Nicholas Miraculous : the amazing career of the redoubtable Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler / Michael Rosenthal ; foreword by Patricia O'Toole.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rosenthal, Michael, 1937- author.

O'Toole, Patricia, author of introduction, etc.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947.

Butler, Nicholas Murray.

Columbia University--Presidents--Biography.

Columbia University.

College presidents--United States--Biography.

College presidents.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (544 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York, New York : Columbia University Press, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

To those who loved him, like Teddy Roosevelt, he was "Nicholas Miraculous," the fabled educator who had a hand in everything; to those who did not, like Upton Sinclair, he was "the intellectual leader of the American plutocracy," a champion of "false and cruel ideals." Ezra Pound branded him "one of the more loathsome figures" of the age. Whether celebrated or despised, Nicholas Murray Butler (1862-1947) was undeniably an irresistible force who helped shape American history. With wit and irony, Michael Rosenthal traces Butler's rise to prominence as president of Columbia University, which he presided over for forty-four years and developed into one of the world's most distinguished institutions of research and teaching. Butler also won the Nobel Peace Prize and headed both the Carnegie Endowment and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among innumerable other organizations. In 1920, he sought the Republican nomination for president, managing to garner more votes on the first ballot than the eventual winner, Warren Harding. Rosenthal's richly detailed, elegantly crafted narrative captures the mania and genius that propelled Butler to these extraordinary achievements and more. Thick with social, cultural, and political history, Nicholas Miraculous recreates Butler's prodigious career and the dynamic age that nourished him.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Foreword / O'Toole, Patricia

Introduction: The Sage

1. Flying the Union Jack

2. "An Indubitable Genius"

3. A University Is Born

4. Educator

5. The Twelfth President

6. "Great Personalities Make Great Universities"

7. An Old Shoe

8. Teddy Roosevelt and a Horse Called Nicoletta

9. "Dear Tessie"

10. "Mr. Butler's Asylum"

11. At Home- and Away

12. "Pick Nick for a Picnic in November"

13. "Kid" Butler, the Columbia Catamount, vs. "Wild Bill" Borah, the Boise Bearcat

14. "Jastrow Is, I'm Sorry to Say, a Hebrew"

15. The Path to Peace

16. Perils of Bolshevism, Promises of Fascism

17. The Fund- raiser

18. "Morningside's Miracle"

19. Resignation, Retirements, and Death

Epilogue: The Disappearance

Notes

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780231539524

OCLC:

913797344