Editing Robert A. Heinlein (section)

===Birth, childhood, and early education===
Heinlein, born on July 7, 1907, to Rex Ivar Heinlein (an accountant) and Bam Lyle Heinlein, in [[Butler, Missouri]], was the third of seven children. He was a sixth-generation [[German-American]]; a family tradition had it that Heinleins fought in every American war, starting with the [[American Revolutionary War|War of Independence]].<ref>{{cite book |title= Robert A. Heinlein: 1907–1948, learning curve| last=Patterson |first=William |year= 2010 |publisher= Tom Doherty Associates |location= New York |isbn= 978-0-7653-1960-9 |chapter= Appendix 2|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Z93OvsN2yq8C&q=heinlein+cronkite&pg=PA13|access-date= June 29, 2014}}</ref>

He spent his childhood in [[Kansas City, Missouri]].<ref name="aolbio">{{cite journal | author= William H. Patterson Jr. |title= Robert A. Heinlein, a Biographical Sketch |journal= The Heinlein Journal |year= 1999 |volume= 1999 |issue= 5 |pages= 7–36 |url= http://members.aol.com/agplusone/robert_a._heinlein_a_biogr.htm |access-date= March 21, 2008 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080321234910/http://members.aol.com/agplusone/robert_a._heinlein_a_biogr.htm |archive-date= March 21, 2008 |df= mdy-all }} Also available at. Retrieved July 6, 2007.</ref> The outlook and values of this time and place (in his own words, "The [[Bible Belt]]") had an influence on his fiction, especially in his later works, as he drew heavily upon his childhood in establishing the setting and cultural atmosphere in works like ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'' and ''[[To Sail Beyond the Sunset]]''.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} The 1910 appearance of [[Halley's Comet]] inspired the young child's life-long interest in astronomy.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sci-fi Literature Genius Guide|chapter=3|publisher=Imagine Publishing| date=June 14, 2012|isbn= 9781908222183}}</ref>

In January 1924, the sixteen year old Heinlein lied about his age to enlist in Company C, [[110th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade|110th Engineer Regiment]], of the [[Missouri National Guard]], in Kansas City. His family could not afford to send Heinlein to college, so he sought an appointment to a military academy.{{r|suplee19840905}} When Heinlein graduated from [[Kansas City Central High School]] in 1924, he was initially prevented from attending the [[United States Naval Academy]] at Annapolis because his older brother Rex was a student there, and at the time, regulations discouraged multiple family members from attending the academy simultaneously.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} He instead matriculated at [[Kansas City Community College]] and began vigorously petitioning Missouri Senator [[James A. Reed (politician)|James A. Reed]] for an appointment to the Naval Academy. In part due to the influence of the [[Pendergast machine]], the Naval Academy admitted him in June 1925.<ref name="mises1">{{cite web
|url=https://mises.org/library/was-robert-heinlein-libertarian
|title=Was Robert A. Heinlein a Libertarian?
|date=May 18, 2010
|publisher=Mises Institute
|access-date=May 5, 2017
|archive-date=December 11, 2019
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211005829/https://mises.org/library/was-robert-heinlein-libertarian
|url-status=live
}}</ref> Heinlein received his discharge from the Missouri National Guard as a staff sergeant. Reed later told Heinlein that he had received 100 letters of recommendation for nomination to the Naval Academy, 50 for other candidates and 50 for Heinlein.<ref name="suplee19840905">{{Cite news |last=Suplee |first=Curt |date=September 5, 1984 |title=In the Strange Land Of Robert Heinlein |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1984/09/05/in-the-strange-land-of-robert-heinlein/b7a2ee22-0a6e-4c29-8fc1-88b3e68ec08c/ |access-date=July 29, 2021 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>