Thomas L. Ashley

Thomas William Ludlow "Lud" Ashley (January 11, 1923 – June 15, 2010) was an American businessman, lawyer, and politician of the Democratic Party. He served as a U.S. representative from Ohio from 1955 to 1981.

Early life and education Ashley was born on January 11, 1923, in Toledo, Ohio, and raised in the Old West End. He was the son of Mary Alida Gouverneur (née Ludlow) Ashley and William Meredith Ashley, who owned a small steel manufacturing firm. His older brother William was killed in May 1944, at age 22, when his Army bomber exploded during a training mission over Massachusetts.

After graduating from Yale, Ashley worked with the Toledo Publicity and Efficiency Commission. Encouraged by Michael DiSalle, then mayor of Toledo and later governor of Ohio, he began studying law through night classes at the University of Toledo College of Law. He graduated from Ohio State University College of Law in 1951. He was admitted to the bar that year and began practicing law.

Career Ashley joined the staff of Radio Free Europe (RFE) in 1952. He served in Europe for RFE as the co-director of the press section and later the assistant director of special projects. He resigned from RFE on March 1, 1954, to run for Congress.

In 1980, Ashley lost in an upset to Republican challenger Ed Weber.

Later career Ashley was a member of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum board and served on many corporate boards, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the country's two largest mortgage lenders. They had two children: Mark Michael Ashley

Death and legacy Kathleen Ashley died of heart failure at George Washington University Hospital in 1997. Lud Ashley lived in Leland, Michigan, until his death from melanoma at his home on June 15, 2010. After his death, George H. W. Bush said in a statement that he and Barbara Bush "mourn the loss of a very close friend" and said Ashley "might well have been my very best friend in life."

Ashley was the great-great-grandson of James Mitchell Ashley, who was a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1859 to 1869, and was one of the main architects of the Thirteenth Amendment.

Electoral history Year Democratic Republican Other 1954 Thomas L. Ashley: 48,471 Irving C. Reynolds: 39,933 Frazier Reams (Independent, Incumbent): 44,656 1956 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): Harvey G. Straub: 81,562 (none) 1958 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): 102,115 William K. Gernheuser: 63,660 (none) 1960 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): 108,688 Howard C. Cook: 82,433 (none) 1962 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): 86,443 Martin A. Janis: 64,279 (none) 1964 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): 109,167 John O. Celusta: 64,401 (none) 1966 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): 83,261 Jane M. Kuebbeler: 53,777 (none) 1968 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): 85,280 Ben Marsh: 63,290 (none) 1970 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): 82,777 Allen H. Shapiro: 33,947 (none) 1972 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): 110,450 Joseph C. Richards: 49,388 (none) 1974 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): 64,831 Carty Finkbeiner: 57,892 (none) 1976 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): 91,040 Carty Finkbeiner: 73,919 Edward S. Emery: 1,533Lynn Galonsky: 1,477 1978 Thomas L. Ashley (Incumbent): 71,709 John C. Hoyt: 34,326 Edward S. Emery: 2,563Michael James Lewinski: 4,530