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Sandy Treadwell
Alexander Ferguson "Sandy" Treadwell (born March 25, 1946) is an American politician, journalist, and artist.[1][2][3] He was Secretary of State of New York, as well as New York's representative on the Republican National Committee.[2] He was also a writer for Sports Illustrated.[4] Early lifeTreadwell was born in London, England.[2][5] His father, John F. W. Treadwell, was a Brigadier in the British Army.[6][2] His mother, Susan Vanderpoel Ord, was from Albany, New York, but went to England with the Red Cross during World War II.[2][3] His maternal grandfather was Joseph P. Ord, a founding executive of General Electric.[2][7] While he was still an infant, his family moved to Albany.[2][5] His father resigned from his commission and worked as vice president of the English Speaking Union in New York City starting in 1949.[2][3] Treadwell grew up on a 385-acre family estate called Bessboro Farm in Westport, New York, overlooking Lake Champlain.[2][3] There, his father raised Holstein cattle.[3] Treadwell had one brother, Thomas Ord Treadwell.[3] Treadwell went to Groton School.[2] He then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1968 with a degree in journalism.[4][5] While there, he was a member of the fraternity St. Anthony Hall and was a sports writer for The Daily Tark Heel.[4][2] Treadwell served in the Army National Guard.[citation needed] CareerJournalistAfter college, Treadwell was a sports journalist for Sports Illustrated.[4][2] He wrote articles about college basketball and football.[5] He stayed in that position for three years, leaving in 1972 to become a freelance writer.[2] In 1973, he wrote articles for New York magazine.[8][9] He worked for Classic Sports magazine for four years in the late 1970s.[2] Next, he tried to start a movie magazine without success.[2] In 1987, he wrote The World of Marathons (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1987) a book about 26 races around the world.[2][10][11] In its review, Library Journal wrote, "Essential reading for both the amateur and professional distance runner."[12] PoliticsTreadwell became active in the Republican Party in Essex County, New York.[2] In 1973, he sought the Essex County GOP endorsement for the New York State Assembly but lost badly in a county committee vote.[2] He changed his tactics, aiming lower.[2] He became the Republic Party chairman in Westport.[2] In 1985, he was elected Republican chairman for the county.[2] He was vice chairman of the New York State Republican Party from 1989 to 1994.[2][11] In 1990, Treadwell campaigned for the Republican Party across the state of New York, sharing the Republican platform at public forums.[2] Along the way, he met George Pataki.[2] In 1994 when Pataki ran for governor in 1994, Treadwell officially endorsed him as a county chairman, becoming one of the first county chairmen in the state to do so.[2] New York Secretary of StateIn 1995, Governor George Pataki appointed Treadwell Secretary of State of New York.[2] In this capacity, Treadwell earned $120,800 a year.[2] The Department of State had 850 employees and an annual budget of $110 million during Treadwell's leadership.[13] As Secretary, Treadwell was active in reorganizing the Department of State in order to streamline operations and improve efficiency. [citation needed] He reduced the agency's workforce without layoffs while holding the line on spending. He was also active in local government issues statewide.[citation needed] He served as the Secretary of State through 2001.[13] New York State Republican Party chairmanIn 2001, Pataki appointed Treadwell as the Chairman of the New York Republican Party, serving through 2004.[1][10] He replaced William D. Powers.[1][11] Treadwell was the host state chairman of the 2004 Republican National Convention that nominated President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for re-election. [citation needed] Under his tenure, Pataki was elected to a second term and Michael Bloomberg was elected mayor of New York City.[14] In 2004, Treadwell faced controversy after he supported Assemblyman Howard Mills as the party's nominee for the U.S. Senate against Senator Chuck Schumer over the would-be candidate Michael Benjamin.[15] Benjamin publicly accused Treadwell and Governor George Pataki of trying to muscle him out of the Senate race and undermine the democratic process because he was half Honduran.[15] Mills, who was nominated after numerous other potential candidates turned the race down, lost to incumbent Schumer in the largest landslide in state history.[16] Treadwell stepped down as state chairman in 2004 to become New York's Republican National Committeeman.[17][14] 2008 Congressional CandidacyIn April 2008, Treadwell filed to run for Congress in New York's 20th District against Kirsten Gillibrand.[7] Treadwell signed the Americans For Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge and ran on the promise that he will never vote to increase taxes on individuals or businesses.[5] He supported more troops in Iraq, but noted, "We went into Iraq for the wrong reasons. Terrible mistakes were made in the first four years."[5] He also favored a limit of four terms for Congressmen.[5] In addition, he supported expanding broadband and cellular infrastructure.[5] He also stated that he would not accept a salary to serve in Congress, but would donate those funds to charities.[5] Treadwell was endorsed by Bill Weld, the former Governor of Massachusetts.[18] Former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, hit the campaign trail on his behalf.[19] However, conservative commentator George Marlin criticized Treadwell, labeling him a "social moderate" and a "liberal elitist trust bab[y]".[18] In fact, during his campaign, Treadwell noted Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy as major influences on his life.[5] Another New York Republican operative called him a "Rockefeller Republican".[14] Treadwell was defeated by Gillibrand, who was re-elected with 62% of the vote.[20][21] Treadwell spent more than $6 million on his campaign; nearly $5 million was his own money.[22] Gillibrand spend $4.49 million.[21] It was the most expensive United States House race in 2008.[22] Other political issuesIn 2011, Treadwell publicly supported gay marriage, and encourage Republican senators to vote for marriage equality.[23] In 2020, Treadwell was a founder of a Bipartisan Committee to Elect Joe Biden; the committee started to support Democrat Amy Klobuchar who later withdrew from the presidential race.[24] ArtistAt 67 years old, Treadwell became an artist, specializing in charcoal portraits.[1] He is affiliated with the Ojai Studio Artists.[1] His gallery is the Ojai Valley Artists at 238 East Ojai Avenue in Ojai, California.[1] Personal lifeTreadwell married Elisabeth "Libby" Ward Krautter on March 21, 1970, in Saints Chapel of Christ Episcopal Church in Winnetka, Illinois.[6][1][10] Krautter was also a writer for Sports Illustrated and was one of the first woman journalists to cover professional football.[6][2] In addition, she is a poet.[14] They had an apartment in Manhattan, but also lived in Essex County, New York near his mother.[2] They moved to Westport in 1972.[5] The couple had two children: Zachary and Caroline.[2][10] In 1980, he saw runners in the New York City Marathon.[2] The next day, he began training for the 1981 marathon.[2] At the time, Treadwell smoked two and a half packs of cigarettes a day.[2] He ran both the New York City Marathon and the London Marathon two times, as well as running the Moscow Marathon once.[2] In 2004, he purchased a home in Lake Placid, New York.[5] He spent winters there and summers in Westport on the farm where he spent his childhood.[5] The family also has a house in California.[14] In 2004, President George W. Bush appointed Treadwell to the board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.[14] In 2006, he was the president of the Lake Placid Regional Winter Sports Committee.[10] He has also served as vice president of the Clark Foundation.[10] References
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