History Spotlight Written by Doug Humes
Remembering Drew Lewis
D
rew Lewis, the man who gave me my first job as a lawyer, had deep roots in both Marple and Newtown. He was a very successful businessman, a turnaround specialist; but also a very smart politician. He ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 1974, and lost – the first time in his life he had been unsuccessful at anything he had tried. In 1976, Drew Lewis backed Gerald Ford, the sitting president, for the Republican nomination. Ford was being challenged by Ronald Reagan, who took the unheard of act of naming, before the convention, his proposed Vice President: Senator Richard Schweiker, one of Lewis’ closest friends. Many thought it was an attempt to lure Lewis and the large Pennsylvania delegation to switch their support to Reagan. But Lewis had given his word to Ford. As David Girard-DiCarlo said about him: “If Drew Lewis gave you his word, you could go to the end of the Earth with it, because it was golden.” Ford won the nomination, then lost the election to Jimmy Carter.
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Drew Lewis, future U.S. Secretary of Transportation! Photo courtesy of Lewis Family / Doug Humes
But Reagan was impressed by Drew Lewis’ character, and so, in 1980, he asked Lewis to chair his Presidential campaign in Pennsylvania, and handily won the state in the fall. At that time, Lewis was the Trustee in bankruptcy of the Reading Railroad, so Reagan asked him to serve in the Cabinet, as Secretary of Transportation. Budget Director David Stockman said Drew Lewis was the guy with the best political instincts in the Reagan Cabinet.
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