Former Pennsylvania Gov. Raymond P. Shafer, who died Tuesday from complications from congestive heart failure, never was regarded as the best or most popular Keystone State chief executive.

However, his achievements during his term in the governor's mansion — he was the last governor limited to a single term — left positive marks on the state that remain today.

One of his biggest accomplishments as governor was his leadership in an overhaul of the state's constitution, which had become outdated. That constitution continues to guide the commonwealth, although there is a growing opinion that a new constitutional convention at this point in Pennsylvania's history would be in the state's best interests.

Additionally, Shafer will be remembered for signing a measure that consolidated four separate agencies into what now is the state Department of Transportation, and another measure creating the state Department of Environmental Resources, now known as the state Department of Environmental Protection.

He helped broker a deal that ended a bitter, violent strike by 15,000 steel-hauling truck drivers — a walkout that paralyzed the steel industry for nearly two months.

During his tenure as the state's top elected official, he also signed — albeit reluctantly — legislation in 1970 that made Pennsylvania the first state in the nation to permit its public employees to join unions and strike.

That legislation, the Public Employees Bargaining Act, helped lead teachers from the realm of substandard pay to what currently is an era of contracts much more generous than what many union workers in the private sector currently are able to negotiate.

Shafer also was a leader in trying to keep organized crime out of Pennsylvania businesses. With that goal in mind, he oversaw enactment of the Corrupt Organizations Act.

But such accomplishments, which could have placed Shafer high up on the list of Pennsylvania's most-productive chief executives, were overshadowed by his unbecoming fiscal record, which, by the time his term ended in 1971, had the state's finances in shambles.

Shafer had managed to push through massive spending increases, not all of them bad, but without the financial foundation to back them up.

For example, while Shafer was governor, basic education and higher education funding increased by 71 percent and 47 percent, respectively.

However, those who bemoan the state's public assistance bill over the past four decades can place the blame in a significant way on Shafer. It was during his gubernatorial term that public assistance was increased by 187 percent.

When Shafer left office, the state was spending $2 million more per day than it brought in — even with tax increases enacted during Shafer's term already in effect.

Today, Republicans generally are regarded as being more friendly toward businesses' interests than Democrats. But under Republican Shafer, numerous business taxes were increased, as was the state's 5 percent sales tax — which was raised to 6 percent.

It was Shafer's proposal to enact a state income tax that greatly eroded his popularity and cost Republicans the governorship, as well as control of the state House and Senate, in 1970.

But with state finances in such a bad way, Shafer's successor, Milton J. Shapp, was forced to push through such a tax, as well as increase some fees charged by the state, such as for vehicle registrations.

It can be said that Shafer was ahead of his time in regard to an idea that remains alive today on both the state and national fronts: decriminalization of the personal use of marijuana.

After completing his term as governor, Shafer was appointed by President Richard Nixon to chair the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse, which in 1972 recommended that the state and federal governments decriminalize personal marijuana use but continue to categorize the substance as illegal.

Nixon rejected that recommendation and the issue was set aside, although others since have made the same suggestion.

Despite Shafer's less-than-stellar term of office, Gov. Ed Rendell wasn't wrong in praising Shafer's dedication to public service. In addition to his other accomplishments, Shafer is credited with playing a lead role in the creation of a unified state judicial system and paving the way for audits of the state's finances.

While some of what he did failed to enhance the state, actually undermined it, his dedication to duty and responsibility and his love for Pennsylvania can't be questioned.

Not being best or most popular can't diminish the good things he was able to achieve. He will continue to be remembered more for his accomplishments than for his failures.