American writer, commentator and journalist Elmer Davis was born in Aurora, IN, in 1890. He was a Rhodes Scholar to Queen's College in Oxford, England, graduating with an M.A. in 1911. He taught high school in Franklin, IN, for a year. In 1913 he joined the staff of "Adventure" magazine, then got a job with the "New York Times". He left the Times in 1924 to become a freelance writer. In 1939 he was asked by officials at CBS Radio to temporarily take over for radio commentator H.V. Kaltenborn on his broadcast analyzing the war in Europe. His calmness, steadiness, knowledge of the subject and humorous and pithy commentary was a refreshing change for listeners who had tired of the bombastic, excitable, sometimes boorish and usually unctuous behavior of many of the radio commentators of the day, and Davis soon was drawing millions of listeners to the show, making him among the most popular broadcasters on radio.

On June 13, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt named Davis to head the newly formed Office of War Information (OWI), which was the government's "clearinghouse" regarding all information, official statements and propaganda about the war.