Born mixed race and with very fair skin and straight hair, Walter F. White (1893-1955) was able to "pass" for white. He leveraged this ambiguity as a reporter, bringing to light the darkest crimes in America and helping to plant the seeds of the civil rights movement. But as the author of Dewey Defeats Truman recounts here, White's life was fraught with internal and external conflict—much like the story of race in America. Starting as an obscure activist, White ultimately became a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance and the head of the NAACP.

"Baime tells White's story with verve, clarity, and perspicacity…. A riveting profile of a little-studied Black civil rights leader." —Library Journal