Robert McNutt McElroy
Born	December 28, 1872 Perryville, Kentucky, US
Died	January 15, 1959(1959-01-15) (aged 86) Lihue, Hawaii, US
Burial place	Princeton Cemetery
Education	University of Leipzig University of Berlin Oxford University St. John's University
2ndHarold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of American History
In office 1925–1939
Preceded by	Samuel Eliot Morison
Succeeded by	Thomas J. Wertenbaker

Robert McNutt McElroy (December 28, 1872 – January 15, 1959)^[1] was a professor of history atPrinceton University. He became ajingoistic advocate of a strong national defense duringWorld War I,^[2] working with theRepublican Party and theNational Security League (NSL).^[3][4] A popular historian in his day, he published biographies ofGrover Cleveland andJefferson Davis, and respected histories of the states ofKentucky andTexas and the conquest of theAmerican West, none of which are much cited today.^[1]

McElroy was born inPerryville, Kentucky to William Thomas Eliza Casseday McElroy. He studied at theUniversity of Leipzig,University of Berlin,Oxford University, andSt. John's University, Shanghai, China. He married Louise Robinson Booker McElroy on May 21, 1900; they had two daughters.

In 1898–1916 McElroy was a professor of history atPrinceton University.^[5][3] An adamant opponent of "provincial thinking", he was well regarded by historians in the United States and Great Britain, and in 1912 he succeededWoodrow Wilson as the chair of the Princeton department of history and politics.^[1] In 1916–1917 he became the first American professor to teach inChina on an officialexchange program.^[6][7]

In April 1918 McElroy accused practically every citizen in the state of Wisconsin of treason.^[3][8] McElroy was addressing someUniversity of Wisconsin Army junior cadets on behalf of the NSL in the rain on the college's campus. The acoustics made it difficult to hear him, and the wet cadets fidgeted throughout his speech. McElroy grew increasingly angry as he spoke, convinced the cadets were ignoring him. Finally McElroy—whether in exasperation or because he truly believed it—accused the students and the university's faculty of treason. But since no one could hear him, there was no response to his statement. McElroy then broadened his accusation to include the chief justice of theWisconsin Supreme Court (who was also in attendance) and the entire population of the state of disloyalty as well. To make matters worse, McElroy published these accusations in a number of newspaper articles. When McElroy's statements became widely known, the public and press turned on the NSL and accused it ofxenophobia andfanaticism. Many mainstream supporters of the League, unaware of the jingoistic tendencies of some of the more senior members of the organization's inner circle, quit in protest.^[9]

During the 1920s and 1930s he taught atOxford University,^[10]Cambridge University and other institutions of higher education in theUnited Kingdom.^[6] In 1925–1939 he succeededSamuel Eliot Morison as the secondHarold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford University.

He died inLīhu'e, Hawaii and was buried inPrinceton Cemetery inPrinceton, New Jersey.^[3][11]

• Kentucky in the Nation's History, 1909online edition
• The Winning of the Far West: A History of the Regaining of Texas, of the Mexican War, and the Oregon Question; and of the Successive Additions to the Territory of the United States, Within the Continent of America: 1829–1867, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1914online edition
• The Great Virginia Rebellion of 1676; An Address Delivered by Prof. Robert M. McElroy ... before the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New York on November 9, 1911 ... [Pub.] under the authority of the Council by the Committee on Historical Documents and the Secretary, November, 1912, New York, 1912online edition
• The Representative Idea in History, 1917
• The Ideals of Our War : Address by Robert McNutt McElroy ... at Speaker's training camp for education in patriotic service and Conference of organizations engaged in patriotic education, Chautauqua, N.Y., July 3, 1917, New York: National Security League, 1919online edition
• The American Constitution and the Chinese Republic: A Sketch Designed for the Use of Speakers on Constitution Day, China Society of America, 1922online edition
• Grover Cleveland: The Man and the Statesman (2 vols.), New York: Harper & Brothers, 1923. The first full-length biography.^[12]vol. 2 online
• Economic History of the United States, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1927online edition
• History of the United States of America, 1928
• The March of Man: A Chronological Record of Peoples and Events from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day, Comprising an Historical Atlas of 96 pages, Comparative Time Charts in Seven Sections and 64 Plates of Illustration, New York: Encyclopædia Britannica, 1935online edition
• Jefferson Davis: The Unreal and the Real, 1937.

• "Dr. R. McN. McElroy Back."The New York Times. December 1, 1933.
• "Educators Discuss War."The New York Times. July 27, 1917.
• Edwards, John Carver.Patriots In Pinstripe: Men of the National Security League. Washington D.C.: University Press of America, 1982.ISBN 0-8191-2349-8
• "Historians at Princeton."The New York Times. May 3, 1914.
• "McElroy Going to China."The New York Times. April 23, 1916.
• "Oxford Seeks American."The New York Times. June 5, 1925.
• "Princeton Rites for McEIroy."Associated Press. January 24, 1959.
• "Robert McElroy, Educator, Dead."The New York Times. January 17, 1959.
• Rood, Henry. "The Young China and the Old."The New York Times. May 20, 1923.
• "Schools to Take Up Patriotic Campaign."The New York Times. March 1, 1918.
• "Sharply Rebukes McElroy."Associated Press. March 1, 1919.
• Shulman, Mark R. "The Progressive Era Origins of the National Security Act."Dickinson Law Review. 104 (Winter 2000).

• Robert McNutt McElroy atFind a Grave
• Robert McNutt McElroy papers at theNew York Public Library
• Works by Robert McNutt McElroy atLibriVox (public domain audiobooks)

• 1872 births
• 1959 deaths
• American historians
• Burials at Princeton Cemetery
• Historians of the United States
• People from Perryville, Kentucky
• New Jersey Republicans
• Leipzig University alumni

• Articles with hCards
• Articles with LibriVox links