Biography

01/17/1918 - 05/09/2013

George Michael Leader (D28) York County 1951-1954

Early Life:

George Michael Leader, born January 17, 1918, York, York County, Pennsylvania, son of Guy Alvin Leader and Beulah Leader; one-room schoolhouse education; York High School; Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; University of Pennsylvania, philosophy, politics, economics; Fels Institute of Government, University of Pennsylvania, Master of Public Administration, (MPA), 1939; married, Mary Jane Strickler, 1939, children, Fred, George Michael Leader, III, Jane Leader Janeczek, David Charles Leader; ensign, USS Randolph, Pacific Theater, World War II; engaged, Chicken hatchery operator; secretary, then chairman, York County Democratic Committee; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1951-1954; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State Treasurer, 1952; elected, Democrat, 36th governor of Pennsylvania 1955-1959; unsuccessful campaign, United States Senate, 1958; established, Country Meadows, Providence Place Retirement Communities; died, May 9, 2013 (aged 95) Country Meadows, Hershey, Pennsylvania; private Interment.

Early Career:

Ensign, Supply Corps Officer, aircraft carrier USS (United States Ship) Randolph, Pacific Theater, World War II, after the war ended, returned to York County, used a Government Issue loan to buy a 110-acre Willow Brook Farm.

Authored:

Healing Poems - George Michael Leader (Author) Leader Publishing; 1st edition (January 1, 2001)

Healing Poems, II - George Michael Leader (Author) Self Published (January 1, 1975)

Pennsylvania Politics:  

Secretary, then chairman, York County Democratic Committee.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 28th district, York County, 1951-1954; succeeding his father, Guy Alvin Leader, 1943-1950.

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State Treasurer, 1952.

Elected, Democrat, 36th governor of Pennsylvania, 1955-1959; defeated, Lieutenant Governor Lloyd Wood; sworn in January 18, 1955, one day after turning 37; second-youngest governor (Robert E. Pattison, 1883-1887 and 1891-1895, was thirty-three when he assumed his first term); appointed Andrew M. Bradley, first African American to serve in a Cabinet-level position in Pennsylvania. Only person from York County ever to be elected governor of the state until Tom Wolf, 2015-2023; allowed one four-year term, the maximum allowed by law at the time.

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Unsuccessful campaign, United States Senate, Republican Congressman Hugh Scott, 1958.

Cited:

http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/governors/1951-2015/george-leader.html