Any Other Questions?

Charles Harting Percy, 43, endlessly energetic board chairman of Chicago's camera-making Bell & Howell Co., recently confronted a group of ten Illinois Republican county chairmen. Sounding them out about his aspirations to run next year for Governor, he invited questions. The pros were curious about the little (5 ft. 8 in.) fellow with the vast sense of confidence. "Well, Chuck," asked Putnam County's Jefford Jepson Jr., "what do you know about Putnam County?" With an I'm-glad-you-asked-me-that-question smile, Percy riffled through a black looseleaf notebook. "Well, Jeff," he replied, "in 1960, when Governor Stratton was losing Putnam County 1,400 to 1,192 votes, you carried it for Senator Dirksen. Your land area is 166 square miles, and you have a population of 4,578, or 28 people per square mile.

Your population loss between 1950 and 1960 was 3.7%, and .3% of your population is nonwhite. The median age of your people is 34.5 years, and there were 88 live births, 40 deaths and 40 marriages in your county last year. The median income in Putnam County is $5,077 per year, and 25.7% of your wage earners make less than $3,000 per year. Thirty-five percent of them work outside the county. There are 1,710 dwellings, most of them owned by the residents." Then he delivered a little sermon about how "government can create the proper climate, but the work of solving those problems has to be done largely by the communities. So, Jeff, with your practical experiences in Putnam County, your job is to help interpret to me what role the state can play to stimulate life in Putnam County." The chairmen were impressed--and Percy was encouraged. Last week, after years as an enthusiastic political amateur, he finally took the big plunge, announced that he is a candidate for Governor.

"Call Me Chuck." Percy's decision was hardly surprising, for he has a reputation for grappling with challenging opportunities. The son of a Bell & Howell office manager, he got a toddling start in business--selling magazines--at the age of five. He probably would have started earlier, but his parents would not let him cross the street. At the University of Chicago, he grossed $150,000 a year selling furniture, linen, food and coal to fraternities; he clerked at Bell & Howell during his summers, so impressed B. & H. President Joseph McNabb that he became the boss's protege. He was made a board member at 23, and at 29 was elected president of the company. The newspapers inevitably dubbed him "Wonder Boy." Percy cringed at the title. "Please," he pleads, "call me Chuck."

Percy decided to run for political office only after he became convinced that Bell & Howell could now get along without him. Since he took over the company in 1949, he points out, "annual revenue has risen from $13 million to $160 million. So I have given a lot of thought lately to what my future will be.

I have been with Bell & Howell for 25 years. What shall I do for the next 25 years, which will take me to 68, the normal retirement age at Bell & Howell?" The Image. Chuck Percy has now answered his own question. He is aware that he has already been compared with another civic-minded businessman turned politician--Michigan's Republican Governor George Romney. "But please remember," says Percy, "that unlike Romney I have always been a Republican and have worked within the structure of the party. I dislike being labeled a 'liberal.' I call myself a 'Republican Republican.' I suppose you noticed how many times I used the word Republican in my announcement statement this week."* Against Illinois' lackluster Democratic Governor Otto Kerner in next year's general election, Percy would probably be the best G.O.P. bet. But first he must get into the general election, and that may take some doing. A lot of Republicans may figure that Kerner is easy pickings, and scramble to get in the race. Top on the list of Percy's probable primary opponents is Illinois Secretary of State Charles Carpentier, 66, an easygoing politician with an unblemished record of 39 years of successful vote getting. This summer, Percy plans to take his wife and five kids on a tour of Illinois county fairs, where he hopes to build an image that the Carpentiers cannot match.

* Thirteen.

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