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.

As press secretary, he served as spokesman and troubleshooter for the president and maintained an open-door policy with White House correspondents.

Less than a month before the 1940 presidential election, Early kneed a black police officer in the groin outside Madison Square Garden.

Roosevelt responded days before the election by appointing the nation's first black general, Benjamin O. Davis Sr., and announcing the creation of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Defense Secretary George Marshall said in a statement that he was "very distressed" at the news of Early's death and that he "served his country faithfully for many years."