associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1957–62).

Whittaker was admitted to the bar in 1923 and received his law degree the following year. In 1930 he became a partner in a Kansas City law firm, where he specialized in corporation law. In 1954 he was appointed federal judge for western Missouri, and in 1956 he was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the eighth circuit. The following year he was named to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Stanley F. Reed. Whittaker served on the Supreme Court bench for five years, writing no major opinions. He is remembered for having cast the deciding vote with the conservative bloc in a number of decisions, many of which were reversed during or immediately after his tenure. He resigned in 1962 to return to private practice.