William Allen White: Defender of Democracy, 1919-1944

Once upon a time, William Allen White of Emporia, Kansas, was a household name in America. An acquaintance ofevery twentieth century president from Theodore Rooseveltto Franklin Roosevelt, he held a close friendship with theformer and generally was an admirer of the latter. Whiteallied himself with the Progressive movement early in thetwentieth century, originally from the influence of T. R., butalso from others such as Woodrow Wilson. The authorof numerous books, both fiction and non-fiction, and animportant political advisor within the Republican party, although he traveled and spoke often both in the UnitedStates and sometimes abroad, White nevertheless was mostproud of the fact that he was a small-town newspaper editorin Emporia until his death there in 1944. He was an importantsupporter of middle class and middle western values, buta close examination of his writings from the end of WorldWar I until 1944 shows that he was most concerned aboutsupport for democracy, which he defined as Christianityinstitutionalized. This came at a time when democraticprinciples were coming under scrutiny or outright attack, both at home and abroad. Politically he always sought topromote the moderate course, attempting to bring bothmajor parties together in a common ground. Even thoughhe is not widely known today, perhaps his message has asignificant value to twenty-first-century America.