Orson Swindle, a decorated Vietnam War POW, was sworn in as Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission of the United States on December 18, 1997. He had previously served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce during the Reagan Administration.

He previously served as State Director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1994 and in 1996 he was a Republican candidate for Congress in Hawaii's 1st Congressional District. In 1996 he held the incumbent, Democrat Neil Abercrombie, to 50% of the vote. Swindle served in the U.S. Marine Corps, and he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.