He was a prominent U.S. diplomat during the 1890's and 1900s, as well as one of the signers of the Treaty of Versailles. President Theodore Roosevelt, described White as "the most useful man in the entire diplomatic service before and during my Presidency." Colonel House, the chief aide to President Woodrow Wilson, called White "the most accomplished diplomatist this country has ever produced." He was appointed by President Roosevelt on March 6, 1905 as Ambassador to Italy and on December 19, 1906 as Ambassador to France. He continued as Ambassador of France until 1909. White remained active in U.S. diplomacy. Acting as de facto chief of staff, he accompanied the then-former President Roosevelt on his tour of Europe in 1910. During this trip Roosevelt and White met with every major chief of state in Europe except Tsar Nicholas II.Henry White was born in Baltimore, Maryland to a very wealthy and socially well-connected family. His father was John Campbell White. His mother was Eliza Ridgely White. As a boy, White was taken by his grandfather to meet the then- US President Franklin Pierce. During the Civil War, the family supported the Confederacy. In 1865, with the Confederate defeat the family moved to France. White finished his education in Paris. In 1870, the family moved to England after the fall of Napoleon III during the Franco-Prussian War.On December 3, 1879, he married the beautiful Margaret (Daisy) Stuyvesant Rutherfurd. She was the daughter of Lewis Morris Rutherfurd, known inventor and scientist and Margaret Chanler Stuyvesant, niece and adopted daughter of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant. Her brother was Rutherfurd Stuyvesant who had changed his name, in order to inherit the fortune of Peter Stuyvesant. His new wife was ambitious and a hard working woman who encouraged White to pursue the career in diplomacy. Henry and Margaret White had two children:Muriel White (Oct 12, 1880-Mar 13, 1943). Muriel married Count (Ernst Hans Christoph Roger) Hermann Seherr-Thoss, a Prussian aristocrat, in Paris on Apr 28, 1909 and lived in Germany the rest of her life. John Campbell White (Mar 1884-Jun 11, 1967). John married Elizabeth Moffat. He served in the US Foreign Service as a diplomat from 1914 to 1945, and was US Ambassador to Haiti (1941-1944) and Peru (1944-1945).In 1910 Henry White purchased the property at 1624 Cresent Place in Washington D.C. The red brick Georgian home was completed in 1912 at a cost of $155,497 and designed by the famed architect John Russel Pope who designed the Jefferson Memorial, the National Galley of Art (West Wing)and the National Archives. The house was the scene of many social and historical events. Guests included President Warren Harding, Georges Clemenceau, Robert Cecil and Henry Cabot Lodge.In 1987 the house was purchased by the Meridan International Center and serves as the Cafritz Gallaries, Meridan's primary exhibition space.John Singer Sargent's famous painting "Mrs. Henry White-1883" (Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherfurd) was donated by John Campbell White to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.In 1899, his wife Margaret fell ill with a degenerative nerve disease. His daughter, Muriel would fill in as hostess in her mother's absences. Margaret died on September 2, 1916. On November 3, 1920, White re-married, to Emily Vanderbilt Sloane. His health began to fail in 1926 and he spent much of his time confined to bed. On July 15, 1927, Henry White the famed diplomate died at "Elm Court", 310 Old Stockbridge Road in Lenox, MA a few hours after undergoing surgery. White was a member of the Knickerbocker Club from 1876 until his death.