Stephen Early

Stephen Tyree Early (August 27, 1889 - August 11, 1951) was a U.S. journalist and government official. He served as the first-ever White House Press Secretary under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945 and again under President Harry S. Truman in 1950.

Career

Early met Franklin D. Roosevelt while covering the 1912 Democratic Convention as a reporter for the United Press. From 1913 to 1917 Early was the Associated Press correspondent covering the Navy Department, during which time his acquaintance with Roosevelt and Louis Howe grew.

After serving in World War I with an Infantry Regiment and the Stars and Stripes he returned to the United States and was asked by Roosevelt to be the advance man for the 1920 Vice Presidential campaign. After the election Early returned to the Associated Press, and in 1927 became the Washington representative of Paramount News.

After the election of 1932, Franklin Rooosevelt asked him to serve as one of the White House Secretaries, and be responsible for press relations. Early held that post throughout the Roosevelt years, leaving government service June 1, 1945 to become Vice President of Pullman, Inc.

He returned to the government as Under Secretary, later Deputy Secretary of Defense from April 1949 to June 1950. In December 1950 Early was briefly Press Secretary to President Truman, filling in after the sudden death of Charles G. Ross. [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/stearly.htm]

References

*Linda Lotridge Levin, "The Making of FDR: The Story of Stephen Early, America's First Modern Press Secretary" (2007)
*Graham J. White, "FDR and the Press" (1979)

External links

* [http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu:8000/findbrow.cgi?Submit=Submit+Query&collection=Early%2C+Stephen+T. Stephen T. Early Papers]