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The Autobiography of William Allen White
"A crackling good read. Griffith, in slicing off fat and organizing the material more sensibly, has really made the autobiography much more accessible to modern readers. After all, White himself would have done some such editing job had he lived. . . . Griffith's introduction is informative and entertaining."—George Juergens, author of Joseph Pulitzer and the New York World and News from the White House
"Compulsively readable; White knew "everyone" in his day, and he has a wonderful journalistic talent for the memorable and evocative story. . . . The book is both an important political and cultural document and a lasting example of the autobiographical art, a classic of the genre. I welcome its reissue."—Paul Boyer, Henry R. Luce Visiting Professor of American Culture, Northwestern University, author of Urban Masses and Moral Order in America, 1820-1920
Author Biography: Sally Foreman Griffith is the author of Home Town News: William Allen White and the Emporia Gazette.
392 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1946
About the author
William Allen White
138 books8 followersWilliam Allen White 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.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 7, 2018
A work that feels oddly current.
It was a slow start, reading The Autobiography of William Allen White. His handling of his boyhood is inept; it seemed as though White lacked the talent for narrative, especially narrative that spanned memory. This improved as the work unfolded, but it was not so much from the fashioning of a good narrative as from the emergence of the author's other, evident strengths. Portraiture is one of these strengths. White's depiction of Mark Hanna, for instance, and of many another prominent figure of his time. Female figures, not so much. Edna Ferber, for instance, appears repeatedly, but more as furniture than as agent. Personal development, too, emerges - sometimes a little awkwardly, but it is there. By the time we come to the Mary White editorial, we are ready for it.
The personal development is essential to the book, for through much of its span, White is not an attractive figure. He is a self-centered smartass. He is chastened, seasoned, and stimulated by his times, embracing a broad range of reforms and relationships. His chronicle of the reform era from the vantage of Exchange Street, Emporia, is an irreplaceable perspective on the times. Perhaps I am personally inclined to identify with a fellow who is fundamentally conservative but is propelled through his times by an awakening moral sense.
I lived on Exchange Street for the better part of a decade myself, and thus am equipped to note the limits of White's progressivism. White lived, I mean he resided physically, on the boundary between comfortable white Emporia and marginal black Emporia. White would have considered himself color-blind. I think he was comfortably blind to much that he should have seen.
Finally, through the final chapters of the book, I could not help reflecting on our American situation a century on from White's heyday. White was distressed by reactionary developments, while still animated by old loyalties. When overt bigotry impinged on his own community, he went on the offensive along with the better angels. His position, and his response, are worthy of study today.
It was a slow start, reading The Autobiography of William Allen White. His handling of his boyhood is inept; it seemed as though White lacked the talent for narrative, especially narrative that spanned memory. This improved as the work unfolded, but it was not so much from the fashioning of a good narrative as from the emergence of the author's other, evident strengths. Portraiture is one of these strengths. White's depiction of Mark Hanna, for instance, and of many another prominent figure of his time. Female figures, not so much. Edna Ferber, for instance, appears repeatedly, but more as furniture than as agent. Personal development, too, emerges - sometimes a little awkwardly, but it is there. By the time we come to the Mary White editorial, we are ready for it.
The personal development is essential to the book, for through much of its span, White is not an attractive figure. He is a self-centered smartass. He is chastened, seasoned, and stimulated by his times, embracing a broad range of reforms and relationships. His chronicle of the reform era from the vantage of Exchange Street, Emporia, is an irreplaceable perspective on the times. Perhaps I am personally inclined to identify with a fellow who is fundamentally conservative but is propelled through his times by an awakening moral sense.
I lived on Exchange Street for the better part of a decade myself, and thus am equipped to note the limits of White's progressivism. White lived, I mean he resided physically, on the boundary between comfortable white Emporia and marginal black Emporia. White would have considered himself color-blind. I think he was comfortably blind to much that he should have seen.
Finally, through the final chapters of the book, I could not help reflecting on our American situation a century on from White's heyday. White was distressed by reactionary developments, while still animated by old loyalties. When overt bigotry impinged on his own community, he went on the offensive along with the better angels. His position, and his response, are worthy of study today.
September 23, 2020
When I was a boy, both the presidencies of Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, and the adventurous crusades of the Progressives of the early 20th century, were much more likely to be remembered than now, some 70 years later.
And that is too bad in many ways, since the Progressives -- and those two presidents who represented many of their interests -- were fighting some of the same forces that we are once again facing in the 21st century: entrenched greed and the power of the political class that serves it, widespread corruption in those who have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, and those resisting living wages and safe working conditions for all.
This is the second of the four autobiographies of that period that I intend to read: the first was by Ray Stannard Baker, and the remaining three are by H.L. Mencken, Oswald Garrison Villard, and Lincoln Steffens.
Ever since I decided to pursue the study of history at St. Ambrose College I have been drawn to the issues, drama, and unresolved challenges of the late 19th and early 20th century, both in the US and in Europe. These were the years when the great masses of people -- often truly the unwashed and unlearned -- began to play significant roles in their counties' histories, if only as manipulated pawns. And, as we know all too well today, many of us are more pawn-like than ever as social media, tweets, and 24-hour "news" cycles constantly seek to work us up, inflame our passions, and fuel our anger.
William H. White, like the other men whose autobiographies I have read or intend to read, was a journalist, at a time that -- in retrospect -- can be seen as the perhaps the peak influence of those who would become preeminent journalists, widely read and closely followed influencers.
White stands out among them principally for remaining the editor of a newspaper in a modest town in Kansas -- Emporia.
Why would a reader today even both to read an account of a man who has been dead for 70 years?
For several good, but different, reasons:
First, it is an extraordinary glimpse into what it was like to have been a boy growing up in the 1880s and 1890s in a small town. As a very young boy, for instance, readers not only get to follow him along on frequently amusing adventures, the kind that most young people today who live in large cities no longer have the chance to do, but he also encountered small businesses that by the time he had become a long man had disappeared because "progress" had come to Kansas: bridle and wagon makers, for example. The "feel" is intensely local, in a sense that is almost impossible today.
Second, it is a window into the kind of political king-making and outright corruption that was characteristic of the late 19th century: even rural states like Kansas had political bosses and the dominant political party -- the Republicans -- fought within itself in offering rival slates for county and state positions. As the power of the railroads grew -- the sole link Kansas had to markets elsewhere in the United States -- so also did their tendrils reach deep into Kansas' politicians' pockets. All of this is a good lesson on how money power ALWAYS seeks to control political affairs, including candidates and legislation favorable to them. White became quite the player in his county, first, but then in Kansas and even nationally as he became attracted to the progressive cause and an advocate for Teddy Roosevelt. Like Baker, Steffens, and Villard, he became an ardent Progressive, working with them to both publish accounts of abuses and corruption and to support men who promised to correct these.
Third, while Baker became very attached to Woodrow Wilson, although he also knew and liked Teddy Roosevelt, White was more of a political animal himself. He was one of Roosevelt's friends and counselors, and played a key role in supporting Roosevelt after he had decided to challenge the incumbent Republican president -- Howard Taft -- for the nomination in 1912. When Roosevelt lost, in a convention rigged for that purpose, his followers bolted from the Republican convention and formed the ad hoc Bull Moose Party which nominated Roosevelt as its president. It was, in fact, this split between Roosevelt and Taft that allowed Wilson to win the presidency. But it is White's accounts of the maneuvering, including many smoke-filled rooms, and the dilemma Roosevelt faced in making the choice to bolt, that is revealing. Like all honest accounts of difficult decisions, I found myself wondering just what I would have done in White's place that would have been different.
Lastly, White is a graceful writer and includes many heart-felt moments that are beautifully rendered. While I was "in" the pages of his book, I was "with" him -- I could almost literally see, smell, and hear what he was relating (and in the 19th century the range of smells was, um, rather rich).
His most poignant chapter later in the book concerned the untimely death at age 18 of his daughter Mary. A free spirit, she appears as a most delightful human being with her open mind and heart. He concludes that chapter by reprinting the obituary he wrote and printed in his newspaper at the time, and his sorrow struck me vividly across the many years between us.
If you read this book, I am confident you will find many things in its pages that you will not only regard as memorable, but profoundly moving, too!
And that is too bad in many ways, since the Progressives -- and those two presidents who represented many of their interests -- were fighting some of the same forces that we are once again facing in the 21st century: entrenched greed and the power of the political class that serves it, widespread corruption in those who have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, and those resisting living wages and safe working conditions for all.
This is the second of the four autobiographies of that period that I intend to read: the first was by Ray Stannard Baker, and the remaining three are by H.L. Mencken, Oswald Garrison Villard, and Lincoln Steffens.
Ever since I decided to pursue the study of history at St. Ambrose College I have been drawn to the issues, drama, and unresolved challenges of the late 19th and early 20th century, both in the US and in Europe. These were the years when the great masses of people -- often truly the unwashed and unlearned -- began to play significant roles in their counties' histories, if only as manipulated pawns. And, as we know all too well today, many of us are more pawn-like than ever as social media, tweets, and 24-hour "news" cycles constantly seek to work us up, inflame our passions, and fuel our anger.
William H. White, like the other men whose autobiographies I have read or intend to read, was a journalist, at a time that -- in retrospect -- can be seen as the perhaps the peak influence of those who would become preeminent journalists, widely read and closely followed influencers.
White stands out among them principally for remaining the editor of a newspaper in a modest town in Kansas -- Emporia.
Why would a reader today even both to read an account of a man who has been dead for 70 years?
For several good, but different, reasons:
First, it is an extraordinary glimpse into what it was like to have been a boy growing up in the 1880s and 1890s in a small town. As a very young boy, for instance, readers not only get to follow him along on frequently amusing adventures, the kind that most young people today who live in large cities no longer have the chance to do, but he also encountered small businesses that by the time he had become a long man had disappeared because "progress" had come to Kansas: bridle and wagon makers, for example. The "feel" is intensely local, in a sense that is almost impossible today.
Second, it is a window into the kind of political king-making and outright corruption that was characteristic of the late 19th century: even rural states like Kansas had political bosses and the dominant political party -- the Republicans -- fought within itself in offering rival slates for county and state positions. As the power of the railroads grew -- the sole link Kansas had to markets elsewhere in the United States -- so also did their tendrils reach deep into Kansas' politicians' pockets. All of this is a good lesson on how money power ALWAYS seeks to control political affairs, including candidates and legislation favorable to them. White became quite the player in his county, first, but then in Kansas and even nationally as he became attracted to the progressive cause and an advocate for Teddy Roosevelt. Like Baker, Steffens, and Villard, he became an ardent Progressive, working with them to both publish accounts of abuses and corruption and to support men who promised to correct these.
Third, while Baker became very attached to Woodrow Wilson, although he also knew and liked Teddy Roosevelt, White was more of a political animal himself. He was one of Roosevelt's friends and counselors, and played a key role in supporting Roosevelt after he had decided to challenge the incumbent Republican president -- Howard Taft -- for the nomination in 1912. When Roosevelt lost, in a convention rigged for that purpose, his followers bolted from the Republican convention and formed the ad hoc Bull Moose Party which nominated Roosevelt as its president. It was, in fact, this split between Roosevelt and Taft that allowed Wilson to win the presidency. But it is White's accounts of the maneuvering, including many smoke-filled rooms, and the dilemma Roosevelt faced in making the choice to bolt, that is revealing. Like all honest accounts of difficult decisions, I found myself wondering just what I would have done in White's place that would have been different.
Lastly, White is a graceful writer and includes many heart-felt moments that are beautifully rendered. While I was "in" the pages of his book, I was "with" him -- I could almost literally see, smell, and hear what he was relating (and in the 19th century the range of smells was, um, rather rich).
His most poignant chapter later in the book concerned the untimely death at age 18 of his daughter Mary. A free spirit, she appears as a most delightful human being with her open mind and heart. He concludes that chapter by reprinting the obituary he wrote and printed in his newspaper at the time, and his sorrow struck me vividly across the many years between us.
If you read this book, I am confident you will find many things in its pages that you will not only regard as memorable, but profoundly moving, too!
December 20, 2016
Endless journalistic citations of William Allen White irritated me in my 60s teens enough never to want to read it, but now I see its virtue: for anyone who wants a feeling for mainstream progressive political culture in the United States (which was, until Woodrow Wilson, an almost exclusively GOP affair), this is spectacular. It's also important as a description of the difference between "settled" midwestern states east of and on the Mississippi in post-Civil War culture and the frontier but not wild west states. WAW knew Teddy Roosevelt well, got to know McKinley, Mark Hanna, Bryan, Jane Addams, Taft, and Harding. His judgment of men and women is superb.
WAW wrote the original "what's the matter with Kansas" editorial in the 1896s, which was a complaint about high taxes driving away business and jobs from his state - about as far from that idiot Thomas Frank as you can get.
WAW wrote the original "what's the matter with Kansas" editorial in the 1896s, which was a complaint about high taxes driving away business and jobs from his state - about as far from that idiot Thomas Frank as you can get.
September 10, 2021
He is the dean of modern journalism, and he had a very eventful life and I had looked forward to hearing his POV and insights. But his story is told in a Mark Twain like voice that many like, but that I found annoying and not very introspective.
May 31, 2009
An insight into US politics 100 years ago. Made me more suspicious of the political process than I already was. Excellent Pulitzer-winner.
June 23, 2022
A look into the booming 1880s in Kansas, conversations with merchants in Lawrence, the Progressive movement and encounters with Roosevelt… as seen through the eyes of perhaps the most well-connected man in the history of the state. The detailed early chapters are a great cultural account of the lives of Kansans in the late 19th century. The second half of the book has highlighted encounters with presidents and other key figures like William Jennings Bryan and Mark Twain, but gets bogged down in the logistics of political dealing. White died before completing this and the lack of a real conclusion is evident. As a lifelong editor his writing shines brightest in newspaper columns- most readers will be better served reading the Pulitzer Prize winning columns and some of his poems. For Kansans passionate about local history however, the first half of White’s account is essential.
September 17, 2018
White's autobiography offers objective, detailed, personal depictions of the country's growth and political machinations from a Midwesterner editor/journalist's perspective, and it is interesting, informative, and educational. A good and enlightening read.
February 22, 2018
It took me a long time to ready this autobiography, but it was worth it. I enjoyed this book even more because I live close to the places where a lot of this book took place!
August 22, 2024
the best writers in the world are the ones that worked on newspapers in my opinion, at least they are thre the ones i enjoy the most reading
January 23, 2008
Forgotten now, the grand old country newspaper editor.
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August 7, 200892W
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews