While at Syracuse he became active in New York State Young Democrats, which he served as vice chairman, and he worked in efforts to elect a reform administration in Kingston to replace the Republican organization that then controlled the Hudson Valley city.
In 1974, as Commissioner of Transportation under Governor Malcolm Wilson, Mr. Schuler coordinated the state government's disaster relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Agnes.
He immediately focused on two core objectives: to build a constructive rather than hostile relationship between business and government; and to create an organization that would have foundations strong enough for a long-haul, multi-year struggle to restore economic growth in New York State.
Building on his political skills, his close relationship with Governor Hugh Carey, his longstanding contacts with legislative leaders in both parties, and his knowledge of key players in both business and labor, Mr. Schuler quickly moved to make Associated Industries a more positive force in state government affairs.
After Mr. Schuler pledged his personal financial resources in order to secure low-cost financing for a new headquarters, the Council renovated a historic but abandoned building at 152 Washington Avenue in Albany; the staff was moved into the new facility in 1981.
He strengthened the dues base of the organization, tripled its lobbying and public-relations staff, and expanded the insurance programs that helped its members cut the cost of doing business.
And he relished the occasional flamboyant gesture — such as his public presentation of two dozen red roses to then Assembly Speaker Mel Miller in 1986 upon the passage of a major tax-cut bill.
He was a leader in the effort to return the corporation to private ownership, playing an active role in the $1.8 billion initial public offering by Conrail on the New York Stock Exchange.