BUTLER, NICHOLAS MURRAY (1862- ), Ameri can educator and publicist, was born at Elizabeth (N.J.) on April 2, 1862. He graduated at Columbia college in 1882, was a gradu ate fellow in philosophy there from 1882 to 1884, taking the de gree of Ph.D. He then studied for a year in Paris and Berlin. He was an assistant in philosophy at Columbia in 1885-86, tutor in 1886-89, adjunct professor of philosophy, ethics and psychology in 1889-90, becoming full professor in 189o, and dean of the faculty of philosophy in 189o-19o2. From 1886 until 1891 he was the first president of the New York college for the training of teachers (later Teachers' college of Columbia university), which he had personally planned and organized. In 1889 he founded and for 3o years edited The Educational Review, an in fluential educational magazine. He soon came to be looked upon as one of the foremost authorities on educational matters in Amer ica, and in 1894 was elected president of the National educational association. He was also a member of the New Jersey State board of education from 1887 to 1895, and was president of the Paterson (N.J.) board of education in 1892-93. In 1901 he succeeded Seth Low as president of Columbia university. He is also president of Barnard college, Teachers college, the New York college of pharmacy (since 1904) and since 1928 of St. Stephen's college, Annandale-on-Hudson.
He was elected a member of the American academy of arts and letters in 1911. In 1912 he was chairman of the New York State Republican convention and also a delegate of the Republican na tional convention. Vice-President Sherman was renominated, but died shortly before the general election, and the Republican elec toral votes were cast for Dr. Butler for vice president. He was, however, overwhelmingly defeated on the ticket with President Taft, Wilson receiving an electoral vote of 435 (4o States), Roosevelt 88 (6 States) and Taft 8 (2 States). In 1916, 192o, 1924 and 1928 he was a delegate to the Republican national con vention. He was an early and pronounced advocate of the repeal of the 18th Amendment on the grounds (I) that it was a revolu tionary departure from the plan of Federal government with its distribution of powers between the Nation and the States as established by the Constitution, and (2) that it was a most in effective method of combating the evils of the saloon and the liquor traffic. He favoured woman suffrage and advocated the short ballot. At the Republican national convention in 192o he re ceived 691 votes for the presidential nomination on the first ballot, the number gradually falling to two on the tenth and last ballot.
As an educator Butler was a bold critic of many contemporary tendencies in American education. He upheld the old theory of mental discipline, and in the face of widespread vocational move ment in schools and colleges remained a steadfast and eloquent de fender of liberal education. Under his guidance Columbia uni versity became a cosmopolitan institution, and its total registra tion in 1928, including university extension and summer session, Barnard, Teachers' college and the College of Pharmacy, was 36,639. He was chairman of the national committee of the United States for the restoration of the University of Louvain, destroyed by the Germans in 1914. In 1920 he resigned the editorship of The Educational Review. In 1921 he was made grand officier de la Legion d'honneur (officier 1906, commandeur, 1912). In addi tion he has received decorations from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Poland, Prussia, Rumania and Serbia. In 1923 he became a member of the Institut de France, taking the place of the late Lord Bryce, and in the same year, as Watson professor of American history, literature and institutions, he delivered a series of lectures at eight British universities. He has been a trustee of the Carnegie foundation for the advancement of teach ing since 1905, and of the Carnegie Corporation since 1925. He has been a strong advocate of international understanding and the betterment of international relations. In 1907 and 1909-12 he was chairman of the Lake Mohonk conference on international arbitration. Since its organization in 1910 he has been a trustee of the Carnegie endowment for international peace and director of its division of intercourse and education, and president of the endowment since 1925. In 1924 he was elected chancellor of the American academy of arts and letters. In addition to editing The Educational Review for 3o years he has also edited several series of books, including "The Great Educators" and "The Teachers' Professional Library," and Education in the United States, a series of monographs prepared for the United States exhibit at the Paris exposition, 1900 (1900, new ed., 191o) . His writings include : The Meaning of Education (1898, rev. ed 1915) ; True and False Democracy (1907) ; The American as he is (1908) ; Philosophy Ow I) ; Why Should We Change Our Form of Government? (1912) ; The International Mind 0913); Progress in Politics (1913, a pamphlet) ; The Meaning of Education (1915, an enlargement of one published in 1898) ; A World in Ferment (1918, interpretations of the War for a new world) ; Is America Worth Saving? ; Scholarship and Service ; ing the American Nation (1923 ) ; The Faith of a Liberal