Born the son of homesteaders on July 1, 1919, in Kintyre, North Dakota, Thomas Savig Kleppe became secretary of the interior on October 17, 1975. He served in that capacity until January 20, 1977.
Kleppe attended Valley City Teacher College (1941) and served as a warrant officer in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1946. Shortly before his discharge, the St. Louis Cardinals offered him a baseball contract, which he turned down to return to his native North Dakota. In 1950, North Dakota voters elected him as the youngest mayor ever from Bismarck, North Dakota, serving from 1950 to 1954.
He lost the general election for the U.S. Senate from North Dakota in 1964. In the meantime, Kleppe joined the Gold Seal Company, in Bismarck, North Dakota, becoming treasurer and president of the firm (1958-1964). In 1966, he became president of J. M. Dain & Company, an investment banking firm headquartered in Minneapolis, serving until 1966.
Twice elected congressman from North Dakota's Second Congressional District (1966, 1968), Kleppe served as a member of the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Republican Policy Committee. In 1970, he ran again unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate from North Dakota. The following January, President Nixon appointed him administrator of the Small Business Administration (1971-1975).

Note: This is from the AmericanPresident.org, Miller Center of Public Affiars.
Transcribed by Mike Peterson.