Wilton Persons

Wilton Burton "Jerry" Persons (born January 19, 1896 in Montgomery , Alabama , † September 5, 1977 in Arlington County , Virginia ) was an American major general in the US Army and chief of staff of the White House .

biography

After attending school, he studied electrical engineering at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute , where he earned a Bachelor of Science ( BS Electrical Engineering ) in 1916 . He then joined the US Army in 1917, where he was promoted to major general during his service until 1949. In 1951 he was recalled to the military and was special assistant to General Dwight D. Eisenhower until 1952 while he was Supreme Allied Commander Europe .

In 1952 he was on Eisenhower's campaign team during his campaign for the 1952 presidential election in the United States . After Eisenhower's election as US President , he was first his deputy assistant and finally his assistant, where he dealt in particular with the relationship of the president to the United States Congress .

On October 7, 1958, he finally became a member of Eisenhower's extended cabinet as White House Chief of Staff and held this office until the end of Eisenhower's presidency on January 20, 1961.

Person's son, Wilton B. Persons, Jr. , was also Major General and, among other things, Judge Advocate General of the US Army between 1975 and 1979 . His younger brother, Gordon Persons, was the Democratic governor of Alabama from 1951 to 1955 .

Web links

• Wilton Persons in the nndb (English)
• Genealogy.com