From 1974 to 1981 he headed Lewis and Associates , a business consulting firm . He became involved in politics through a friend , Richard S. Schweiker , for whom he managed successful campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate . During the 1960s and 1970s , he served in several political capacities : county committee member , chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party 's finance committee , Republican 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 . '' The Philadelphia Inquirer '' described him as " among the two or three most powerful Republicans in Pennsylvania and one of the most powerful in the Northeast . " 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 Schweiker , Lewis ' 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
1976 Republican National Convention
1976 Republican National Convention
Andrew L. Lewis Jr.