Andrew L. Lewis, Jr.
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| Andrew Lindsay Lewis, Jr. | |
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| In office January 23, 1981 – February 1, 1983 |
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| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Neil Goldschmidt |
| Succeeded by | Elizabeth Dole |
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| Born | November 3, 1931 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Children | Andrew and Russell Lewis |
Andrew Lindsay Lewis, Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 3, 1931. He is widely known as Drew Lewis.
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[edit] Life and education
He received his BS from Haverford College in 1953 and his MBA from Harvard University in 1955. He did postgraduate work at MIT in 1968. He married Marilyn Stoughton in June 1950 and they currently have three children together and thirteen grandchildren. His son Andrew "Andy" Lewis III is a township commissioner in Haverford Township Pennsylvania and a 2007 Delaware County Council Candidate.
[edit] Career
In the 1950s he held several positions at Henkels and McCoy, Inc. In the 1960s he rose up the ranks of National Gypsum Company becoming their assistant chairman in 1969. From 1972 to 1974 he was president and CEO of Snelling and Snelling, Inc. In 1971, he was appointed as trustee in bankruptcy (along with Richardson Dilworth) for Reading Company, the railroad company headquartered in Philadelphia, and guided the company through its successful reorganization and discharge from bankruptcy in 1980.
From 1974 to 1981 he headed Lewis and Associates, a business consulting firm. During the 1960's and 1970's, he served in several political capacities: county committee member, chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party's finance committee, GOP candidate for Governor in 1974, chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation to the 1976 GOP convention, and Deputy Chairman of the Republican National Committee. During the 1976 Republican presidential campaign, Lewis, as head of the powerful Pennsylvania delegation, had backed Gerald Ford.
At the Republican convention, Ronald Reagan announced that if nominated he would name Richard S. Schweiker, Lewis' good friend, as his running mate. Lewis had already committed to Ford and so honored his word, and kept his delegation in line to help nominate Ford as the Republican candidate. Reagan remembered his loyalty in 1980, and appointed Lewis to head his Pennsylvania campaign organization.
When Reagan was elected President, he named Lewis as his Secretary of Transportation, where he served from 1981 to 1983, a tenure that included the air traffic controllers strike, and the passage of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982--and the user fees to finance it. After this he served as Chairman and CEO of Union Pacific from 1986 to 1997.
[edit] Alcoholism
In 1994, Lewis was given a leave of absence to attend an alcohol rehabilitation clinic. In 1995 he was arrested for driving while under the influence, and in 2002 he was again arrested after overturning his Lincoln Navigator while backing out of his driveway. His blood alcohol content was tested at .30%, three times the legal limit in his home state of Pennsylvania.
Since then he has been on the boards of American Express, Ford Motor Co., and SmithKline Beecham.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Neil Goldschmidt |
United States Secretary of Transportation 1981 – 1983 |
Succeeded by Elizabeth Dole |
| Preceded by John Kenefick |
President of Union Pacific Railroad 1986 – 1987 |
Succeeded by Mike Walsh |
| Preceded by John Kenefick |
CEO of Union Pacific Railroad 1986 – 1997 |
Succeeded by Richard K. Davidson |
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