Katie Couric's Notebook: Chrysler

4973210When Chrysler's future looked bleak in 1979, then Chairman Lee Iacocca went to Congress and asked for a bailout.

He got it, and then he got to work. Chrysler developed the wildly successful minivan, and suburbia was forever transformed.

Like the Manhattan skyscraper named for its founder, Chrysler has been a symbol of the heights of American industrialization since 1925.

That's why today's bankruptcy announcement stings. Already in a bailout, the government and Chrysler's creditors couldn't agree on terms to pay off the company's $7 billion debt.

But bankruptcy might not be such a bad thing.

As President Obama noted, the chance to shed debt and partner with Italian automaker Fiat could provide a new lease on life for Chrysler.

Lee Iacocca once said that the key to business is people, product and profits.

Two out of three ain't bad, and with a little vision, this day could be just a bump in the road.

That's a page from my notebook.