than trying to bring them to agree with him, he sought to find common ground on which they could they stand together. In 1893, former US President Rutherford B. Hayes presented Gladden for the position of president of Ohio State University, but the board rejected him as "too pro-Catholic" because of his opposition to the anti-Catholic American Protective Association. However, the University of Notre Dame awarded Gladden an honorary doctorate for his stance. Gladden made several lecture tours to Great Britain. During the one in 1898, he defended the United States for entering the Spanish–American War as "humane." He exerted an international influence as the "father" of the Social Gospel movement. His concern about social issues was grounded on his liberal theology that viewed the Church's mission as applying Christian values to secular institutions. Gladden served a term on the Columbus City Council between 1900 and 1902 and became an advocate of municipal ownership of public works. He also led a movement to change the elections in Ohio from October to November. He was one of his nation's "most progressive leaders" in efforts to resolve what he called "The Negro Problem," both economically and politically. He was Vice President of the American Missionary Association between 1894 and 1901 and served as its president between 1901 and 1904. In that capacity, he traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to visit Atlanta University and meet W. E. B. Du Bois. He was shocked at the condition of Southern blacks and started speaking out against racism. Gladden's famous 1903 sermon "Murder as an Epidemic" condemned lynching. He resigned as President of the American Missionary Association to take up a position as the Moderator of the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States in 1904. In 1905, he made national news by denouncing a $100,000 gift to the Congregationalists from John D. Rockefeller as "tainted." Later life In 1914, Gladden retired and became "minister emeritus" of the First Congregational Church. He remained active in other ways until he died of a stroke on July 2, 1918. The New York Times carried the news that "Gladden, nationally known Congregational minister" had died. Gladden was predeceased by Jennie, his wife of 49 years, who died May 8, 1909. The last four years of her life she suffered arteriosclerosis that brought her to a state of bed-ridden dementia. Never in the limelight, Jennie was "quietly supportive