Nomination of Robert W. Blanchette To Be Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration

The President announced today his intention to nominate Robert W. Blanchette as Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, Department of Transportation.

Since 1976 Mr. Blanchette has been managing partner with the law firm of Alston, Miller and Gaines of Washington, D.C. Previously he served as a trustee of the Penn Central Transportation Co. and chairman of the board of trustees and chief executive officer from 1974 to 1978; from 1970 to 1976, he was counsel for trustees. He was attorney general in New England in 1969.

From 1969 to 1970, Mr. Blanchette was executive director of America's Sound Transportation Review Organization. He was general counsel to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroads from 1963 to 1968. From 1957 to 1962, he was a partner of the law firm of Adams, Blanchette and Evans in New Haven, Conn.

Mr. Blanchette was an officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1958 to 1960. He is a graduate of Yale Law School (LL.B., 1957) and is a member of the American and District of Columbia Bar Associations.

Mr. Blanchette was born in New Haven, Conn., on July 7, 1932. He is married and has two children. The family resides in Bethesda, Md.