The President announced today his intention to nominate Thomas Weir Pauken as Director of the ACTION agency. Since 1974 Mr. Pauken has been a practicing attorney and ran for the Texas State Senate in 1976 and the U.S. Congress in 1978 and 1980. He lost the races by small margins.
In 1967 he enlisted in the United States Army and served for 3 years on active duty. A year later he received a direct commission as a lieutenant in military intelligence and served in Vietnam. He was discharged with the rank of first lieutenant. Upon completing his military service, Mr. Pauken was Associate Director of the White House Fellowship program and a White House staff assistant.
In 1965 Mr. Pauken was elected national chairman of the College Republicans, and he served for 2 years as a chief spokesman for the Republican Party on campuses where he participated in hundreds of symposiums and debates.
In 1961 Mr. Pauken entered Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., on an academic scholarship. While in college, he worked for Senator John Tower and Representative Bill Stinson.
Mr. Pauken is married to the former Ida Ayala of Corpus Christi, Tex., and has five children. He resides with his family in Mesquite, Tex. Mr. Pauken was born on January 11, 1944.
Ronald Reagan, Nomination of Thomas W. Pauken To Be Director of ACTION Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/247637