George Lewis: National FFA President 1949–50
Illinois · No. 23 of 100 · National FFA President 1949–50
At a Glance
- Office: National FFA President, 1949–50 (No. 23 of 100)
- Home state: Illinois, from the Hersman area of Brown County
- Life dates: August 17, 1930 – July 14, 2019
- Later work: U.S. Air Force procurement officer, then a Quincy, Illinois, lawyer for 57 years; delegate to the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention (1970)
George Jacob Lewis was born in Rushville, Illinois, and grew up on his family’s farm near Hersman. A 1948 graduate of Brown County High School in Mount Sterling, he went on to lead the Future Farmers of America in 1949–50, the year FFA received its federal charter, and then built a long career in law and public service in Quincy.
The FFA Years
According to his obituary, Lewis served as president of his local FFA chapter and of the Illinois association before being elected national president. It says he chaired a state champion Parliamentary Procedure team, placed fourth in the National FFA Public Speaking finals and earned the American Farmer Degree. As national president he toured the country as the organization’s spokesman and visited the White House to meet President Harry S. Truman. Truman signed the bill granting FFA a federal charter on August 30, 1950, according to FFA’s timeline.
The obituary also says the friendships formed with the five other national officers lasted the rest of his life.
The FFA of Japan
Two sources tie Lewis to the start of FFA’s oldest international relationship. His obituary says that as national president he assisted with organizing the FFA of Japan, and FFA’s own 2020 article on the national officers’ international trip states that he helped establish Future Farmers of Japan in 1950. The obituary adds that in 1951 he took part in a campaign among youth to support International Christian University in Japan and traveled to Japan as one of two North American youths chosen through an essay contest, meeting the Emperor. FFA national officers have visited Japan regularly since, a tradition FFA describes as lasting more than four decades by 2020.
Law and Public Service
- Education: a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science with high honors and a J.D. from the University of Illinois, the latter before age 28. A Fulbright scholarship took him to the University of London, where he earned a certificate from its Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
- Air Force: he served two years as a procurement officer and was honorably discharged as a captain.
- Practice: he moved to Quincy in 1958 and practiced law for 57 years, becoming senior partner of a firm that at one time had offices in Quincy, Mount Sterling and Rushville.
- Bar associations: vice president of the Adams County Bar Association and chair of the Illinois State Bar Association’s committee on legal research by electronics. He also wrote an article titled “Law and Electronics.”
- Constitutional convention: in 1970 he was elected a delegate to the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention and was appointed by its president to chair the Legislative Committee, contributing to the rewriting of the state constitution. The Illinois State Bar Association’s obituary and the family obituary agree on this.
- Elections: his obituary notes that he ran for the Illinois state Senate in 1980 and lost to the incumbent.
- Community roles: the obituary lists service as president of the Adams County Heart Association, a board member of the Good Samaritan Home, chair of Quincy’s Human Rights Commission and member of the Quincy Equal Opportunity Commission and Rotary East.
- Writing: with his wife Joan he co-wrote Rolling in the Isles, an account of their time in England while he studied in London.
Why His Story Matters
Lewis’s record shows two threads common among early presidents: leadership in the organization’s international and ceremonial life, and a later career in a profession that rewarded public speaking and procedure, in his case law. His FFA parliamentary procedure and public speaking achievements preceded a career built around advocacy and rule-making, though no source explicitly links the two.
What the Record Does Not Show
The obituaries do not give the exact year of the national presidency, which comes from FFA’s roster. Contemporary newspaper coverage of his year was not reviewed, and the full text of the 2020 FFA article on Japan mentions him only in passing.
Next: Walter Cummings, 1950–51 →