Louis Martin Sears

Louis Martin Sears, professor and chairman of the history department at Purdue University, was the principle speaker for the 1946 Washington Inaugural Dinner at the (now demolished) Morrison Hotel in Chicago. In his talk Sears suggested to the nearly 400 attendees that Washington, an isolationist in his time, would not have been so classified today; and that, driven only by wishes for internal security, the president would have supported some form of world union in the present crisis. Sears, a graduate of the University of Chicago, authored several books, including a biography of George Washington. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and many other academic organizations.