Harry Barnard, 1906-1982, was born Harry Kletzky in Pueblo, Colorado, on September 5, 1906, to Pauline Halpern and David Kletzky. He was educated at the University of Denver (1924-1925), the University of Chicago (Ph.B., 1928) and John Marshall Law School (1935-1937). Barnard began his career in journalism as a reporter in Colorado. He later worked for the Chicago Herald Examiner, the Chicago Times, the Chicago Sun, and the Detroit Times. Barnard published several biographies, including Eagle Forgotten: The Life of John Peter Altgeld (1938), Rutherford B. Hayes and His America (1954), Independent Man: The Life of Senator James Gould Couzens (1958), and The Forging of an American Jew: The Life and Times of Judge Julian Mack (1974). At the time of his death, he was working on biographies of Wendell Willkie and William O. Douglas. He died in Wilmette, Illinois, on August 26, 1982.

Wendell Wilkie, 1892-1944, was born in Elwood, Indiana, on February 18, 1892, to Henrietta Trisch and Herman Francis Willkie. He received his BA (1913) and his LLB (1916) from Indiana University. He joined his parents' law firm in 1916 and volunteered for the United States Army in 1917. After being discharged in 1919, Willkie worked as a lawyer and eventually entered politics. He lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election and went on to advise the president. He passed away in New York City on October 8, 1944.