The third of four children to Croatian immigrant and retired Los Angeles policeman Steven George White (formerly Stojan Sutalo) (c. 1888 - 1951) and wife Helen (née Blanchard), he grew up primarily in Tujunga, California.

He left Occidental in early 1948 and, after a brief working hiatus from academia, transferred with a full Naval ROTC scholarship to the University of Southern California (USC) to complete his education.

In 1956, when he was seriously considering resigning from the Navy and a return to his law school ambitions, he first encountered Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, whose nuclear program was then on the brink of blossoming.

Their initial attempt to make a "run" for the Pole during their training with Trigger in early September was unsuccessful, owing to the unpredicted intensity[clarification needed] of underwater ice.

After the Russians launched the rocket Sputnik I (carrying the first man-made earth satellite) on October 5, and Sputnik II on November 3, as well as the United States' failed attempt to launch the Vanguard TV3 rocket satellite on December 6, the desire for comparable technological achievement intensified, particularly under the administration of President Eisenhower.

In January 1960, before completion of the overhaul, White received orders to Westinghouse's Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania for six weeks of school, thenceforth to serve as Engineer of USS Ethan Allen (SSBN-608), named for a Vermont Revolutionary War hero, then under construction by Electric Boat.

Shipyard work concluded, Ethan Allen was selected for the live Christmas Island shot—the only complete missile test with an armed warhead ever ordered—in July 1961.

In the summer of 1964, White received his first shore-duty assignment: to the staff of the Deputy to the Submarine Force Commander Atlantic (SUBLANT).

During his COMSUBLANT tenure, he created the Tactical Readiness Evaluation program, reconstructed war plans for interactions with the Soviet Union at a critical moment (taking into consideration their bastions for ballistic submarines), and transformed the program for negotiating the pace of operation and calculating "home port" time for officers and crew (converting OPTEMPO to PERSTEMPO).

In May 1983, he received his final assignment in the United States Navy: promotion to full four-star admiral and return to NAVMAT, this time as Chief.

[6] At the same time, he successfully combatted political questions,[7] allegations that he had broken conflict of interest laws,[8] death threats, and being the target of negative press.

In 2004, he joined 120 other retired US flag officers in signing an open letter that condemned John Kerry's vote against a funding bill for US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.