Persons, Wilton B. (Wilton Burton), 1896-1977

Wilton B. Persons was born on January 10, 1896 in Montgomery, Alabama. He received a B.S. from Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1916, and an M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1931. He was commissioned in the Coast Artillery Corps in 1917, and served with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. Served as a professor of military science and tactics at the University of Minnesota from 1924 to 1929, and graduated from the Command and General Staff School in 1938. Served in the Office of the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, as a liaison officer with Congress, 1939 to 1941. He was chief of the legislative division of the Office of the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, March 1942 to 1948. He retired from the U.S. Army in 1949, but returned to active duty in 1951 to serve as a special assistant to General Eisenhower, 1951 to 1952. He then served as Deputy Assistant to President Eisenhower from January 20, 1953 until his appointment as Assistant to the President on October 7, 1958, succeeding Sherman Adams in that position. Following the 1960 Presidential election, Persons was heavily involved as President Eisenhower's representative in the transition of government between the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. He met frequently with Clark Clifford, Kennedy's transition representative, to work out the details for a smooth transfer of government. Persons resigned from service on January 20, 1961. He died on September 5, 1977.

Engineer, army officer.