Thomas William Ludlow "Lud" Ashley (January 11, 1923 – June 15, 2010) was an American businessman and politician of the Democratic Party.

His older brother William was killed in May 1944, at age 22, when his Army bomber exploded during a training mission over Massachusetts.

[4] During World War II, he served in the United States Army as a corporal in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

He served in Europe for RFE as the co-director of the press section and later the assistant director of special projects.

[3] Ashley was elected to Congress in 1954, beating the incumbent Frazier Reams, an independent, by 4,000 votes in a three-way race.

[4] They had two children:[3] Kathleen Ashley died of heart failure at George Washington University Hospital in 1997.