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Richard Schultz Schweiker
2nd United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
In office January 22, 1981 – February 3, 1983
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Patricia R. Harris
Succeeded by	Margaret Heckler
United States Senator from Pennsylvania
In office January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	Joseph S. Clark
Succeeded by	Arlen Specter
Born	June 1, 1926 (1926-06-01) (age 82) Norristown, Pennsylvania
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Claire Coleman
Alma mater	Pennsylvania State University
Profession	Politician, businessman
Military service
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1944-1946
Battles/wars	World War II

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.

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.

In 1976, the conservative Ronald Reagan made a serious challenge against President Gerald Ford for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. Immediately before the opening of the Republican National Convention, Reagan promised to name Schweiker—who had a moderate-to-liberal voting record in the Senate—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 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.

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.

See also

United States Navy portal

• Rockefeller Republican

References

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)

v • d • e United States Senators from Pennsylvania Class 1: W. Maclay • Gallatin • Ross • S. Maclay • Leib • Roberts • Findlay • Barnard • Dallas • McKean • Sturgeon • Brodhead • S. Cameron • Wilmot • Buckalew • J. Scott • Wallace • Mitchell • Quay • Knox • Oliver • Knox • Crow • Reed • Guffey • Martin • H. Scott • Heinz • Wofford • Santorum • Casey Class 3: Morris • Bingham • Muhlenberg • Logan • Gregg • Lacock • Lowrie • Marks • Wilkins • Buchanan • S. Cameron • Cooper • Bigler • Cowan • S. Cameron • J. Cameron • Penrose • Pepper • Vare • Grundy • Davis • Myers • Duff • Clark • Schweiker • Specter

v • d • e United States Secretaries of Health and Human Services Harris • Schweiker • Heckler • Bowen • Sullivan • Shalala • Thompson • Leavitt

v • d • e Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan (1981 – 1989) Vice President George H. W. Bush (1981 – 1989) Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig, Jr. (1981 – 1982) • George P. Shultz (1982 – 1989) Secretary of the Treasury Donald T. Regan (1981 – 1985) • James A. Baker, III (1985 – 1988) • Nicholas F. Brady (1988 – 1989) Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger (1981 – 1987) • Frank C. Carlucci (1987 – 1989) Attorney General William French Smith (1981 – 1985) • Edwin Meese III (1985 – 1988) • Richard L. Thornburgh (1988 – 1989) Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt (1981 – 1983) • William P. Clark, Jr. (1983 – 1985) • Donald P. Hodel (1985 – 1989) Secretary of Agriculture John R. Block (1981 – 1986) • Richard E. Lyng (1986 – 1989) Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige, Jr. (1981 – 1987) • C. William Verity, Jr. (1987 – 1989) Secretary of Labor Raymond J. Donovan (1981 – 1985) • William E. Brock (1985 – 1987) • Ann Dore McLaughlin (1987 – 1989) Secretary of Health and Human Services Richard S. Schweiker (1981 – 1983) • Margaret M. Heckler (1983 – 1985) • Otis R. Bowen (1985 – 1989) Secretary of Education T. H. Bell (1981 – 1985) • William J. Bennett (1985 – 1988) • Lauro F. Cavazos (1988 – 1989) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Samuel R. Pierce, Jr. (1981 – 1989) Secretary of Transportation Andrew L. Lewis, Jr. (1981 – 1983) • Elizabeth H. Dole (1983 – 1987) • James H. Burnley IV (1988 – 1989) Secretary of Energy James B. Edwards (1981 – 1983) • Donald P. Hodel (1983 – 1985) • John S. Herrington (1985 – 1989)

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