Charles Edward Merriam

With a donation from the Rockefeller Foundation, Charles Edward Merriam helped in 1923 when the social science research Council was founded and was the first president in 1924.

Charles Edward Merriam joined 1900 as the first member of the political science faculty of the University of Chicago.

He quickly rose in the department and reached the rank of a full professor in 1911.

From 1907 to 1911 he was chairman of the College of Commerce and Administration (preliminary stage of the Business School of Business).

Merriam influenced the discipline of political science in the United States during his years in science. As two political scientists stated in their studies of discipline in 1985: "Merriam's hand can be seen in practically any facet of modern political science."
"Just like every single scholar during this time, Merriam set the standard for how American democracy should be examined within the academy," was the evaluation by another political scientist in 2008.

Charles Edward Merriam began to run in 1911 as the Republican candidate for the Chicago Mayor's Office. His campaign manager was Harold Ickes.

Although he won the Republican primaries with a very big lead, he lost the parliamentary elections to Carter Harrison Jr.
Merriam and Ickes helped to found the Illinois Progressive Party.

During his work at the harbor commission, Charles Edward Merriam met Frederic Delano, the uncle of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

From April to September 1918, Charles Edward Merriam was a American high commissioner for public information in Rome, Italy, where he developed propaganda that aimed to influence public opinion in Italy.

His mission was not only to encourage the Italian public to keep Italy in the war on the Allies' side, but also to undermine support for socialist and communist political parties.

He may have used funds from the Rockefeller Foundation to convince the fascist guide Benito Mussolini to support the war.

During his time in Rome Merriam, however, the privileges of the US ambassador and the embassy personnel rely, so that his repeated clashes with the ambassador led to the fact that he was sent back to the United States after only six months.

Merriam stated that he was deeply shaken by his experiences in Italy, but did not make it clear how his views had changed.

He also had an out -of -marital affair abroad that led to marriage problems.

During the First World War, the 43-year-old Merriam joined the US Army Signal Corps, was appointed captain and served in the Federal Government's aviation examination board for the Chicago region.