[1] Kantor earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business and economics from Vanderbilt University in 1961.

He then served four years as a supply officer in the United States Navy and subsequently earned a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University in 1968.

Kantor became United States Secretary of Commerce on April 12, 1996, succeeding Ron Brown, who had been killed in the 1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash.

He is the board of directors co-chair of Vision to Learn[6] and the University of Southern California Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy;[7] a board officer of Drug Strategies;[8] a leadership council member of the Sargent Shriver Center on Poverty Law;[9] a steering committee member of Japan House;[10] and a board member of Lexmark International, Inc.[11] and the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Another son, Russell, died in a single-car crash in October, 1988, while a senior in high school.