Francis M. Wilhoit

Francis Marion Wilhoit (April 24, 1920 – June 9, 2010) was an American political scientist and author. He was the Thomas F. Sheehan Professor of Political Science at Drake University.

Early life and education

Wilhoit was born in 1920 in North Carolina. He attended Harvard University, where he earned a bachelor's degree, a master in public affairs, and a PhD in Political Science. He was friends with Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski in college.

Career

Wilhoit worked in military intelligence, as a cryptographer for the United States Army Air Corps during World War II prior to going to college. He also worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Wilhoit taught in Georgia and Florida. He joined the faculty in the department of Political Science at Drake University in Iowa in 1961. He was Thomas F. Sheehan Professor from 1981 to 1985, and he retired in 1990. He authored several books.

Wilhoit was vocal in his opposition to racism. In 1967, he spoke about the history of slavery as part of the Progressive Young Negro Enterprises's Negro Heritage Series. One of his books was about massive resistance in the Southern United States. Wilhoit was awarded the 1973 Chastain Prize for it. In 1976, he exposed the hypocrisy of a Christian pastor in Texas who denounced the publication of Playboy but had supported Jim Crow laws decades earlier.

Personal life and death

Wilhoit lived alone, and he was an opera aficionado. He began receiving harassing telephone calls in 1966, until at least 1972.

Wilhoit died on June 9, 2010 in Carthage, North Carolina, at age 90.

Selected works

• Wilhoit, Francis M. (1973). The Politics of Massive Resistance. New York: George Braziller. ISBN 9780807607008. OCLC 185875294.
• Wilhoit, Francis M. (1979). The Quest for Equality in Freedom. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Books. ISBN 9780878552405. OCLC 493261129.