Theodore White on a book cover

Theodore Harold White (May 6, 1915 – May 9, 1986) was an American political journalist, historian, and novelist, best known for his acclaimed accounts of the 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972 presidential elections. Image File history File links Theodore_H._White. ... Image File history File links Theodore_H._White. ... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... May 9 is the 129th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (130th in leap years). ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Born May 6, 1915, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of a Jewish lawyer, White received a scholarship to Harvard in 1934, based upon his academic achievements at the famous Boston Latin high school, which he graduated from in 1932. May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area    - City 232. ... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  Ranked 44th  - Total 10,555 sq mi (27,360 km²)  - Width 183 miles (295 km)  - Length 113 miles (182 km)  - % water 13. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ...

White graduated from Harvard in 1938 summa cum laude (Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. was a classmate), with a degree in Chinese history, and the following year, became one of Time's first foreign correspondents, being stationed in East Asia from 1939 to 1945. He then served as European correspondent for the Overseas News Agency (1948–50) and for The Reporter (1950–53). Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

With experience in analysing foreign cultures from his time abroad, White took up the challenge of analysing American culture with the books The Making of the President, 1960 (1961), The Making of the President, 1964 (1965), The Making of the President, 1968 (1969), and The Making of the President, 1972 (1973), all looking at American elections. They received a great deal of critical acclaim, and the first book won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... The gold medal awarded for Public Service in Journalism The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical compositions. ...

Shortly after JFK's death, White obtained an exclusive interview with Jacqueline Kennedy. During this interview Mrs. Kennedy spoke at length on a personal level about her husband and what she hoped would be his legacy. Her comments inspired White to compare the short-lived presidency of John F. Kennedy with the legend of Camelot, for which Life was also acclaimed. White covered the assassination and funeral extensively, also for Life. These all make one point clear: White was a very close friend of Kennedy. First official White House portrait. ... For other persons named John Kennedy, see John Kennedy (disambiguation). ... Camelot is the most famous castle associated with the legendary King Arthur. ... A cover of Life Magazine from 1911 Life has been the name of two notable magazines published in the United States. ... President Kennedy, with his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Texas Governor John Connally in the Presidential limousine shortly before the assassination. ... The state funeral of John F. Kennedy followed his assassination on November 22, 1963. ...

White was the coauthor (with Annalee Jacoby) of Thunder Out of China (1946) and also wrote Fire in the Ashes (1953), The Mountain Road (1958), Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon (1975), the autobiographical In Search of History: A Personal Adventure (1978), and America in Search of Itself: The Making of the President, 1956–1980 (1982). He died on May 15, 1986, in New York City, New York. He was survived by two children, Heyden White Rostow and David Fairbank White. Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Big Apple, City that never Sleeps, Gotham Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1613 Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... David Fairbank White, American author and journalist, was born on January 30, 1951, in Paris, France. ...

Criticism of White

In her book, Theodore H. White and Journalism As Illusion, Joyce Hoffman alleges that White's "personal ideology undermined professional objectivity" (according to the review of her work by Library Journal). She bases this conclusion on what she alleged to be conscious mythmaking on behalf of at least three of White's journalistic subjects:

• Diplomat David Bruce, in a profile
• President Kennedy, in The Making of the President and subsequent works
• Chinese Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek, for Time

The author alleges that White self-censored any information embarrassing to his subjects, and tended to overlook their flaws to portray them as heroes. The Chinese Nationalist Party (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Tongyong Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo Kuo-min-tang), commonly known as the Kuomintang (KMT), is a centre-right political party in the Republic of China on Taiwan, and is currently the largest political party in terms of sitting Legislative... Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ...

According to historian David Halberstam (in his book, The Powers That Be), much of White's China reporting for Time Magazine was extensively rewritten in order to reflect publisher Henry Luce's admiration for Chiang. It has been separately alleged [1]that that White indulged in mythmaking and hero worship in favor of Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China, some of which were later published in his In Search of History. Mao redirects here. ... The Communist Party of China (CPC) (official name, though almost universally known in English as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)) (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng) is the ruling political party of the Peoples Republic of China, a position guaranteed by the countrys...

External links

• Theodore H. White
• Amazon.com's page on Hoffman's work and editorial and user reviews