Philip Willkie

Philip Herman Willkie (December 7, 1919 – April 10, 1974) was an American lawyer and a Republican politician from Indiana. He was the only child of Wendell Willkie, the Republican candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1940, and Edith Willkie.

Philip Willkie
Member of the
Indiana House of Representatives
from Henry County and Rush County
In office
November 3, 1948[1] – November 3, 1954
Preceded byRaymond Charles Morgan[2]
Succeeded byVance Manifold Waggoner
Personal details
Born
Philip Herman Willkie

(1919-12-07)December 7, 1919
Rushville, Indiana
DiedApril 10, 1974(1974-04-10) (aged 54)
Rushville, Indiana
Cause of deathSuicide
Resting placeEast Hill Cemetery, Rushville, Indiana
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Rosalie Heffelfinger (1950-1962; divorced)
Virginia Isabell (1965-1974; his death)
Children5
ParentsWendell Willkie
Edith Wilk Willkie
Alma materPrinceton University (AB)
Harvard University (AM)
Columbia University (LLB)
OccupationLawyer, politician
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Navy
Years of service1941–1945
Battles/warsWorld War II

Willkie was educated at Harvard University, Columbia University and Princeton University. He also graduated from the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking.[3] During World War II, he served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy and was second in command under Commander Weems.

Willkie was president of the Rushville National Bank in Rushville, Indiana, a farmer and cattleman, and a businessman who served on several corporate boards. He was for three two-year terms a member of the Indiana House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955.[4][5] In 1960, he was briefly considered by Richard M. Nixon as his vice presidential running mate, but the selection went instead to Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., of Massachusetts. In 1960, Willkie ran for Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, but lost to the incumbent, William Earl Wilson by 0.87%.[6]

Willkie supported allowing foreign-trained doctors the ability to practice in small-town America. He also advocated the preservation of the independence of small-town banking.

His professional and social associations included Beta Theta Pi fraternity, the Masonic lodge, Moose International, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Press Club, and the Columbia Club of Indianapolis. He was an admitted to the bar in New York, Washington D.C., and Indiana.

He died by suicide on April 10, 1974. News reports indicated that his suicide followed the early stages of an investigation of the Rushville National Bank by federal regulators.[7] The bank was shut down by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in 1992 as insolvent. He was survived by both his former wife, Rosalie Heffelfinger whom he married in 1950, and their three sons Wendell II, Philip and Frank Willkie; they divorced in 1962, and his then-current wife, Virginia Isabell, whom he married in 1965, and their two sons, Benjamin J. and David W. Willkie. The latter Mrs. Willkie died in Yuma, Arizona at age 95 on May 21, 2013.

References
  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20180406101711/http://www.capitolandwashington.com/politicians/filter/1162/
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20180406040829/http://www.capitolandwashington.com/offices/all-offices/h33/
  3. Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Willison to Wilsnack". Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  4. Indiana Legislators Database-Philip Herman Wilkie
  5. "Philip H. Willkie Banker, Is Dead". Apr 11, 1974. Retrieved Aug 14, 2019 – via NYTimes.com.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20180406040353/http://www.capitolandwashington.com/results/1960/23/1/
  7. "Indiana Evening Gazette, June 3, 1974, p. 12 - NewspaperArchive®". 3 June 1974. Retrieved 4 February 2017.


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