RARE "1st Amtrak CEO " Amtrak Hand Signed FDC Dated 1950 for Sale

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RARE "1st Amtrak CEO " Amtrak Hand Signed FDC Dated 1950 For Sale

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RARE "1st Amtrak CEO " Amtrak Hand Signed FDC Dated 1950:
$419.99

Up for sale a RARE! "1st Amtrak CEO " Amtrak Hand Signed First Day Cover Dated 1950.

ES-3201

Roger Lewis (January

11, 1912 – November 12, 1987) was an American business executive. He was the

CEO of General Dynamics from

1962 to 1970 and was the first CEO of Amtrak from 1971 to 1975. From 1953 to 1955, he was Secretary of the Air Force. Roger Lewis was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Stanford University in

1934. After college, he worked at Lockheed in the sheet metal shop. He remained with

Lockheed in progressively higher positions through World War II when he was the company's director of

materiel. After Lockheed, he went to Canadair and, in 1950, took a job as vice president of

sales and management for Curtiss-Wright. In 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower nominated him as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for

Materiel. The Senate confirmed his nomination on April 3, 1953 and he was sworn

in on April 4. Eisenhower awarded him the Medal of Freedom for

his service. After leaving the government, he went to work for Pan Am in its defense projects. In 1962, Henry Crown, the majority shareholder of General Dynamics recruited Lewis to take over as the

president of the company, which had experienced sharp losses in 1960 and 1961

after the company wrote off development costs in its jet program.

General

Dynamics suffered some setbacks over Lewis' tenure. He worked to push Crown off

the company's board and borrowed heavily to buy Crown's preferred stock for

$100 from safety concerns and the United States Navy cancelled

its orders for F-111B's in

1968. In 1970, the company's reported net earnings of only $2.5 million for

1969. That figure was challenged by associates of Crown, who had bought back

shares in the company at depressed prices and regained a broad seat. An

analysis by Crown suggested that the financials should have shown a $12.1

million loss. The allegations led to a shareholder lawsuit against the company.