Lewis Arthur Larson (July 4, 1910 – March 27, 1993) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, law professor, United States Under Secretary of Labor from 1954 to 1956, director of the

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill C ...

from 1956 to 1957, and executive assistant for speeches for

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

from 1957 to 1958.

Early life and education

Arthur Larson (he avoided using his first name) was born in

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. He was the third of five children of Lewis Larson and Anna Huseboe Larson, both of whom were second-generation Americans of

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

descent. Larson's father was a family court judge in Sioux Falls. Larson attended the public schools there and the local Lutheran college, Augustana, and then studied law at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

(1932–1935) as a

Rhodes scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

. He married Florence Newcomb on July 31, 1935.

Legal, political, and scholarly pursuits

Larson then worked as a lawyer for four years (1935–1939) with the firm of Quarles, Spence and Quarles in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. When Depression-era conditions led to his layoff in the summer of 1939, Larson found a job as assistant professor of law at the

University of Tennessee College of Law The University of Tennessee College of Law is the law school of the University of Tennessee located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1890, the College of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and is a charter member of the Ass ...

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

. While in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, he and Florence Newcomb Larson had two children. In 1941, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Larson moved to

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, when he mostly worked as a lumber industry regulator at the

Office of Price Administration The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money (price contr ...

. In 1945, he became an assistant professor of law at

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

, New York. Over the next seven years, he produced the legal treatise ''Larson's Workers' Compensation Law'' (Matthew Bender: 1952). The treatise is continually updated and is still used by lawyers and judges today. His son, Lex K. Larson, is the current editor. The treatise was the first publication to treat

workers' compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

as a distinct area of law with its own legal doctrines and rules for injured and deceased workers. It is currently 17 volumes in length. In 1953, Larson was appointed dean of the

University of Pittsburgh School of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) was founded in 1895. It became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1900. Its primary home facility is the Barco Law Building. The school offers four degrees: Master ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Eisenhower administration

Larson's status as an expert on the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...

and his strong public speaking abilities led to appointment as Under Secretary of Labor in March 1954 in the Eisenhower administration. Larson's most popular book, ''A Republican Looks at His Party'' (Harper and Row: 1956) was personally endorsed by Eisenhower. Eisenhower named Larson the director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) in December 1956 and as his top

speechwriter A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches that will be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be ...

in October 1957.

Return to academia

After leaving the Eisenhower administration in the fall of 1958, Larson became a law professor at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, where he specialized in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

arms control Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through the u ...

, and

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as n ...

. 1973 saw the completion of the L. Arthur and Florence Larson Residence, a centerpiece of North Carolina modernist architecture designed by

Jon Condoret Jon Andre Condoret (French: Jean André Condoret, September 5, 1934, in Algiers, Algeria – August 8, 2010, in Fearrington Village, North Carolina) was a French American architect who infused North Carolina modernist architecture with Europe ...

Death

He died in Durham on March 27, 1993.

Legacy

Larson is criticized as a prototypical big government Republican in

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

's landmark small government Republican manifesto, ''

The Conscience of a Conservative ''The Conscience of a Conservative'' is a 1960 book published under the name of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater who was the 1964 Republican presidential candidate. It helped revive the American conservative movement and make Goldwater a political ...

''. However, his life and work are treated at length in a biography by David Stebenne, ''Modern Republican: Arthur Larson and the Eisenhower Years'' (Indiana University Press, 2006).

References

External links

Records and Papers of Arthur Larson, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential LibraryWeb page for the book ''Modern Republican: Arthur Larson and the Eisenhower Years'' (Indiana University Press, 2006)Larson's Worker's Compensation Pages1983 Audio recording of a presentation by Arthur Larson on the Eisenhower Presidency
''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', 1956 - about Larson and Eisenhower
"The Law: Solicitor of Justice"
''Time''. (August 18, 1958) - Larson's resignation from the Eisenhower administration, and founding of the Rule of Law Center at Duke University]
Arthur Larson on the Mike Wallace Interview September 14, 1958
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Arthur 1910 births 1993 deaths American Rhodes Scholars American legal scholars Legal educators Speechwriters for presidents of the United States University of Tennessee faculty Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford University of Pittsburgh faculty Duke University School of Law faculty South Dakota lawyers Wisconsin lawyers Writers from Sioux Falls, South Dakota Lawyers from Milwaukee Writers from Ithaca, New York People from Washington, D.C. Lawyers from Pittsburgh People from Knoxville, Tennessee Writers from Durham, North Carolina Wisconsin Republicans American people of Norwegian descent Augustana University alumni 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American non-fiction writers