Robert M. White II, former editor and publisher of The Mexico Ledger, an activist for First Amendment rights and a pioneer in cable television, died Wednesday, November 19, 2008. He was 93 years old and had been ill for some time.

White, son and grandson of the owners of The Ledger, took over as co-editor, publisher and president in 1945, after World War II. He and his father, L.M. White, both wanted to hold the title of “editor,” which both regarded as more important than “publisher” or “president,” and so they shared it until the elder White’s death 20 years later.

White worked in numerous journalism organizations for four decades to promote freedom of the press both domestically and abroad.

He took a special interest in foreign affairs and the problems of the foreign press, and traveled the world, writing for small-town Missouri readers about his experiences in war zones, his interviews with world leaders and rebels, and his explorations of little-known spots.

He served as an active member and eventually an officer in all the major newspaper organizations of his day, including what is currently known as the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Conference of Editorial Writers, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, American Newspaper Publishers Association, the Missouri Press Association, the Washington Institute on Foreign Affairs, the Inland Daily Press Association and The World Press Freedom Committee.

White was elected to the board of directors of the Associated Press in 1971 and served through 1980, chairing the board’s broadcast committee.

In addition to his service to news organizations, White served as a trustee on the boards of the State Historical Society of Missouri, Missouri Military Academy, Commerce Bancshares, the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Foundation, Christian and Stephens colleges, Washington and Lee University, the Missouri Arts Council, Midwest Research Institute, Butler Manufacturing and the 1964 World’s Fair.

White began his newspaper career as a boy, working as a carrier for The Ledger. In the 1930s he worked as a reporter for The Ledger and later reported for the United Press in Kansas City.

During World War II, White served in the South Pacific on the staff of Gen. Robert Eichelberger and Gen. Douglas MacArthur; he also was posted as a liaison with Australian forces in New Guinea. White was awarded a Bronze Star and retired from the military as a lieutenant colonel.

In 1956-58, while continuing to edit The Ledger, White also served as special consultant to Marshall Field, then publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times. White was president and editor of the New York Herald Tribune from 1959-61. His front-page editorial, “A Letter to Mr. Krushchev,” was published in English and Russian and won the Silurian award for best New York City editorial in 1960.

White returned to Mexico in 1961. In 1966, White founded See TV in Mexico, the first cable television operation in central Missouri. He sold the See TV in 1981.

In 1971 he was named to the Missouri Academy of Squires.

In 1978, he was presented with the Mexico Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award. He was instrumental in helping Mexico get a Veterans Nursing Home. While in Mexico, White was a member of the Mexico Rotary Club, the Masonic Lodge and for several years served as a volunteer assistant football coach for the Mexico Bulldogs.

White received the Society for Professional Journalists’ Distinguished Service Award for editorials in 1952 and 1967, and in 1970 won its Wells Memorial Key for distinguished service to journalism. He was a former president of the society (1968) and of its Foundation (1969). White also served on the Pulitzer Prize jury (1964-65) and was chairman of the American Committee of the International Press Institute (1982-85). 

In 1982, White was elected into the Association of Churchill Fellows of Westminster College in Fulton.

Along with his former Kansas City UPI colleague, Walter Cronkite, White was the oldest finalist chosen to be NASA’s Journalist in Space in 1986 at age 71; the flight was canceled in the aftermath of the shuttle Columbia disaster.

In 1999, White followed his father and grandfather, Col. Robert M. White, into the Missouri Press Association’s Hall of Fame. He, his father and grandfather were the first three-generation recipients of the University of Missouri’s Distinguished Service to Journalism Award – Col. White in 1934, L.M. White in 1943 and Robert White in 1967.

White sold The Ledger in 1986 after 41 years at its helm, and moved to Washington, D.C., where he was active in the Cosmos Club, Burning Tree Golf Club and the National Press Association. He also was a member of the Bohemian Club of San Francisco. He moved to Columbia, Mo., in 2002.

White was born in Mexico on April 6, 1915 to L. Mitchell and Maude See White. He was a graduate of the Missouri Military Academy. He graduated with a degree in history from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., where he played on the university football team and was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. The university awarded White an honorary doctoral degree in 1972 for his work for freedom of the press.

He was preceded in death by a sister, Jane White Burton of Portland, Ore.

White was married to the late Barbara Spurgeon White for 34 years; three other marriages ended in divorce. White leaves four children, Barbara W. McClain of Leawood, Kan., Jane See White of Tucson, Ariz., Laura W. Erdel of Columbia, R. Mitchell White III of Dallas; six grandchildren, William T. McClain of Los Angeles, S. Edward Erdel of Columbia, R. Mitchell Erdel of Columbia, Laura M. White of Tucson, Ariz., Jane W. Erdel of Columbia and Robert M. White IV of Dallas.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to the Missouri Newspapers Digital Archive at the State Historical Society of Missouri, 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, MO 65201.
Services will be announced in Friday’s Ledger. Arnold Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

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