Clayton Keith Yeutter - Professional Career

Professional Career

Yeutter began his professional political career as the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Nebraska in January 1967. During the following two years he managed coordination between the Governor's office and the Department of Agriculture and the numerous state educational institutions. Additionally, he was responsible for lobbying Governor Norbert Tiemann's legislative program through the Nebraska legislature. In September 1968 Yeutter left public service to become the Director of the University of Nebraska Mission in Colombia. At the time it was the largest agricultural technical assistance program in the world. The mission involved six Midwestern land-grant universities funded by U.S. AID, the Kellogg Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The participating universities provided agricultural assistance to the National University of Colombia and the Colombian Agricultural Institute, which approximated the United States Department of Agriculture.

After returning from Colombia Yeutter served as Administrator of Consumer and Marketing Service within the U.S. Department of Agriculture from October 1970 until December 1971. In January 1972 Yeutter was assigned to two positions in the reelection campaign of President Richard Nixon. He served as the nationwide director of agricultural and as one of ten regional directors. Following Nixon's reelection, Yeutter was appointed to Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Consumer Services within the U.S. Department of Agriculture in January 1973. In March 1974 Yeutter was appointed Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for International Affairs and Commodity Programs. As Assistant Secretary, Yeutter was in charge of negotiating an end to a trade war between the United States and the European Economic Community over cheese subsidizes.

In June 1975 Yeutter shifted from the Department of Agriculture to the Executive Office of the President, in which he served as Deputy Special Trade Representative. In this position Yeutter worked as an Ambassador in trade negotiations with foreign countries. In February 1977, shortly after Gerald Ford vacated the Presidency, Yeutter exited public service.

In April 1977 Yeutter became a senior partner at the law firm Nelson, Harding, Yeutter & Leonard, which was primarily located in Lincoln, Nebraska. He continued to work at the firm until June 1978.

Yeutter served as President and CEO of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the world's second largest futures exchange at the time, from July 1978 until June 1985. During that period the trade volume of agricultural, currency and interest rate futures more than tripled. While serving as President, Yeutter negotiated the use of the Tokyo Stock Exchange index for futures and options trading. He also encouraged European investors to invest in currency futures and options at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. More than 400 visits to the Exchange by members of Congress during Yeutter's tenure provided him with political experience that which would become especially valuable when he worked directly with Congress between 1985 and 1993.