The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/347495
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? not, I had skills that were valuable to the team. As fate would have it, I was the starting tight end on opening day, three weeks later — a function of inju- ries to other players and my own per- formance at practice. I went on to start every game for which I was healthy that senior year and caught my only touchdown pass in my final collegiate game, helping defeat Ohio State, 17-3." Perhaps more importantly, Wilhite wound up staying: for an undergrad degree in political science, an MBA, a long career with high-powered ad agencies such as D'Arcy Masius Ben- ton & Bowles, Young & Rubicam, Mc- Cann-Erickson, Foote, Cone & Belding, and more. He even took time out to work on the Presidential campaigns of Gerald R. Ford and George H. W. Bush. "I had great interest in politics," Wilhite noted. "The best way to sat- isfy that was to get into the College of LS&A, which had, in the estimation of many, the best political science faculty in the country." Wilhite majored in political science and was elected to the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa in 1967. In 1976, Wilhite took a leave of ab- sence from McCann-Erickson in New York, to head for Washington, D.C. His wife, Ann, accompanied him on a journey to try and help boost the fortunes of another former Wolverine, President Ford. When President Richard Nixon ran in 1968, Wilhite noted, he developed a novel concept for ad agencies work- ing on campaigns. Instead of hiring a company, campaigns would hire in- dividuals who returned to their firms after elections, a practice that continues to this day. "We rented a U-Haul truck and went down and worked in this house agency," Wilhite noted. "Ann ended up becoming director of volunteers for the entire Ford campaign. She got to know some fascinating people through that. Every Republican politician who wanted to be held in good graces by President Ford, if he was reelected, made sure his or her spouse was work- ing on that campaign. "She got an insight that she never would have had otherwise. That was really fascinating for her." President Ford missed out on his bid to remain in office, a development that obviously frustrated Wilhite. "President Ford was so close," he said. "We almost won. But a couple of political realities in the campaign resulted in a close loss." The Wilhites endured a bracing sense of déjà vu some 16 years later. President George H.W. Bush incor- porated Wilhite's services in the cam- paign against a man who, initially, stacked up as a major underdog. As president of the in-house agency on the campaign, Wilhite found occa- sion to speak directly with the Presi- dent. He recalls with considerable frus- tration how the months leading up to the 1992 election developed. "We again, unfortunately, lost," Wil- hite noted. "In this case, it was a fas- cinating story. Hubris, unfortunately, carried the day with certain people. The conclusion was, 'There is no way we're going to lose to this two-time