book leave for other sources to answer?