Political leader, was born at West Lafayette, Ohio, Feb. 24, 1867, son of Robert and Sarah Heslip (Williams) Kirkpatrick. He was graduated A. B. at Albion (MI) college in 1893. During his last year at college he won first honors at the Michigan State collegiate prohibition contest, and at the national oratorical contest of the Intercollegiate Prohibition Association held at Harvey, IL, June 30, 1893, he was rated first for thought and composition on his oration. During 1893-95 he did postgraduate work at Vanderbilt university and the University of Chicago. In the latter year he became a professor of history and social sciences and principal of the normal department oat Southwestern college, Winfield, Kansa. Resigning this post in 1898, he lectured for two years under the auspices of the Kansas State Temperance Union and in 1901-02 taught history and political economy at Ripon (WI) college. Meanwhile, he had become deeply interested in the principles of Socialism and he gave up his teaching position in order to make a systematic study of it. Joining the Socialist party in 1903, he made a lecture tour through Michigan under the auspices of the national office of the party, and thereafter the major part of his time and energy was devoted to the Socialist movement. He taught at the Rand school of social science, New York city, and the School of International Socialism, Kansas City, Kansas; was a lecturer for the New York city board of education for five years; was head of the literature department in the national office of the Socialist party (1924-25) and was national secretary of the Socialist party (1925-26). In 1916 he ran for vice-president of the United States on the Socialist ticket and in 1934 was Socialist candidate for U.S. senator from CA, his poll of 108,000 votes in the latter election, being a record for the party in that state. In line with the principles he had professed for so many years, Kirkpatrick opposed the entry of the United States into the World war in 1917 and in the course of three antiwar lecture trips under the auspices of his party he was attacked four times by mobs but escaped without injury through his quick wit and the alertness of friends. When the platform and tactics of the party underwent change at the national convention of 1936, he resigned his membership and joined in organizing the Social Democratic Federation. He was a member of the national executive committee of this body until his death. He contributed frequently to the "Appeal to Reason" and the "American Appeal" and was the author of several books. "War - What For?" (1910) was translated into four languages and a sale of 150,000 copies by August 1914, while "Think - or Surrender" (1916) sold 255,000 copies and "Mental Dynamite" (1906) sold 200,000 copies. He also wrote "The Slander of the Toilers" (1919). He was a member of the American Federation of Teachers. His deep human understanding and sympathy drew people strongly to him and his lectures on Socialism, labor and kindred subjects were widely popular. His avocations included music, literatur and gardening. He was married twice: (1) in Newark, NJ, July 13, 1913 to Mrs. Marian (Pattullo) Monheimer, daughter of David Pattullo, by whom he had a son, George Pattullo Kirkpatrick, and from whom he was divorced in 1926; (2) in Chicago, July 10, 1926, to Florence Slocum, daughter of Charles Henry Hall, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He died at San Gabriel, CA, Mar. 17, 1937.