[3] His family moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where White grew up and went through the city's public schooling system.

[4] At the age of sixteen, he joined the Arkansas Army National Guard and served on the border with Mexico during the Pancho Villa Expedition.

During World War I, White fought in France as a sergeant in the 142nd Field Artillery Regiment,[4] After the war, White worked in the Los Angeles office of a cotton broker and later worked with cotton mills in Arkansas, California and Tennessee.

[5] As a 47-year-old cotton rancher, White ran for the United States House of Representatives seat in California's 9th congressional district.

White again ran for a seat in the House of Representatives in 1966, this time as the Republican nominee for California's 16th congressional district.