The short story of Supreme Court Justice Byron White

Byron White was humble and he was studious and he had the work ethic of one who grew up in a small Colorado town. Which was Wellington in his case. And it was here in Wellington that he went to school and where he played sports and even as a young boy of seven or eight, where he worked. Because everybody worked in his town.

But his parents, who didn’t even go through high school, made sure that Byron focused on his schoolwork. This was the top priority for both Byron and his older brother. For as long as he could remember his path in life was going to have a stop at college.

Byron graduated first in his high school class of six people. Which in Colorado meant that he was offered a full scholarship to the University of Colorado.

At Colorado, he became a star athelete. He led the football team to an undefeated record in his final year, and to the Cotton Bowl. Where he ran in touchdowns, passed for touchdowns, kicked extra points and intercepted passes. And it was also at Colorado that he found academic success. Byron started in chemistry, but changed to the humanities and economics. “I quit chemistry just at the point where you’ve done all the boring memory work and it begins to get interesting. I have a feeling that if I’d kept on with it I’d have ended up as a doctor. My parents wanted me to be what I wanted to be. They had a pretty simple prescription for living. You worked hard, did as well as you could and were considerate of other people’s feelings.”