John Clarke Whitaker, 61, likes to boast that he joined R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. at the same time as another recruit: "Old Joe," the circus camel for whom Founder Reynolds named his cigarettes. Just out of the University of North Carolina, Whitaker started as a cigarette-machine inspector in 1913, the year Camels were put on the market. He worked up through manufacturing and personnel departments to a vice-presidency in 1937. Even when he became president in 1948, he never forgot that he started out in overalls, and he kept his door wide open so that any...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
