Presidential Cabinet Secretary. He was an American businessman from the state of Pennsylvania who was United States Secretary of Transportation in the first portion of the administration of U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan. In the 1950s he held several positions at Henkels and McCoy, Inc. In the 1960s he rose up the ranks of National Gypsum Company, becoming their assistant chairman in 1969. From 1972 to 1974 he was president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Snelling and Snelling, Inc. In 1971, he was appointed as trustee in bankruptcy (along with Richardson Dilworth) for Reading Company, the railroad company headquartered in Philadelphia, and guided the company through its successful reorganization and discharge from bankruptcy in 1980. From 1974 to 1981 he headed Lewis and Associates, a business consulting firm. During the 1960s and 1970s, he served in several political capacities: county committee member, chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party's finance committee, GOP candidate for governor in 1974, chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation to the 1976 Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, and the deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee. During the 1976 Republican presidential campaign, Lewis, as head of the powerful Pennsylvania delegation, had backed Gerald Ford, over challenger Ronald Reagan. At the Republican convention, Reagan announced that if nominated he would name Richard S. Schweiker, Lewis' good friend, as his running mate. Lewis had already committed to Ford and so honored his word, and kept his delegation in line to help nominate Ford as the Republican candidate. Reagan remembered his loyalty in 1980, and appointed Lewis to head his Pennsylvania campaign organization. When Reagan was elected President, he named Lewis as his Secretary of Transportation, where he served from 1981 to 1983. During his tenure, the 1981 air traffic controllers strike occurred, and the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 was passed with the user fees to finance the law. In 1983, Lewis was hired as chairman and CEO of Warner-Amex Cable Communications (WACCI), the joint venture between the then Warner Communications and American Express, succeeding Gustave M. Hauser. In this role, he was also chairman of the WACCI subsidiary, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company (WASEC), which eventually became known as MTV Networks after a public offering in 1984. In April 1986, about the time Warner Communications sold its interest in MTV Networks, and purchased American Express's share of Warner Amex Cable (renaming it Warner Cable), Drew Lewis left WACCI to become Chairman and CEO of the Union Pacific Railroad. In October 1986, he became president and CEO of the parent Union Pacific Corporation. One year later, on October 1, 1987, he became Chairman and CEO of Union Pacific Corporation, succeeding William S. Cook. He served in that post until 1997. Since then he sat on the boards of American Express, Ford Motor Company, Gannett Company, and SmithKline Beecham.