Portrait of Richard Schweiker

Birthday profile

Richard Schweiker

Richard Schweiker, American soldier and politician, 14th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (died 2015)

Born
June 1, 1926
Died
July 31, 2015
Zodiac sign
Gemini
Birth year
1926

About Richard Schweiker

Richard Schultz Schweiker was an American businessman and politician who served as the 14th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1983. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a U.S. Representative from 1961 to 1969 and a U.S. Senator from 1969 to 1981 from Pennsylvania. In 1976, Schweiker was Reagan's running mate during his unsuccessful presidential campaign. He also became active in local Republican politics, serving as a precinct committeeman, and founded the Montgomery County chapter of the Young Republicans, of which he was president from 1952 to 1954. He won 53% of the vote, the highest of any senator from Pennsylvania since 1946 at the time. Ford won the nomination on the first ballot by a razor-thin margin and selected Bob Dole for vice president.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Richard Schweiker timeline

  1. He won 53% of the vote, the highest of any senator from Pennsylvania since 1946 at the time.
  2. He also became active in local Republican politics, serving as a precinct committeeman, and founded the Montgomery County chapter of the Young Republicans, of which he was president from 1952 to 1954.
  3. In 1976, Schweiker was Reagan's running mate during his unsuccessful presidential campaign.

The world when Richard Schweiker was born

Richard Schweiker was born in 1926. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1926

  • #1 song"Bye Bye Blackbird"
  • Top movieThe General (Buster Keaton)
  • Best-selling bookThe Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentGertrude Ederle swims the English Channel
  • Top headlineA.A. Milne publishes Winnie-the-Pooh
  • Technology milestoneFirst demonstration of television
  • Defining fadFlagpole sitting
  • Notable inventionPop-up toaster
  • World population2.01 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderCalvin Coolidge
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population117.4M

1926 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Richard Schweiker's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19262026
Gas$0.23$3.45/gal
Average home$6,000$435,000
Average income$3,620$67,500
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population117.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.