Theodore H. White
Theodore Harold White was an American political journalist, historian, and novelist, best known for his accounts of the 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972 presidential elections.
White became one of Time magazine's first foreign correspondents, serving in East Asia and later as a European correspondent. He is best known for his accounts of two presidential elections, The Making of the President, 1960 (1961, Pulitzer Prize) and The Making of the President, 1964 (1965), and for associating the short-lived presidency of John F. Kennedy with the legend of Camelot. His intimate style of journalism, centring on the personalities of his subjects, strongly influenced the course of political journalism and campaign coverage.
“The Americans of the age were not an irreligious people; and the fact that they were Christian was very important, for the marks of Christianity lay all across the Constitution.”
Theodore H. White
“Politics is a process which should slowly bring to public all the private worries and hopes of the individual.”
Theodore H. White
“Professionals in a campaign are servants; they can tell him only how to do something once he tells them what it is he wants to do.”
Theodore H. White
“The first and most essential quality of a presidential candidate, as Averell Harriman once pointed out, is that he should lust for the job - he should want it more than all things, with a passion surpassing all emotion and probably even all principle.”
Theodore H. White
“All men who run for presidency of the United States are amateurs; there is no way of becoming a professional at it, and all of them, win or lose, are forever altered in spirit of character by the ordeal.”
Theodore H. White
“The development of an image is a mysterious thing: once a public figure has been cast in a public role, it is almost impossible for him to change the character. It is as if someone has assembled personality traits into a convenient pattern, no writer ever re-examines it: it is easier to use the accepted pattern.”
Theodore H. White
“In the politics of consent, no victory is ever permanent unless the victor makes it firm on a base of persuasion.”
Theodore H. White
“The best politics for any president is to be a good president.”
Theodore H. White
“In politics, the things that do not happen are frequently as significant as those that do.”
Theodore H. White
“Every American election summons the individual voter to weigh the past against the future.”
Theodore H. White
“The 'smoke-filled room' as political reality is now as dead as Prohibition.”
Theodore H. White
“A genuine primary is a fight within the family of the party - and, like any family fight, is apt to be more bitter and leave more enduring wounds than battle with the November enemy.”
Theodore H. White
“To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can have.”
Theodore H. White
“The flood of money that gushes into politics today is a pollution of democracy.”
Theodore H. White