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Stephen Early

American journalist (1889–1951)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 12, 2026
Entity authorityQ7609132
Source-derived summary

Stephen Tyree Early (August 27, 1889 – August 11, 1951) was an American journalist and government official. He served as the third White House press secretary under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945 and as the acting press secretary under President Harry S. Truman in 1950 after the sudden death of Charles Griffith Ross. Early served as press secretary longer than any other person.

Career

Early met Franklin D. Roosevelt while covering the 1912 Democratic National Convention as a reporter for the United Press. 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. After the election, Early returned to the Associated Press. In August 1923 Early covered the western trip of President Warren Harding in San Francisco and was the first newspaper man to report there that Harding had suddenly died. In 1927 he became the Washington representative of Paramount News, a newsreel company at the time.

Roosevelt administration

After the election of 1932, Franklin Roosevelt asked him to serve as one of the three White House Secretaries, responsible for press relations.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Stephen Early” as american journalist (1889–1951). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1889, 1951, 1933, 1945—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1889-08-27. The account is most persuasive where Stephen, Early and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american journalist (1889–1951). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7609132. VIAF identifies the subject as 77533239. The Library of Congress control number is n89125913. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1889, 1951, 1933 and 1945.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Stephen Early”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Stephen Early primary sources, Stephen Early archive and Stephen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Stephen Early”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Stephen Early” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.