Walter Francis Murphy, Jr. (November 21, 1929 – April 20, 2010) was an American
political scientist and writer.
Early life and education
Born in
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
, Murphy won a
Distinguished Service Cross and was awarded a
Purple Heart for his service in the
United States Marine Corps during the
Korean War, eventually retiring with the rank of
colonel. He earned a bachelor's degree from the
University of Notre Dame in 1950 and a PhD from the
University of Chicago in 1957.
Career
Murphy taught government at the
United States Naval Academy before returning to graduate school. After earning his PhD, he spent a year as a fellow at the
Brookings Institution. He held the position of McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at
Princeton University, a chair whose first occupant was
Woodrow Wilson. As a professor, he was undergraduate thesis advisor for
Samuel Alito
Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served ...
. His professional writing, consisting mostly of non-fiction works on political science, included ''Constitutional Democracy: Creating and Maintaining a Just Political Order''; he has also written three popular novels, including
''The Vicar of Christ''.
Personal life
Murphy died of cancer at age 80. Murphy's name was on the "
Selectee List
Secondary Security Screening Selection or Secondary Security Screening Selectee, known by its initials SSSS, is an airport security measure in the United States which selects passengers for additional inspection. People from certain countries a ...
".
References
Sources
*The Charlesto
''Post and Courier''*The New Yor
*
1929 births
2010 deaths
Writers from Charleston, South Carolina
Military personnel from Charleston, South Carolina
American political scientists
American political writers
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War
United States Marine Corps colonels
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
Deaths from cancer in South Carolina
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