Finally, a Yes

Klutznick to Commerce

Henry Ford II turned down the job, as did Reginald Jones, chairman of General Electric Co., Jane Cahill Pfeiffer, chairman of NBC, and a dozen other captains of American industry and business. But last week Jimmy Carter finally found a nominee to succeed Juanita Kreps as Secretary of Commerce. His choice: Philip M. Klutznick, 72, a multimillionaire Chicago real estate developer. Said Klutznick: "I can't say I sought the job, but considering the problems that we face in the economic field, it's not easy to say no to the President."

Actually, Klutznick has been saying yes to Presidents for decades. Son of a Kansas City, Mo., businessman, he earned his law degree at Creighton University in 1930 and practiced in Omaha until 1944, when he became commissioner of the Federal Public Housing Authority. Since then he has served in part-time posts for every President except Richard Nixon, including two years as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Economic and Social Council during the Kennedy Administration.

But Klutznick's career has mostly been in real estate. In 1946, he began developing Park Forest, now a suburb of 30,000 people, in former cornfields about 30 miles south of Chicago. The town was regarded by urban experts as a model of intelligent planning. In 1968, Klutznick founded the Chicago-based Urban Investment and Development Co.; two years later the firm was sold to Aetna Life & Casualty for more than $52 million. His latest major project was Water Tower Place, a 74-story, $195 million showpiece on Chicago's North Michigan Avenue. The complex includes the 20-floor Ritz-Carlton hotel, 150 stores and 40 floors of high-priced condominiums. Klutznick and his wife Ethel occupy one of them near the top floor; he calls it living "over the store." They have four sons and a daughter, and twelve grandchildren.

Associates describe him as invariably good humored, calm and extraordinarily energetic. Every morning he swims 20 laps in the Ritz-Carlton's Olympic-size pool and shows up at his office by 7, where he makes his own coffee. He has long been active in Jewish affairs and is president of the World Jewish Congress.

Such vigor dispelled any White House qualms about Klutznick's age. Indeed, the Chicagoan insists that it was he who first brought it up. Says he with a laugh: "If they think I'm competent, who am I to deny it?"

Philip Klutznick

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