Whitley became a lawyer and practiced in Mount Olive, North Carolina.

There he taught business law classes at Mount Olive Junior College.

[1] He became the town's attorney in 1961; that same year, he joined the staff of Congressman David N. Henderson.

His Republican opponent in the 1982 midterm election was Eugene McDaniel, a former Naval Aviator and Vietnam War POW, whom he defeated 63–36%.

Whitley was the grandfather of civil rights activist, Annie E. Clark.