Recent Harvard Grad Might Direct VISTA

Richard Blumenthal 67 is the front running candidate for the directorship of VISTA. the domestic Peace Corps program. Nixon administration sources said Saturday.

Blumenthal would be the youngest person that Nixon has appointed to a position of comparable prominence in his administration. The White House is reportedly carefully testing congressional sentiment about the appointment, which must be confirmed by the Senate.

Blumenthal is presently doing major staff work on the President's State of the Union Message. He has previously worked for Daniel P. Moynihan on the staff of the President's Urban Affairs Council.

He graduated from Harvard magnum laude, and was editorial editor of the CRIMSON.