Ruth C. Silva

Life and career Silva attended the University of Michigan, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree in 1943, and completed her PhD in 1948. After her PhD, she became an instructor at Wheaton College. She conducted research for many years on the procedures for replacing presidents who were no longer able to perform their responsibilities.

In 1962, Silva published the book Rum, Religion, and Votes: 1928 Re-examined. The book studied the 1928 United States presidential election, focusing in particular on the question of why Al Smith suffered such a lopsided defeat, and examining the extent to which it was due to prejudice against his Catholicism. The book was particularly noted for its use of multivariable regressions to analyze elections, which was then a new application of a methodology that had been made possible by recent advancements in computing.

Selected works Presidential Succession (1951) Rum, Religion, and Votes: 1928 Re-examined (1962) American Government Democracy and Liberty in Balance, with Edward Keynes, Hugh A. Bone, and David W. Adamany (1976)