Richard Schweiker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Richard Schultz Schweiker | |
 |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|
| In office January 22, 1981 – February 3, 1983 |
|
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Patricia R. Harris |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Heckler |
|
|
|
| In office January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1981 |
|
| Preceded by | Joseph S. Clark |
| Succeeded by | Arlen Specter |
|
|
|
| Born | June 1, 1926 Norristown, Pennsylvania |
| Political party | Republican |
| Profession | Politician, businessman |
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 United States 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.
Contents |
[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. He was elected to the Senate in 1968 and reelected in a heavily Democratic year of 1974.
In 1975-76, Schweiker chaired a subcommittee under the Church Committee, related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, where first official challenge to 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.[citation needed] 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 was a pioneer in increasing government spending on diabetes research, through his authoring and sponsoring of the National Diabetes Mellitus Research and Education Act. This legislation, passed by Congress in 1974, established the National Commission on Diabetes to create a long-term plan to fight the disease.
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] Personal life
Richard Schweiker is married to the former Claire Coleman, a former television personality in Philadelphia and the original host of the Philadelphia version of Romper Room.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Campaign 1976 / Republican Convention / Buckley NBC News broadcast from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive
- ^ World Almanac and Book of Facts 1977
[edit] External links
- Richard Schweiker at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-03-31
- 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. and H. John Heinz III |
Succeeded by Arlen Specter |
| Preceded by Patricia R. Harris |
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Served Under: Ronald Reagan 1981–1983 |
Succeeded by Margaret Heckler |
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
