E. T. Klassen

Ted Klassen
Ted Klassen
United States Postmaster General
	In office; January 1, 1972 – February 16, 1975
President	Richard Nixon; Gerald Ford
Preceded by	Winton M. Blount
Succeeded by	Benjamin F. Bailar
Personal details
Born	November 6, 1908; Hillsboro, Kansas, U.S.
Died	March 6, 1990 (aged 81); Palm Harbor, Florida, U.S.

Elmer Theodore "Ted" Klassen^[1] (November 6, 1908 – March 6, 1990) served as the United States Postmaster General from January 1, 1972, to February 16, 1975.^[2]

In 1971 Klassen became the first Postmaster General named by the Postal Service's Board of Governors, rather than the President, under new Federal legislation. He became the 60th Postmaster General on January 1, 1972, serving until February 16, 1975, when he retired and moved to Palm Harbor. From January 22, 1969, to December 31, 1971, he had been Deputy Postmaster General.

Klassen played a major role in shaping the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which took the Post Office Department from under the control of a Cabinet-level officer and made it an independent agency in the executive branch. He was instrumental in negotiating a contract between the United States Postal Service and the representatives of seven postal unions, with about 600,000 members, in July 1971.

At the time of his retirement, the Postal Service was under criticism by members of Congress and others because of financial and organizational problems and higher rates. Mr. Klassen came in for his share of the criticism, in particular from Jack Anderson, the syndicated newspaper columnist, who took issue over contracts awarded by the Postal Service.^[3]

Klassen was born in Hillsboro, Kansas, and was raised in California; he began his career at American Can in 1925 as a messenger in the San Francisco plant. On April 28, 1965, he became president of the company, which later became the Primerica Corporation. Klassen never attended college; his only formal education beyond high school was advanced management training at Harvard University in 1954. In 1968 Klassen unexpectedly resigned his in a dispute with the chairman of American Can.

References

^ Hearings, Reports and Prints of the Senate Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. U.S. Government Printing Office. November 21, 1969.
^ 'Elmer T. Klassen, Who Oversaw Postal Reorganization, Dies at 81,' The New York Times, Joan Cook, March 10, 1990
^ 'Elmer T. Klassen, Former Postmaster General,' The Los Angeles Times, March 12, 1990

Government offices
Preceded by Winton M. Blount	United States Postmaster General 1972–1975	Succeeded by Benjamin F. Bailar

This biography of a person who has held a non-elected position in the federal government of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Hearings, Reports and Prints of the Senate Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. U.S. Government Printing Office. November 21, 1969.

[2] 'Elmer T. Klassen, Who Oversaw Postal Reorganization, Dies at 81,' The New York Times, Joan Cook, March 10, 1990

[3] 'Elmer T. Klassen, Former Postmaster General,' The Los Angeles Times, March 12, 1990

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e United States postmasters general
Confederal	Franklin Bache Hazard
Federal	Osgood Pickering Habersham G. Granger Meigs McLean
Cabinet level Post Office Department	Barry Kendall Niles F. Granger Wickliffe Johnson Collamer Hall Hubbard Campbell A. Brown Holt King Blair Dennison Randall Creswell Marshall Jewell Tyner Key Maynard James Howe Gresham Hatton Vilas Dickinson Wanamaker Bissell Wilson Gary Smith Payne Wynne Cortelyou Meyer Hitchcock Burleson Hays Work New W. Brown Farley Walker Hannegan Donaldson Summerfield Day Gronouski O'Brien Watson Blount
U.S. Postal Service	Blount Klassen Bailar Bolger Carlin Casey Tisch Frank Runyon Henderson Potter Donahoe Brennan DeJoy

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF WorldCat
National	Germany United States