[citation needed] During World War II, Shapp served as an officer in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in North Africa and Europe.

After World War II, he moved to Philadelphia and founded Jerrold Electronics Corporation, a pioneer in the cable television industry, using a $500 loan subsidized by the G.I.

He invested millions of dollars of his own money into the effort, traveling throughout Pennsylvania to convince local officials to oppose the merger.

The opposition from Annenberg-owned media and the Democratic political establishment helped contribute to Shapp's narrow loss that year to Republican Raymond P.

[6] As the 1970 election approached, Governor Shafer was term-limited under existing Pennsylvania law, which prohibited self-succession by him, and could neither run for re-election nor take advantage of the amended Commonwealth Constitution ratified in 1968.

Furthermore, a fiscal crisis during his term plunged his popularity to a low point, hurting Republican chances of retaining the office.

Of his nemeses from the last election, Walter Annenberg had sold the Inquirer to Knight Newspapers, Inc. a year earlier prior to his appointment as ambassador to the United Kingdom, while Stuart Saunders had vanished from the political scene as Penn Central entered bankruptcy in 1970.

During Shapp's time in office, he solved a financial crisis by instituting Pennsylvania's flat, no-deductions income tax.

As Shapp was not term-limited, he successfully sought re-election as governor, winning by a large majority over his Republican opponent, Drew Lewis, in the election of 1974.

[11] Governor Milton Shapp set his sights on the White House and ran unsuccessfully for the 1976 Democratic nomination for president, but failed to carry even his home state of Pennsylvania in the primary elections, and dropped out after an 89-day campaign.