Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 1, 1994 TAG: 9405010087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOUISVILLE, KY. LENGTH: Short
He had been in failing health since a stroke about eight years ago, said his wife, June McConnell White.
White began his journalism career at the Austin Statesman in the 1920s while a student at the University of Texas and joined The Associated Press at the age of 20.
He covered Washington and World War II for the AP, then joined The New York Times in 1945. He was the Times' chief congressional correspondent in 1958 when he left to write a syndicated column.
"The Taft Story," his biography of Robert A. Taft, the Republican senator from Ohio who ran for president in 1952, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1955.
White's other books include "The Citadel," based on his experience covering the Senate, and his memoirs, "The Making of a Journalist."
William Smith White was born May 20, 1906, in De Leon, Texas.
He was an AP editor in New York when he volunteered for military service after Pearl Harbor. An attack of spinal meningitis led to his discharge and he became an AP war correspondent in Europe.
His column, distributed by United Feature Syndicate, appeared in as many as 175 newspapers nationally until he retired in 1973.
Besides his wife, survivors include two daughters, Victoria Berger of Washington, D.C., and Cia Stanton White of Louisville; three grandchildren; one sister and one brother.
by CNB