[1] He was the founder of Lapham's Quarterly, a publication about history and literature, and wrote numerous books on politics and current affairs.

He was largely responsible for the modern look and prominence of the magazine, having introduced many of its signature features, including the "Harper's Index".

He announced that he would become editor emeritus in 2006, continuing to write his Notebook column for the magazine as well as editing a new journal about history, Lapham's Quarterly.

[7] The magazine arrived in subscribers' mailboxes before the convention took place, as Senior says "forcing Lapham to admit that the scene was a fiction".

Senior continues, "By this logic, though, I could have chosen not to read Pretensions to Empire before reviewing it, since I already knew Lapham's sensibility, just as he claims to know the Republicans.

[2][8][9] After spending a year studying history at the University of Cambridge, Lapham wrote for the San Francisco Examiner, the New York Herald Tribune, The Saturday Evening Post, and Life.

[12] Lapham wrote The American Ruling Class (2005), a movie done in documentary style and featuring fictional characters and real people, i.e. Bill Bradley, Hodding Carter III and Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed, pondering the question "Is there a ruling class in America?