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Salmon Oliver Levinson, (born Dec. 29, 1865, Noblesville, Ind., U.S.—died Feb. 2, 1941, Chicago, Ill.), lawyer who originated and publicized the “outlawry of war” movement in the United States.

Levinson practiced law in Chicago from 1891 and became noted for his skill in reorganizing the finances of distressed corporations. In an article in the New Republic, March 9, 1918, he argued that violence by nation-states should be declared illegal. During the waning months of World War I he was able to win leaders in many fields to his cause. Levinson later assisted in drafting the Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928), which “outlawed” war.

Levinson's initial work and techniques in influencing key politicians was documented by John Stoner.

Levinson was a senior member of the law firm of Levinson, Becker, Gilbert, Peebles & Swiren, and founder of the American Committee for the Outlawry of War

Levinson was the son of Newman D. and Minnie (Newman) Levinson.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1888, his Bachelor of Laws degree from Lake Forest University in 1891, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws by Grinnell College in 1929 and by DePauw University in 1930. Admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1891, specializing in the reorganization of industrials and railroads. He reorganized the Westinghouse companies and the personal business affairs of George Westinghouse in 1908; and the San Francisco Railroad Company in 1915.

It is, however, as the instigator of the Outlawry of War movement that he has received world-wide recognition. Having had two sons in the service during the World War, the subject of the legal status of war was one which touched him closely. In 1918 he set forth his views in an article published in the New Republic. His idea — one that had never before been expressed — was to dethrone Mars from his legal pedestal, or to deprive war of its legal status rather than to try to mitigate the horrors of war. He founded and financed the American Committee for the Outlawry of War, enlisting in the campaign such workers as Raymond Robins, John Haynes Holmes, Judge Florence Allen, Dr. C. C. Morrison, and John Dewey. In 1927 Mr. Levinson went to Europe, established an office in London, and interviewed publicists, journalists, statesmen, and diplomats in England and France. The ideas thus promulgated were the foundation of the Kellogg-Briand peace pact, signed in Paris, August 27, 1928. In recognition of his services to humanity Mr. Levinson was awarded the Rosenberger medal by the University of Chicago, being one of only three to receive this honor.

Levinson was married in 1884 to Helen Bartlett Haire of Chicago, who died in 1904, with whom he had three children, Horace Clifford, Ronald Bartlett, and Helen Winthrop. In 1914 he was married to Ruth Langworthy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the mother of his youngest son, John Oliver.

NOTES Salmon Oliver Levinson." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online

Stoner, John Edgar. S.O. Levinson and the Pact of Paris; a study in the techniques of influence. Chicago, IL, The University of Chicago press [1943]

http://www.archive.org/stream/chicagosaccompli00bish/chicagosaccompli00bish_djvu.txt

http://photofiles.lib.uchicago.edu/db.xqy?show=browse3.xml|90

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,740534,00.html

http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/A-D/Arms-Control-and-Disarmament-Between-the-world-wars-1919-1939.html

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