6 Apr. 1909–19 Aug. 1961
Philpott once stated that his interest in politics began with his election in 1934 to the Lexington School Board, where he served until 1945; he was chairman of the board from 1943 to 1945. During all of these years he demonstrated concern for the promotion of education throughout the state. He was a trustee of Wake Forest College and chairman of the Committee of One Hundred for the development of Campbell College.
During the period 1945–49 he was mayor of Lexington and from 1949 to 1956 he was a member of the Lexington Utilities Committee. He also served on the board of directors of the Commercial Bank of Lexington and the Mutual Savings and Loan Association in Lexington. In 1953 he was elected to the state house of representatives, in which he served until 1959. In the house he was a member of the Pearsall Committee and chairman (1958) of the Commission on the Reorganization of State Government. Though conscious of the business interests in the state, Philpott was not a strict conservative and was known in the General Assembly as a man who voted his convictions. He was instrumental in the enactment of the state minimum wage law, though business urged its defeat.
In November 1960 Philpott was elected lieutenant governor, defeating the Republican candidate by more than 230,000 votes. He died in office at age fifty-two and was buried in Forest Hill Memorial Park, Lexington.
In 1931 Philpott married Frances Adelaide Thompson of Lexington, and they became the parents of two daughters, Kathleen (Mrs. Harry V. Anderson, Jr.) and Betty Joe, and a son, Harvey Cloyd, Jr.