He taught English for a year, then changed to history, which he taught at Yale from 1933, becoming an assistant professor in 1938, an associate professor in 1942, and a full professor in 1947. Griswold earned a Ph.D. in the new field of history, the arts and letters, writing the first dissertation in
American studies in 1933. The American cult of success was the dissertation's subject, informed in part by Griswold's brief time on Wall Street between his graduation and the
stock market crash of 1929. Griswold authored
The Far Eastern Policy of the United States (1938),
Farming and Democracy (1948),
Essays on Education (1954),
In the University Tradition (1957), and
Liberal Education and the Democratic Ideal (1959). He had changed from being an ardent internationalist in his undergraduate years to becoming a non-interventionist in the late 1930s. He avoided calling himself an isolationist because of its negative connotations. He was an ardent liberal New Dealer, and feared that involvement in world affairs would lead to war and war would undermine American liberalism. He wanted American foreign-policy to focus on the Western Hemisphere, and ignore the problems in Europe and Asia. By 1938 he had broken with Roosevelt because of the presidents increasing involvement in European and Asian affairs. He said that Washington should abandon its policy befriending China and instead establish friendlier relationships with Japan. He was deeply suspicious of Britain, which he believed was trying to trick or maneuver Roosevelt into pulling the United States into a world war. He opposed Lend Lease aid to Britain when it was facing Hitler alone; however, in the summer of 1941, he decided Hitler was America's greatest enemy and Hitler's alliance with Japan made any agreement with Tokyo impossible.
President of Yale University In 1950, Griswold became president of Yale University, serving until his death in 1963. Griswold was unaware of his imminent rise to the presidency. The day of his elevation, he told his wife, "Thank God we're not in that racket", after they had lunched with a friend, the president of
Mount Holyoke College. As president, Griswold is credited with tripling the university endowment to $375 million, building 26 new buildings and establishing research fellowships for young scholars, particularly in the sciences. He was arguably Yale's first modern president, and was widely quoted in the national media for his views on foreign affairs, amateur athletics, academic freedom, and in defense of the liberal arts against government intrusion. Griswold also worked in successful collaboration with
Nathan Pusey, his counterpart at Harvard, to maintain amateurism in athletics among universities known now as the
Ivy League. The decision to create the eleventh and twelfth
residential colleges at Yale, known as
Morse College and
Ezra Stiles College, was made by Griswold. In 1952, he established Master of Arts programs in teaching, affiliated with the traditional liberal arts departments. During
World War II he headed special U.S. Army training programs in languages and civil affairs.
Ben Kiernan is the current A. Whitney Griswold Professor of History at Yale. ==Quotes==