Gerald Alvin Lewis (March 31, 1934 – January 25, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

and was the 26th comptroller of the State of Florida, serving from January 7, 1975, to January 3, 1995.

Life and career

Born in 1934 in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, to Bernard and Molly Lewis, Gerald Lewis was educated in Birmingham schools before attending

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

and graduating with an A.B. degree in 1955. He then spent the next two years on active duty as a

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, attaining the rank of captain. Lewis moved to Florida in 1960. Prior to moving, he returned to Harvard to obtain a LL.B degree. He was elected to the

in 1965 for

Dade County, Florida Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous count ...

, and served until 1970. He later served as the state comptroller under governors

Reubin Askew Reubin O'Donovan Askew (September 11, 1928 – March 13, 2014) was an American politician, who served as the 37th governor of Florida from 1971 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 7th U.S. trade representative from 1979 ...

Bob Graham Daniel Robert Graham (November 9, 1936 – April 16, 2024) was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senate, United States senat ...

Bob Martinez Robert Martinez (born December 25, 1934) is an American retired politician who served as the 40th governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, Martinez was the first Hispanic American governor since colonial Flori ...

, and

Lawton Chiles Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998) was an American politician and military officer. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senate, United States senator fr ...

. Lewis was married to national Democratic Party political strategist

Ann Lewis Ann C. Frank Lewis (born December 19, 1937) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party strategist. Lewis served as White House Communications Director in the Presidency of Bill Clinton, Clinton administration and in senio ...

until their 1968 divorce. Lewis died on January 25, 2022, at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Gerald A. 1934 births 2022 deaths Jewish American military personnel Florida comptrollers Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Florida Legislature Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni 21st-century American Jews