Whelan flew 63 missions in World War II as a pilot in the Army Air Force.
He later became the chief security officer of New Jersey Bell Telephone Co.[1] A Democrat, Whelan was appointed mayor in 1963 when his predecessor, Thomas Gangemi, was forced to resign when he learned that he was not a US citizen.
[3][4] In 1971, during his second term, Whelan was indicted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey as a member of the Hudson County Eight, and was convicted in federal court of conspiracy and extortion in a multimillion-dollar political kickback scheme connected to city and county contracts.
[5] Convicted along with him was former mayor and political boss, John V. Kenny and former City Council president Thomas Flaherty.
[5] Whelan served seven years of a 15-year sentence in the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.