Richard Schweiker
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Richard Schultz Schweiker (born June 1, 1926) is a former U.S. Congressman and Senator representing the state of Pennsylvania. He later was Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan.
Schweiker was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He served aboard an aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Following his military service he attended Pennsylvania State University where he received a bachelor's degree in 1950 and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
Schweiker quickly rose through the business ranks, becoming president of the American Olean Tile Company, the country's leading manufacturer of ceramic tile.
[edit] Political career
Schweiker was elected in 1960 to the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district. He served in the House until 1969, when he won a seat in the U.S. Senate. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974.
Schweiker chaired during 1975-76 a JFK assassination related subcommittee under the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (Church committee), where first official confirmation of the invalidity of the Warren Commission Report has been documented in the "Final Report": Book V - The Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Performance of the Intelligence Agencies, also known as the "Schweiker Report". [1]
In 1976, when the conservative Ronald Reagan challenged President Gerald Ford for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States, he promised to name Schweiker—with a moderate-to-liberal voting record—as his candidate for Vice President to balance the ticket. This was regarded as a somewhat unusual move as Reagan had not yet won the nomination. In response, then-North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms encouraged a movement to draft conservative New York Senator James L. Buckley as the G.O.P. nominee.[1] Ford won the nomination on the first ballot by a razor-thin margin, and the Vice-Presidential nomination went to Bob Dole.[2]
Schweiker decided not to seek a third term as Senator in 1980, and accepted Reagan's appointment to be Secretary of Health and Human Services in 1981, a position he held until 1983.
From 1983 to 1994, Schweiker served as President of the American Council of Life Insurance, now known as the American Council of Life Insurers.
[edit] References
- ^ http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1976-8/1976-08-11-NBC-2.html
- ^ World Almanac and Book of Facts 1977
[edit] External links
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Church Committee report (Book V: J.F.K. Assassination)
| Preceded by John A. Lafore, Jr. |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district 1961–1969 |
Succeeded by Lawrence Coughlin |
| Preceded by Joseph S. Clark |
United States Senator (Class 3) from Pennsylvania 1969–1981 Served alongside: Hugh D. Scott, Jr., H. John Heinz III |
Succeeded by Arlen Specter |
| Preceded by Patricia R. Harris |
Secretary of Health and Human Services 1981–1983 |
Succeeded by Margaret Heckler |
| United States Secretaries of Health and Human Services |  |
|---|---|
| Harris • Schweiker • Heckler • Bowen • Sullivan • Shalala • Thompson • Leavitt |
