Seidman, Lewis William, 1921-2009

Businessman and government official; head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Lewis William Seidman was born on April 29, 1921 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He received an A.B. in Business Administration from Dartmouth College in 1943, and served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946. After returning from service, he received an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1948 and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1949. He was a resident partner and later national managing partner in Seidman and Seidman, Certified Public Accountants, 1949 to 1974, and from 1962 to 1973 he was also President of WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1962 he was an unsuccessful candidate for election as Auditor General of Michigan. From 1963 to 1968 he was Special Assistant for Financial Affairs to Governor George Romney of Michigan, and from 1967 to 1968 he was Director of the Washington, D.C. Office of the Romney for President Committee. In 1970, Seidman served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Detroit Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. From 1971 to 1974 he was a member of the Advisory Council to the Michigan Department of Commerce, and from 1973 to 1974 he was Chairman of the Michigan Commission on Higher Education. Seidman, with his considerable experience in public affairs at the state and local level, came to Washington to join the Ford vice presidential staff in February 1974. He served as Assistant for Administration and Services to Vice President Gerald R. Ford, from February to August 1974. On August 18,1974, he transferred to the White House Staff. A few days later President Ford named Seidman as Executive Director of the Conference on Inflation to be held on September 27-28, 1974. On September 30, 1974, the President signed Executive Order 11808 establishing the Economic Policy Board. He named Seidman its first Executive Director, with the additional title of Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs. He served in these two positions until 1977. After leaving the White House in 1977, he was Director, then Vice Chairman, of the Phelps Dodge Corporation, 1977 to 1982, and Dean of the College of Business Administration at Arizona State University, 1982 to 1985. From 1985 to 1991 he was Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and he also was Chief Commentator for television station CNBC-FNN in 1991.