Saruman the White? Why?

[Annantar]

I was wondeing why Saruman was a white wizard? Wasn't Gandalf a white wizard because he fought shadow? If so, what did Saruman do to become a white wizard, and was he the only white wizard before Gandalf came along, and if not why was he the head of the counsil? I just don't know too much about this kind of history, and if I had read about it, I didn't understand what is was saying. So maybe some one can put it into better words for me. Thanx! [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]