This early work by Richard T. Ely was originally published in 1918 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. The World War and Leadership in a Democracy is an academic work and contains chapters on Religion in Germany, German Exploitation of Foreigners, Labor, Business, and Leadership, and much more. Richard Theodore Ely was born on 13th April 1854, in Ripley, New York, United States. Ely began his academic career as a professor and head of the Department of Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, where he worked from 1881 to 1892. During this period, Ely co-founded the American Economic Association and served as the groups secretary. He stood as President of the organisation between 1899 and 1901. The Association still titles its annual keynote address the Richard T. Ely Lecture in recognition of his services to the field. Ely published many works on politics and economics, including The Labor Movement in America (1886), Elementary Principles of Economics (1904), Property and Contract in their Relations to the Distribution of Wealth (1914), Russian Land Reform (1916), and many more.