Former Secretary of Transportation and UP Chairman Drew Lewis dies at age 84

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Drew Lewis served as Secretary of Transportation under President Reagan before leading Union Pacific.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum

Andrew Lindsay Lewis Jr., who served as Union Pacific Railroad chairman and chief executive officer from April 1986 to April 1987 and as Union Pacific Corporation president and chief executive officer from 1987 to 1997, passed away Feb. 10, at age 84.

 

Lewis played a central role in the Union Pacific leadership team that completed key mergers including the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad in 1988, the Chicago & North Western Railroad in 1995 and the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1996.

Lewis joined Union Pacific from Warner Amex Cable Communications where he served as chairman and chief executive officer. Prior to joining Warner Amex Cable Communications, Lewis was secretary of transportation in the Reagan administration from 1981 to 1983. Before his service in Washington, D.C., he pursued a successful business career for more than two decades serving in various roles with American Olean Tile, Simplex Wire and Cable, National Gypsum Company and Snelling & Snelling, Inc. After Reading Railroad declared bankruptcy in 1971, Lewis oversaw the company’s successful reorganization. He began his career in 1955 with Henkels & McCoy, Inc.

In addition to his leadership role with Union Pacific, Lewis served on the boards of American Express, Ford Motor Company, Gannett Company and SmithKline Beecham.
He was also heavily involved in politics throughout his adult life. Lewis was Richard Schweiker’s campaign manager during Schweiker’s successful runs for the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Lewis himself was the Republican nominee in Pennsylvania’s 1974 governor race. He later held leadership roles in Ronald Reagan’s successful presidential campaign and with the Republican National Committee.

 

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