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

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, 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) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...

from 1956 to 1957, and executive assistant for speeches for U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1957 to 1958.

Early life and education

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

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, 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 Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. He was the third of five children of Lewis Larson and Anna Huseboe Larson, both of whom were second-generation Americans of Norwegian 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 (1932–1935) as a

Rhodes scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

. 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 is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. 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 in Knoxville. While in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

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

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Larson moved to

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, when he mostly worked as a lumber industry regulator at the Office of Price Administration. In 1945, he became an assistant professor of law at Cornell Law School in Ithaca, 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 in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Eisenhower administration

Larson's status as an expert on the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), 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 oppor ...

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 in October 1957.

Return to academia

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

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, where he specialized in

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

, arms control, and

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing Weapon, 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, ...

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

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 major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

's landmark small government Republican manifesto, '' The Conscience of a Conservative''. 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 continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', 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 Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Lawyers from Pittsburgh Lawyers 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