Nicholas Murray Butler: Academic, Internationalist, Nobel Peace Prize Winner
By Jason Sibert
Nicholas Murray Butler was an American who lived a life defined by accomplishment.
He was president of Columbia University and president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Butler was also the Republican nominee for vice-president of the United States in 1912, running with William Howard Taft. He became so well known and respected that the New York Times printed his Christmas greeting to the nation every year.
Butler graduated from Columbia College in 1882, earned a master’s degree in 1883, and a doctorate in 1884. Butler’s achievements in the academic realm and in other areas allowed President Theodore Roosevelt to call him “Nicholas Miraculous.” In 1885, Butler studied in Paris and became friends with future Secretary of State Eihu Root and through Root he met Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. In the fall of 1885, he joined the staff of Columbia’s philosophy department.
Butler was one of the founders of the New York School for the Training of Teachers in 1887. From 1890 to 1891, he was a lecturer at John Hopkins University in Baltimore. Throughout the 1890’s, he served on the New Jersey Board of Education.
He became the acting president of Columbia University in 1901 and became formally president in 1902. Butler was the longest serving president of Columbia, retiring in 1945. He added many schools and departments during his tenure. Butler was a delegate to every Republican convention from 1888 to 1936. In 1912, Vice-President John Sherman died eight days before the election and Butler was named the vice-presidential nominee of the Republican Party. The Taft/Butler ticket carried just Vermont and Utah. It finished behind both the Democrats and Progressives.
Butler tried to win the Republican nomination in 1920 but was unable to do so. He thought that prohibition was bad for the country and was influential in speaking for its appeal in 1933. Butler was also an outspoken internationalist. He was the chair of the Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration that met periodically from 1907 to 1912. In this time, he was appointed president of the American branch of International Conciliation. Butler was also instrumental in persuading Andrew Carnegie to provide the initial $10 million funding for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Butler became head of international education and communication, founded the European branch of the Endowment headquartered in Paris, and was President of the Endowment from 1925 to 1945. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 (shared with Jane Adams) for his promotion of the Briand-Kellogg Pact and for his work as the leader of the more establishment-oriented part of the American peace movement. The Briand-Kellogg Pact attempted to end war as a method of solving disputes. Butler was one of 21 Americans to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He died in 1947.
Jason Sibert is Executive Director of the Peace Economy Project.
