Another member of the board was Earl's first cousin. The Republican state executive committee declared Smith the winner which brought criticism from Ralph Duggan, the Dewey's presidential campaign manager in Tennessee. White stated that the committee ruled against him because he supported Dewey and announced his independent candidacy. Democratic nominee Mary Shadow defeated White and Smith. She defeated him in the 1950 election. Four people were accused of tampering with the election, but no indictments were issued. Tenure White voted for Hillsman Taylor to be Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1909. White ran to be the leader of the Republicans in the state house in 1933, but withdrew and M.G. Goodwin was selected instead. He served on the Labor and Education committees in the 1900s, Ways and Means committee in the 1930s, and Banking, Educator, and Labor committees in the 1940s. White was selected as the minority leader in the state house in 1936, and also nominated for speaker. White supported the reelection of U.S. Senator James B. Frazier during the 1910–11 election. White sought an appointment to the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1937. Superintendent White was appointed by the county court for his first five terms until the state legislature changed the selection process to be done through an election and increased the term from two years to four years. He defeated independent candidate J.E. Atkinson in the 1928 election. The county court selected to appoint White as superintendent rather than incumbent Tallent in 1939, by a vote of 11 to 8. White became the superintendent of schools in Rhea County. He sought to be appointed as superintendent of public instruction by Governor Alfred A. Taylor, but J.B. Brown was appointed instead. In 1921, he appointed the first woman to serve on a school board in Rhea County. In 1929, White filed a $10,000 () libel lawsuit against B.C. Kimmer, a former member of the state house and member of the county court, but his case was dismissed by Judge Leslie Rogers Darr. John T. Scopes was a teacher at one of the schools that White oversaw. He was one of the attorneys for prosecution of the Scopes trial. White replaced George Rappleyea in the prosecution on May 25, 1925, at the suggestion of Neal as Rappleyea believed in evolution. White invited Billy Sunday to assist in the prosecution, but he declined the offer. In 1929,