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Returning to Mexico, young Bob White took up work on the family paper and two hobbies: sports cars (he owns a Jag) and joining. His penchant for joining organizations got him widely known in the newspaper world, helps explain how the editor of the Mexico Ledger moved in one giant stride to become president and editor of the New York Herald Tribune. Board chairman and past president of the Inland Daily Press Association. Bob White is also a director of the American Newspaper Publishers Association, chairman of the Associated Press nominating committee, a member of the National Conference of Editorial Writers, the National Press Club and the American Society of Newspaper Editors, topping it all off with a long list of trusteeships, directorships, honorary posts and the job of national treasurer of Sigma Delta Chi, the professional journalism fraternity.
Hang or Dance. White's Mexico Ledger has a first-class reputation in Missouri, a motto ("Covering the news like dew covers Little Dixie'') and a strong Democratic policy. At the Herald Tribune, Bob White will be taking over one of the nation's oldest, staunchest Republican newspapers. When White first talked to Whitney, he pointed out that he was a Democrat, was keenly interested in whether Republican Whitney wanted to turn the Herald Tribune into a better newspaper or merely into a G.O.P. mouthpiece. Whitney's answer was firm: he wanted a good newspaper. On that basis, Whitney and White were agreed. Says Whitney: "It happens that Mr. White is a Democrat, while I am a Republican. The paper will continue its policy of complete objectivity in its news columns and of independent Republicanism on its editorial page."
It is a long way from Mexico, Mo. to New York, N.Y., and the top spot at the Herald Tribune is one of the toughest. In accepting the responsibility, Mexico's White also gets the authority to go with it. Where Whitney had sought two men, one to be editor and another to be president, White was handed both hats. Moreover, he will name a managing editor and business manager of his own choosing. Says he: "My neck is out. I'm either going to hang or dance." If he dances, it could be a mighty merry jig, both for Bob White and the New York Herald Tribune.