William Allen White

God's puppets (1916). By William Allen White

William Allen White (February 10, 1868 - January 29, 1944) was a renowned American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement. Between 1896 and his death, White became the iconic spokesman for middle America. *Early life* Born in Emporia, Kansas, White moved to El Dorado, Kansas, with his parents, Allen and Mary Ann Hatten White, where he spent the majority of his childhood. He loved animals and reading various books. He attended the College of Emporia and the University of Kansas, and in 1892 started work at The Kansas City Star as an editorial writer. *Family* White married Sallie Lindsay in 1893. They had two children, William Lindsay, born in 1900, and Mary Katherine, born in 1904. Mary died in a 1921 horse-riding accident, prompting her father to write a famous eulogy, "Mary White," on August 17, 1921. White visited six of the seven continents at least once in his long life. Due to his fame and success, he received 10 honorary degrees from universities, including one from Harvard. White taught his son William L. the importance of journalism, and after his death, William L. took charge of the Gazette and continued its local success. William L.'s wife, Kathrine, ran it after he died. Their daughter, Barbara, and her husband, David Walker, took it over much as William had earlier, and today the paper remains family-run, currently headed by WAW's great-grandson, Christopher White Walker. White developed a friendship with President Theodore Roosevelt in the 1890s that lasted until Roosevelt's death in 1919. Roosevelt spent several nights at White's Wight and Wight-designed home, Red Rocks, during trips across the United States. White was to say later, "Roosevelt bit me and I went mad."Later, White supported much of the New Deal, but voted against Franklin D. Roosevelt every time.