Andrew L. Lewis, Jr.
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Andrew Lindsay Lewis Jr. (November 3, 1931 – February 10, 2016), generally known as Drew Lewis, was an American businessman and politician from the state of
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. He was United States Secretary of Transportation in the first portion of the administration of U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan, and is best known for presiding over the firing of the striking U.S. air traffic controllers in 1981.


Life and education

Andrew Lindsay Lewis Jr. was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on November 3, 1931. He received his
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
in 1953 from Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and in 1955 his
Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...
from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
.U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C. (2009-03-01)
"Biographical Sketches of the Secretaries of Transportation."
He did postgraduate work at
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
in 1968. In June 1950, he married the former Marilyn Stoughton, a Republican former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The Lewises had four children together and fourteen grandchildren; son Andrew L. Lewis, III, died in infancy. His son Andrew "Andy" Lewis, IV, served as a township commissioner in
Haverford Township Haverford Township is a Home rule municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule municipality Township (Pennsylvania), township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.Delaware County Council. Lewis's sister, Floy Lewis Bakes, graduated from
Ursinus College Ursinus College is a private liberal arts college in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869 and occupies a 170-acre campus. History 19th century In 1867, members of the German Reformed Church began plans to establish a college wh ...
; he donated $3 million to Ursinus to build a field house, which became the Floy Lewis Bakes Center. At the time of his nomination for Transportation Secretary, he was a member of the Schwenkfelder Church. Lewis died of complications from pneumonia in
Prescott, Arizona Prescott ( ) is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. The city is the county seat of Yavapai County. In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona ...
on February 10, 2016, at the age of 84.


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
Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
(CEO) of Snelling and Snelling, Inc. In 1971, he was appointed as
trustee in bankruptcy A trustee in bankruptcy is an entity, often an individual, in charge of administering a bankruptcy estate. Canada In Canada, a licensed insolvency trustee (LIT) is an individual or a corporation licensed by the official superintendent to hold ...
(along with Richardson Dilworth) for the Reading Company, the railroad company headquartered in Philadelphia, and guided the company through its successful reorganization and discharge from bankruptcy in 1980.Gannett Company, Arlington, Virginia (1995-06-20
"Drew Lewis named to board of directors."
From 1974 to 1981 he headed Lewis and Associates, a business consulting firm. He became involved in politics through a friend, Richard S. Schweiker, for whom he managed successful campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives and
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
. During the 1960s and 1970s, he served in several political capacities: county committee member, chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party's finance committee,
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
candidate for
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
in 1974, chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation to the
1976 Republican National Convention The 1976 Republican National Convention was a United States political convention of the Republican Party that met from August 16 to August 19, 1976, to select the party's nominee for President. Held in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, the ...
in Kansas City,
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, and the deputy chairman of the
Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. Political action committee, political committee that assists the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republi ...
. ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' described him as "among the two or three most powerful Republicans in Pennsylvania and one of the most powerful in the Northeast."Mark Stroh and Lea Sitton Stanley, "Drew Lewis pleads guilty to DUI charge", ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'', January 10, 2002.
During the 1976 Republican presidential campaign, Lewis, as head of the powerful Pennsylvania delegation, had backed Gerald Ford, over challenger Ronald Reagan. At the Republican convention, Reagan announced that if nominated he would name Richard Schweiker, Lewis' 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. In 1980, Lewis served as Reagan's Pennsylvania campaign chairman. When Reagan was elected President, he named Lewis as his Secretary of Transportation, where he served from 1981 to 1983. During his tenure, the 1981 air traffic controllers strike occurred despite his efforts to avoid it. When the strikers defied Reagan's threat to fire them if they did not return to work, it was Lewis who announced their controversial ''en masse'' dismissal. Another milestone was the enactment of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, which included a gasoline tax increase and
user fee A user fee is a fee, tax, or impost payment paid to a facility owner or operator by a facility user as a necessary condition for using the facility. People pay user fees for the use of many public services and facilities. At the federal level in ...
s to pay for improvements. By the time he left Washington, ''The Washington Post'' reported that Lewis was "generally regarded here as the most able domestic Cabinet officer in the administration."


Later life

In 1983, Lewis was hired as chairman and CEO of Warner-Amex Cable Communications (WACCI), the joint venture between the then
Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
and American Express, succeeding Gustave M. Hauser. In this role, he was also chairman of the WACCI subsidiary, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company (WASEC), which eventually became known as
MTV Networks Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...
after a
public offering A public offering is the offering of securities of a company or a similar corporation to the public. Generally, the securities are to be listed on a stock exchange. In most jurisdictions, a public offering requires the issuing company to publish a ...
in 1984. In April 1986, about the time Warner Communications sold its interest in MTV Networks, and purchased American Express's share of Warner Amex Cable (renaming it
Warner Cable Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, opera ...
), Drew Lewis left WACCI to become Chairman and CEO of the
Union Pacific Corporation The Union Pacific Corporation (Union Pacific) is a publicly traded railroad holding company. It was incorporated in Utah in 1969 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the parent company of the current, Delaware-registered, form of the ...
and its subsidiary, the
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
. In 1986, Lewis appeared at the commencement exercises of his ''alma mater'', Haverford College, to be awarded an honorary doctorate degree. After learning that a significant portion of the faculty of the Quaker college had opposed awarding him the honor because of his actions during the still-controversial air traffic controllers strike, he declined to accept the degree. He said he did so out of respect for the Quaker tradition of making decisions by consensus. In October 1986, he became president and CEO of Union Pacific Corporation, parent of the railroad. One year later, on October 1, 1987, he became Chairman and CEO of Union Pacific Corporation, succeeding William S. Cook. He served in that post until 1997. In February 1987, President Reagan asked Lewis to return to the White House, and accept the appointment of White House Chief of Staff, following the resignation of Donald T. Regan. However, Lewis turned down the President's request, and the job was subsequently filled by Howard Baker. Ronald Reagan, 'The Reagan Diaries' (New York: HarperCollins, 2007), p. 477 In later years, Lewis sat on the boards of American Express,
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
, Gannett Company, and
SmithKline Beecham GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the tent ...
.


References

* University Of Virginia. Miller Center
"Andrew Lewis Jr. (1981–1983): Secretary of Transportation"
''American President: A Reference Resource.''


External links



* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Andrew L. Jr. 1931 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American railroad executives Businesspeople from Philadelphia Harvard Business School alumni Haverford College alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People from Marple Township, Pennsylvania Politicians from Philadelphia Pennsylvania Republicans Reagan administration cabinet members 20th-century American politicians Union Pacific Railroad people United States Secretaries of Transportation Deaths from pneumonia in Arizona