Richard Schweiker | |
|---|---|
 Schweiker, 1981 | |
| 14thUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services | |
| In office January 22, 1981 – February 3, 1983 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Patricia Roberts Harris |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Heckler |
| United States Senator fromPennsylvania | |
| In office January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1981 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph S. Clark Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Arlen Specter |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's13th district | |
| In office January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1969 | |
| Preceded by | John Lafore |
| Succeeded by | Lawrence Coughlin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Schultz Schweiker (1926-06-01)June 1, 1926 Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | July 31, 2015(2015-07-31) (aged 89) Pomona, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | |
| Military service | |
| Branch |  United States Navy |
| Service years | 1944–1946 |
| Conflict | World War II |
Richard Schultz Schweiker (June 1, 1926 – July 31, 2015) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 14thUnited States secretary of health and human services under PresidentRonald Reagan from 1981 to 1983. A member of theRepublican Party, he previously served as aU.S. Representative from 1961 to 1969 and aU.S. Senator from 1969 to 1981 fromPennsylvania. In 1976, Schweiker was Reagan'srunning mate duringhis unsuccessful presidential campaign.
Schweiker was born inNorristown, Pennsylvania, on June 1, 1926, the son of Malcolm Alderfer Schweiker Sr. and his wife, the former Blanche R. Schultz.[1] His father and his uncle worked in the tiling business for several decades.[2] He was born into a family ofSchwenckfelders and was a member of the church himself.[3]
Schweiker received his early education at public schools inWorcester, and graduated fromNorristown Area High School asvaledictorian in 1944.[4] DuringWorld War II, he served in theU.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrierUSS Tarawa (CV-40), being discharged with the rank of electronics technician (second class) in 1946.[5]
Following his military service, Schweiker attendedSlippery Rock State College for two years before transferring toPennsylvania State University.[1] He received aBachelor of Arts degree inpsychology from Penn State in 1950, graduating as a member of thePhi Kappa Sigma. He then joined his family's business, American Olean Tile Company, rising from an assistant in the personnel department to the company's president within a few years.[4] He also became active in localRepublican politics, serving as a precinct committeeman, and founded theMontgomery County chapter of theYoung Republicans, of which he was president from 1952 to 1954.[4] He was selected as an alternate delegate to theRepublican National Convention in1952 and in1956.[1]
On September 10, 1955, Schweiker married Claire Joan Coleman,[6] a former host of the children's television showRomper Room, inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania (1954–1956).[7] They had two sons and three daughters.[1]
In 1960, Schweiker was elected to theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 13th congressional district.[5] At the time, the Montgomery County-based district included Schweiker's home town of Norristown and several affluent suburban communities in thePhiladelphia Main Line. A moderate to liberal Republican, he defeated conservative incumbentJohn A. Lafore, Jr., in the Republican primary.[8] In the general election, he defeatedDemocrat Warren Ballard, a law professor atTemple University, 62%–38%.[9] He was elected to three more terms, never receiving less than 59% of the vote.[5]
During his tenure in the House, Schweiker served on theArmed Services Committee and theGovernment Operations Committee.[1] He sponsored legislation, signed into law in 1965, that provided cash awards toUnited States Armed Forces personnel for cost-cutting ideas. Schweiker voted for the Civil Rights Acts of1964 and1968[10][11] and theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[12] He also supported the creation ofMedicare, increases inSocial Security, and federal rent subsidies.[4] He considered running forgovernor of Pennsylvania in 1966, but state Republican leaders persuaded him not to in favor of then-Lieutenant GovernorRaymond P. Shafer.[4]
In1968, Schweiker was elected to theU.S. Senate, defeating two-term Democratic incumbentJoseph S. Clark Jr., by more than 280,000 votes.[13] He was the only successful Republican statewide candidate in an election that sawHubert Humphrey win Pennsylvania by over 170,000 votes.[8] Continuing his progressive reputation in the Senate, Schweiker opposed theVietnam War and PresidentRichard Nixon's nominations ofClement Haynsworth andG. Harrold Carswell to theU.S. Supreme Court, and had an 89% rating from the liberalAmericans for Democratic Action.[8] He also supportedschool prayer and opposed stronger widespread gun control.[8] In 1975, alongside fellow RepublicansClifford Case andJacob Javits, Schweiker was a co-sponsor of Ted Kennedy's Health Security Act, a bill proposing universal health coverage in America through a government-run program.[14]
During his tenure in the Senate, Schweiker served as theranking member on both theLabor and Human Resources Committee and theLabor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee.[1] He was a pioneer in increasing government spending ondiabetes mellitus research, 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 was reelected in1974, defeating DemocraticPittsburgh mayorPeter F. Flaherty in a year when many Republican incumbents lost due to political fallout from theWatergate scandal. He won 53% of the vote, the highest of any senator from Pennsylvania since1946 at the time.[15] He was the first Republican senator ever endorsed by thePennsylvania AFL–CIO, and received 49% of the vote in heavily Democratic Philadelphia.[citation needed]
From 1975 to 1976, Schweiker was a member of theSelect Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, headed byIdaho SenatorFrank Church, investigating illegal domestic activities of theUnited States government's intelligence agencies.[16] The "Church Committee" found that allegations ofCIA plots to assassinate Cuban Premier Fidel Castro duringJohn F. Kennedy's presidency went unreported to theWarren Commission even thoughCIA directorAllen Dulles was a member of the Commission.[16] These findings led Schweiker to call for a reinvestigation ofKennedy's assassination.[16] Church appointed Schweiker andColorado SenatorGary Hart to be a two-person subcommittee to look into the "performance or non-performance" of intelligence agencies during the initial investigation of the assassination.[17] In October 1975, Schweiker said at a press conference that the subcommittee had developed "significant leads" and was investigating threeconspiracy theories,[18] adding, "I think the Warren Commission is like a house of cards. It's going to collapse."[18] In its final report, the Church Committee called the initial investigation deficient and criticized the response ofCIA andFBI, but stated that it had "not uncovered any evidence sufficient to justify a conclusion that there was a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy."[17]
On May 14, 1976, Schweiker toldCBS Morning News that he believed the CIA and FBI had lied to the Warren Commission.[19] On June 27, 1976, he appeared onCBS'sFace the Nation and said that the Commission made a "fatal mistake" by relying on the CIA and FBI instead of its own investigators.[20] Schweiker also said that he felt it was possible that theWhite House was involved in a cover-up.[21]
In 1976,Ronald Reagan made a serious challenge against PresidentGerald Ford in the1976 Republican Party presidential primaries. Immediately before the opening of the1976 Republican National Convention, Reagan attempted to attract moderate delegates by promising to name Schweiker, who had a moderate voting record in the Senate, as his running mate. This was unusual because the tradition was for a nominee to name a running mate only after winning the nomination. In response, conservative Republicans, including U.S. SenatorJesse Helms of North Carolina, encouraged a movement to draft Conservative Party U.S. SenatorJames L. Buckley of New York as the G.O.P. nominee.[22] Ford won the nomination on the first ballot by a razor-thin margin and selectedBob Dole for vice president.[23]
Reagan's naming him as his running mate came as a surprise to Schweiker, as the two did not know each other. Schweiker subsequently adopted a much more conservative voting record; his rating from the liberal group Americans for Democratic Action dropped to 15% in 1977.[8]
In1980, Schweiker announced he would not seek reelection to the Senate.[5]
Reagan won the presidential nomination in 1980 but choseGeorge H. W. Bush, not Schweiker, as his running mate, and won the election.
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Schweiker accepted President Reagan's appointment asU.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services in January 1981. He held the post until he resigned in February 1983.[5] During his tenure, he worked with Reagan andHouse SpeakerTip O'Neill toreform Social Security, put greater emphasis onpreventive medicine, reduceMedicare andfood stamp grants to the states, and restrict welfare eligibility.[1] He proposed reducingSocial Security benefits to recipients who retired before age 65, but both Democrats and Republicans in Congress rejected the idea.[24]
During his tenure in public service, Schweiker was an ardent supporter of avolunteer army. He coauthored the bookHow to End the Draft, eventually used as the blueprint for shifting the country to a fully volunteer army.[25] He also pushed for the Schweiker Act of 1965, which gave cash awards to military personnel who suggested money-saving ideas, ultimately resulting in savings of more than $1 billion to taxpayers.[25]
As ranking Republican on the Senate health subcommittee, Schweiker worked on legislation to combatdiabetes,cancer,heart disease,sickle cell anemia, andlead paint poisoning. He focused heavily on diabetes and authored bills creating the National Commission on Diabetes Advisory Board, pushing for passage of the National Diabetes Act in 1972.[25] Those efforts led to increased federal funding for diabetes programs and were a prototype for legislatively constructing a research effort across allNational Institutes of Health operations and theCenters for Disease Control. Some who worked with Schweiker or benefited from his initiative called him the "Patron Saint of the Pancreas" for his devotion to the cause.[25]
From 1983 to 1994, Schweiker served as president of the American Council of Life Insurance, now known as theAmerican Council of Life Insurers.[5] He lived inMcLean, Virginia, for many years. At the time of his death, he lived with one of his daughters inHerndon, Virginia.[26] He also owned a home inOcean City, New Jersey.[26]
On July 31, 2015, Schweiker died of complications from an infection at theAtlantiCare Regional Medical Center inPomona, New Jersey.[25][27]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 13th congressional district 1961–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromPennsylvania (Class 3) 1968,1974 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 3) from Pennsylvania 1969–1981 Served alongside:Hugh D. Scott,John Heinz | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theSenate Labor and Human Resources Committee 1979–1981 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Health and Human Services 1981–1983 | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
| Notes | † Never officially seated | |
| Health, education, and welfare |   | |
|---|---|---|
| Health and human services | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
