Lala Lajpat Rai was a prolific nationalist leader and writer who authored biographies of Giuseppe Mazzini, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Shivaji, and Shrikrishna to inspire the Indian youth with ideals of patriotism and self-sacrifice. He stayed in the United States from 1914 to 1920, during which time he founded the Indian Home Rule League of America in New York (1917) and wrote 'Young India'. Following his return to India, he was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly in 1923 as a member of the Swaraj Party. It is a common historical distinction that while Lala Lajpat Rai was a prominent member of the Assembly, Vithalbhai Patel was the first Indian to be elected as its President (Speaker) in 1925.