Orson Swindle Biography

Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission.

Orson Swindle was sworn in as a Commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission December 18, 1997.

Mr. Swindle has had a distinguished military career and served in the Reagan Administration from 1981 to 1989 directing financial assistance programs to economically distressed rural and municipal areas of the country. As Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Development he managed the Department of Commerce's national economic development efforts directing seven offices across the country. Mr. Swindle was State Director of the Farmers Home Administration for the U.S. Department of Agriculture financing rural housing, community infrastructure, businesses, and farming.

In 1992, Mr. Swindle became the first national leader of United We Stand America and in 1993 worked with Jack Kemp, Vin Weber, William Bennett and Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick to form Empower America. In 1994 and in 1996 he was a Republican candidate for Congress in Hawaii's 1st Congressional District.

As a Marine aviator serving in South Vietnam on November 11, 1966, Mr. Swindle was shot down from the skies over North Vietnam while flying his 205th and last combat mission. He was captured by the North Vietnamese and held Prisoner of War in Hanoi for the next six years and four months. On March 4, 1973, Mr. Swindle was released from captivity.

Mr. Swindle retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1979 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His 20 military decorations for valor in combat include two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts.

Mr. Swindle earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management from Georgia Tech in 1959 and a Master of Business Administration from Florida State University in 1975.

He was born in Thomasville, Georgia, on March 8, 1937, and grew up in Camilla, Georgia. He and his wife, Angie have resided in Honolulu, Hawaii.