White was born in
Alton, Illinois. He attended
Alabama State University (then called Alabama State College), where he played baseball and basketball, and he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1957. While there, he got to know then local minister,
Martin Luther King Jr. He served in the
101st Airborne Division of the
United States Army from 1957 to 1959. In May 1995, White was inducted into the
Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame. He was an all-city baseball and basketball player at Chicago's Waller High School (now
Lincoln Park High School) and was inducted into the
Chicago Public League Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in June 1995. In 1999, he was inducted into the Alabama State University Sports Hall of Fame. In 1959, White founded the
Jesse White Tumbling Team to serve as a positive alternative for children residing in the Chicago area. Since its inception, more than 18,500 young men and women have performed with the team. White served as a
paratrooper in the
United States Army’s
101st Airborne Division and as a member of the
Illinois National Guard. He played
minor league professional baseball with the
Chicago Cubs organization. In the 1960s, a Cubs' official told him he was on a shortlist to be brought up to the
majors, but was dropped when he was seen at a restaurant with a white woman (who, it turns out, was interviewing him as a reporter). The Cubs honored him in 2021 by giving him a one day majors contract, making him a "Cub for life." White was elected to a fourth term in 2010, the leading vote-getter in the entire state. White has been an advocate on traffic safety issues. In 2007, he initiated teen driver safety legislation giving Illinois one of the top-ranked graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs in the country. In the first full year of the new law, teen fatal crashes in Illinois dropped by over 40 percent. White has also worked to crack down on
DUI. He partnered with
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) on key DUI legislation. Effective January 1, 2009, the new law requires all first-time DUI offenders who wish to obtain driving relief to install a
breath alcohol ignition interlock device (BAIID) on their vehicles. MADD called this one of the most important pieces of DUI legislation passed in Illinois in several years. While in office White worked to improve truck safety and the
CDL licensing process. In his first year in office, White initiated a comprehensive highway safety package to tighten up the rules and regulations of the CDL licensing process. Most recently, White implemented a key policy change beginning May 1, 2008 in which out-of-state
Commercial driver's license holders moving to Illinois must take and pass the written and road tests before they are issued an Illinois CDL. Illinois was the first state in the nation to require these tests for licensed CDL holders moving from another state. The policy change has received praise from law enforcement and trucking industry representatives. White improved customer services through streamlined operations and the innovative use of technology. Thisresulted in shorter than ever wait times at driver licensing facilities as more customers take advantage of new, technology-based transactions that the office has developed to better serve the public. In 2006, Internet transactions accounted for over $41 million. In 2008, these transactions accounted for over $73 million. White continues to be an advocate for organ and tissue donation. He initiated legislation creating the First Person Consent Organ/Tissue Donor Registry, which makes a person's decision to donate legally binding. Since 2006, more than 5 million people have signed up for the registry. In 1999, White inherited an office under a cloud of corruption from
George H. Ryan. White immediately pledged to restore integrity and eliminate all forms of institutionalized corruption and wrongdoing. Some key efforts included: establishing a code of conduct for employees; setting strict fundraising policies that prohibit employee contributions; hiring Jim Burns, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, as Inspector General and strengthened the Inspector General's office; and initiated legislation to make the position of Inspector General permanent with broad powers to root out corruption.
Senate appointment of Roland Burris In January 2009, White gained national attention for his decision to not certify
Roland Burris's nomination to the United States Senate following
corruption charges against former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. White steadfastly refused to co-sign a certificate of appointment for any appointee named by the governor, Blagojevich, who was arrested in part for trying to sell this very same senate seat. Burris then filed for mandamus in the
Illinois Supreme Court to compel White to certify the appointment as part of his routine administrative duties. On January 9, the Supreme Court ruled that White did not have to sign his name to any appointment made by Governor
Rod Blagojevich. The Court further ruled that White had fulfilled his legal obligations regarding the appointment of Burris to the U.S. Senate by registering the appointment in accordance with state law. The document registered did not include White's signature or the State Seal. On January 12, the U.S. Senate officially seated Burris as Illinois’ junior senator. ==Election history==