Frederick Kappel

Frederick Russell Kappel (January 14, 1902 – November 10, 1994) was an American businessman. He served as the 9th President of Western Electric from January 1954 until September 1956. He later served as chairman of AT&T from 1961 to 1972. He also served in the Johnson and Nixon administrations.

Early life Kappel grew up in Albert Lea, Minnesota. He graduated from the University of Minnesota.

Career He started his career at AT&T in 1924, working as a $25-a-week digger of telephone poles for one of its subsidiaries, the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company in Minnesota. Kappel receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him as chairman of presidential commissions, including the Commission on Postal Organization and, in 1967, to a special mediation board in a railroad dispute. President Richard M. Nixon appointed him as a governor of the United States Postal Service and, from 1972 to 1974, as its chairman.

He served on the boards of directors of Chase Manhattan Bank and General Foods. He also served as chairman of the board of International Paper from 1969 to 1971, and chairman of its executive committee from 1971 to 1972.