William Allen White – 1868-1944

Born and raised in Emporia, Kansas, White was dubbed the “Sage of Emporia” for his journalism, especially his editorials, which appeared in the Emporia Gazette, making this small-town newspaper internationally famous. White embodied the best of small-town America, a mixture of optimism and liberal Republicanism with an outlook that, while parochial, was also enlightened and tolerant. His most famous editorial, “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” (August 15, 1896), was a critical attack on populism and was widely credited with helping moderate Republican William McKinley defeat populist Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the presidential election of 1896.