Fittingly, White’s career exemplified his line. His editorial “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” (1896) confronted demagoguery with plainspoken rigor, while “Mary White” (1921), a luminous obituary for his daughter, transmuted grief into gratitude for the day he had with her. In 1924 he ran for Kansas governor chiefly to oppose the Ku Klux Klan, sacrificing political success for civic conscience. These episodes show a man who learned from the past, cherished the present community before him, and stepped into the future without flinching. The quote, then, reads not as slogan but as practiced stance. [...]
