William Smith White (May 20, 1905 – April 30, 1994) was an American journalist between the 1920s and 1970s. During his career, White worked with theAustin Statesman from 1926 to 1945 and theNew York Times from 1945 to 1958. Upon leaving the New York Times in 1958, White spent the remainder of his journalism career with theUnited Feature Syndicate until his 1973 retirement. Outside of journalism, White was a biographer who won the 1955Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography forThe Taft Story. After writing works onFranklin D. Roosevelt andLyndon B. Johnson throughout the 1960s, White received thePresidential Medal of Freedom in 1969.

White was born on May 20, 1905, inDe Leon, Texas. For his post secondary education, White attended theUniversity of Texas.^[1]

While attending university, White entered journalism as a reporter for theAustin Statesman before becoming a legislativecorrespondent for theAssociated Press in 1926.^[2] With the AP, White worked inAustin, Texas until moving to the newspaper'sWashington D.C. branch in 1933.^[3] After leaving forNew York in 1936, White was a photography editor until 1939. DuringWorld War II, White edited and reported stories about the war while also serving as an infantry for theUnited States Army.^[4]

In 1945, White left the Associated Press for theNew York Times and worked as a political correspondent. White started reporting stories on theUnited States Senate from 1945 to 1952 before becoming chief congressional correspondent in 1952.^[5] The following year, White took a two month break from the newspaper in 1953 to write a posthumous biography aboutRobert A. Taft forHarper & Brothers.^[6] White's book,The Taft Story, was published in 1954 and received thePulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in May 1955.^[6] During his time with the New York Times, White covered global events including South American revolutions and thecoloured vote constitutional crisis in theUnion of South Africa.^[7] In 1957, White publishedCitadel: The Story of the United States Senate.^[8]

Near the end of his tenure with the New York newspaper, White briefly taught as aregents professor at theUniversity of California from 1957 to 1958.^[5] WhenThomas L. Stokes resigned from theUnited Feature Syndicate due to poor health, White left his position at the New York Times in 1958 to take over for Stokes.^[9] Throughout the 1960s, White wrote a book onFranklin D. Roosevelt in 1961 and one onLyndon B. Johnson in 1964.^[10] White remained with UFS until his retirement in 1973.^[1]

Apart from receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1955, White was awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom in January 1969.^[11][12]

White was married and had two children.^[13] White died on April 30, 1994, inLouisville, Kentucky.^[7]

• 1905 births
• 1994 deaths
• Journalists from Texas
• American political writers
• Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners
• Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
• University of Texas at Austin alumni
• University of California faculty
• People from De Leon, Texas
• 20th-century American journalists
• 20th-century American male journalists

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from October 2019