Raymond P. Shafer, American lawyer and politician, 38th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1917)
Raymond Philip Shafer (March 5, 1917 – December 12, 2006) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 39th governor of Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1971. Prior to that, he served as the 23rd lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967 and as a Pennsylvania state senator from 1959 to 1962. He was a national leader of the moderate wing of the Republican Party in the late 1960s.
Shafer was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania and spent his childhood in Meadville. He graduated from Allegheny College in 1938 and Yale Law School in 1941. Following brief stints practicing law in New York City and Meadville and United States Navy service as an intelligence officer and on PT boats during World War II, Shafer entered politics as a district attorney in 1948 and then as a state senator. He was elected lieutenant governor in 1962, under Governor Bill Scranton. Shafer was active in that role and succeeded the term-limited Scranton as governor in the 1966 election. Shafer became a prominent voice among moderate Republicans and oversaw constitutional reforms in Pennsylvania, the formation of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, expenditures for health and education programs, and proposed a state income tax, which proved unpopular but was later enacted by his successor, Milton Shapp.
Limited to one four-year term as governor under the prior state constitutional rule, Shafer was not a candidate in the 1970 gubernatorial election. He left office in 1971 with his popularity waning in the midst of fiscal strain and negative reaction to his tax proposal, though some of his administration's major initiatives have had lasting significance. In his later career, he chaired what became known as the Shafer Commission at the request of President Richard Nixon, which recommended the decriminalization of personal marijuana possession and use within the home. He also resumed law practice in Meadville and served in other business and consulting roles in the private and public sectors. He died in Meadville in 2006.