Jake Vardaman was born in Mississippi, the son of the late rabble-rousing Senator James K. Vardaman. He studied law at the University of Mississippi and Millsaps College, finally moved to St. Louis. There he was banker, lawyer and head of a shoe company. An artillery captain in World War I (not in Harry Truman's battery), he joined the Naval Reserve in 1939, was on Okinawa when the President called him home to be naval aide. Since then he has been a constant White House adviser."