Reagan White House
Pauken was asked to serve on President Reagan's transition team after the 1980 election. On February 3, 1981, Pauken was nominated by Reagan to serve as director of the ACTION agency, now known as AmeriCorps. Under Pauken's leadership, the staff at ACTION was reduced from 1,000 to 500 and the budget was reduced 25%, from $160 million to $120 million. Pauken also ended ACTION's funding of liberal organizations, many of whom had ties to Saul Alinsky.
During his tenure at ACTION, Pauken established the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program" an organization "created for Vietnam Veterans and led by Vietnam Veterans who were committed to helping our fellow veterans who were unemployed, underemployed, or who had lingering problems associated with their Vietnam experience."
At ACTION, Pauken oversaw the implementation of the Just Say No to Drugs program in which Nancy Reagan served as chief spokeswoman. He was awarded the Ronald Reagan Medal of Honor by Reagan administration alumni.
In 1985, Pauken left the Reagan administration to return to Texas to enter private business. He joined a Dallas-based venture capital company in 1986.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Pauken
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