A native of New York, he earned degrees from Columbia University and taught at UCLA, and the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1960s. From 1964 to 1980, he taught at the University of Chicago.
He and his wife, Roberta Wohlstetter, a historian who was also an expert in security issues, advised both Democratic and Republican administrations, including President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
From 1951 to 1963, Wohlstetter was a senior policy analyst for the Rand Corporation and maintained his Rand affiliation as a consultant for years afterward.
He and his wife received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Ronald Reagan on November 7, 1985.
He died January 10, 1997 in Los Angeles at the age of 83.