John Arthur Garraty (July 4, 1920 – December 19, 2007) was an American historian and biographer. He specialized largely in American political and economic history. Garraty earned an undergraduate degree at Brooklyn College in 1941 and completed his doctorate at Columbia University in 1948. During World War II, he served in the United States Merchant Marine as a swimming instructor. His 1953 biography, Henry Cabot Lodge (Knopf, 1953), was the first scholarly and authoritative life of the Massachusetts politician Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924); a notable feature of that book was the set of footnotes written at Garraty's invitation by Lodge's grandson, Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (1902-1985), expressing disagreement with some of Garraty's interpretations and findings. He taught at Michig