Norman Mineta

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Norman Mineta
14th United States Secretary of Transportation
In office January 25, 2001 – July 7, 2006
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Rodney E. Slater
Succeeded by	Mary Peters
33rd United States Secretary of Commerce
In office July 20, 2000 – January 20, 2001
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	William M. Daley
Succeeded by	Donald Evans
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 13th and 15th district
In office January 3, 1975 – October 10, 1995
Preceded by	Robert J. Lagomarsino
Succeeded by	Thomas J. Campbell
59th Mayor of San Jose, California
In office 1971 – 1975
Preceded by	Ron James
Succeeded by	Janet Gray Hayes
Born	November 12, 1931 (1931-11-12) (age 76) San Jose, California
Political party	Democratic

Norman Yoshio Mineta (born November 12, 1931) is a United States politician of the Democratic Party. Mineta most recently served in the Presidential Cabinet of George W. Bush as the United States Secretary of Transportation, the only Democratic Cabinet Secretary in the Republican George W. Bush Administration. On June 23, 2006, Mineta announced his resignation after more than five years as Secretary of Transportation, effective July 7, 2006, making him the longest-serving Transportation Secretary in the Department's history. On July 10, 2006, Hill & Knowlton, a public relations firm, announced that Mineta would join it as a partner.

Mineta also served as President Clinton's Secretary of Commerce for the last six months of his term (July 2000-January 2001). Save for a span of five days between the end of Clinton's term and Bush's appointments, Mineta spent nearly six full years as a Cabinet member.

[edit] Early life, career, and family

Mineta was born in San Jose, California, to Japanese immigrant parents who were not U.S. citizens at that time. During World War II the Mineta family was interned for years in the Heart Mountain internment camp near Cody, Wyoming, along with thousands of other Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans.

While detained in the camp, Mineta, a Boy Scout, met fellow Scout Alan K. Simpson, future U.S. Senator from Wyoming, who often visited the Scouts in the internment camp with his troop. The two became, and have remained, close friends and political allies.^[1]

He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley's School of Business Administration (since named in honor of Walter A. Haas, Sr.) in 1953 with a degree in Business Administration. Upon graduation, Mineta joined the US Army and served as an intelligence officer in Japan and Korea. He then joined his father in the Mineta Insurance Agency.

Mineta is married to Danealia (Deni) Mineta. He has two sons, David and Stuart Mineta, and two stepsons, Robert and Mark Brantner.

[edit] Councilman and Mayor of San Jose

His political career began in 1967 when he was appointed to a vacant San Jose City Council seat by mayor Ron James. In 1969 he was elected in his own right to his seat on the council and became the vice mayor. In 1971 he ran against 14 other candidates to replace James. Mineta won every precinct in the election, and with over 60% of the total vote, and was elected the 59th Mayor of San Jose, becoming the first Asian American mayor of a major U.S. city. As mayor, Mineta ended the city's 20 year old policy of rapid growth by annexation, creating development free areas in East and South San Jose. His vice mayor, Janet Gray Hayes, succeeded him as mayor in 1975.

[edit] United States Congress

From 1975 to 1995 he sat in the United States House of Representatives representing the Silicon Valley area. He co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and served as its first chair. Mineta served as chairman of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee between 1992 and 1994. He chaired the committee's aviation subcommittee between 1981 and 1988, and chaired its Surface Transportation Subcommittee from 1989 to 1991.

During his career in Congress he was a key author of the landmark Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. He also pressed for more funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Mineta, with his friend Republican Senate Whip Alan Simpson, was also the driving force behind passage of H.R. 442, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which officially apologized for and redressed the injustices endured by Japanese Americans during World War II. In 1995, George Washington University awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Medal to Mineta for his contributions to the field of civil rights.

[edit] Private sector and Secretary of Commerce

Mineta resigned his seat mid-term to accept a position with Lockheed Martin in 1995. The Democrats subsequently lost this district when Republican Tom Campbell defeated Democratic candidate Jerry Estruth in the special election held to fill the vacated seat. Mineta chaired the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, which in 1997 issued recommendations on reducing traffic congestion and reducing the aviation accident rate. Many of the commission's recommendations were adopted by the Clinton administration, including reform of the FAA to enable it to perform more like a business.

After serving as vice president of Lockheed Martin Corporation, he was appointed in 2000 by President Clinton as the United States Secretary of Commerce, making him the first Asian American to hold a post in the presidential cabinet.

[edit] Secretary of Transportation

He was appointed United States Secretary of Transportation by President George W. Bush in 2001, a post he was originally offered eight years previously by Bill Clinton. He is the only Democrat to have served in Bush's cabinet and also the first Secretary of Transportation to have previously served in a cabinet position. He became the first Asian American to hold the position, and only the fourth person to be a member of Cabinet under two Presidents from different political parties (after Edwin M. Stanton, Henry L. Stimson, and James R. Schlesinger). When he was reelected, President Bush invited Mineta to continue in the position, and he did until resigning in June 2006. When he stepped down on July 7, he was the longest serving Secretary of Transportation since the position's inception in 1967.

[edit] September 11

During the September 11, 2001 attacks, Mineta issued an order to ground all civilian aircraft traffic for the first time in U.S. history.

Mineta's testimony to the 9/11 Commission about his experience in the Presidential Emergency Operating Center with vice president Cheney as American Airlines flight 77 approached the Pentagon was not included in the 9/11 Commission Report, however it has attracted attention for its content.

There was a young man who had come in and said to the vice president, 'The plane is 50 miles out. The plane is 30 miles out.' And when it got down to, 'The plane is 10 miles out,' the young man also said to the vice president, 'Do the orders still stand?' And the vice president turned and whipped his neck around and said, 'Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?' Well, at the time I didn't know what all that meant. And...

– Norman Mineta, ^[2]

Mineta's testimony to the Commission on Flight 77 differs rather significantly from the account provided in the January 22, 2002 edition of the Washington Post, as reported by Bob Woodward and Dan Balz in their series "10 Days in September":

This same article also reports that the conversation between Cheney and the aide occurred at 9:55 am, about 30 minutes later than the time Mineta cited (9:26 am) during his testimony to the 9/11 Commission.

After hearing of Mineta's orders, Canadian Transport Minister David Collenette also issued orders to ground all civilian aircraft traffic across Canada, resulting in Operation Yellow Ribbon. On September 21, 2001, Mineta sent a letter to all U.S. airlines forbidding them from practicing racial profiling; or subjecting Middle Eastern or Muslim passengers to a heightened degree of pre-flight scrutiny. He stated that it was illegal for the airlines to discriminate against passengers based on their race, color, national or ethnic origin or religion. Subsequently, administrative enforcement actions were brought against three different airlines based on alleged contraventions of these rules, resulting in multi-million dollar settlements.

The Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport in San Jose was named after him in November 2001 when Mineta was serving as Secretary of Transportation. The Mineta Transportation Institute, located at San José State University, was also named after him.

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow announced on June 23, 2006, that Mineta would resign effective July 7, 2006, because "he wanted to", with a spokesman for Mineta saying he was "moving on to pursue other challenges." He left office as the longest-serving Secretary of Transportation in history.^[3]

[edit] After leaving Bush administration

Hill & Knowlton announced on July 10, 2006, that Mineta will join the firm as vice chairman, effective July 24, 2006.^[4]

In December 2006, Mineta was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.^[5]

On February 4, 2008, the day before the closely contested California Democratic Primary, Mineta endorsed Barack Obama.^[6]

[edit] See also

• List of U.S. political appointments that crossed party lines
• 9/11 Commission Report

[edit] References

v • d • e Mayors of San Jose, California Belden • White • Allen • Houghton • Archer • Murphy • Givens • Moody • Minor • Fallon • Buckner • Johnson • Quinby • Leavenworth • Pfiser • Murphy • McKee • Archer • Murphy • Martin • Settle • Breyfogle • Boring • Rucker • Austin • Koch • Martin • Worswick • Mathews • Davison • Monahan • Husted • Chase • O'Brian • Jayet • Arnerich • Brooks • Gray • Doerr • Biebrach • Meyer • Bishop • French • Fischer • Young • Campbell • Renzel • Ruffo • Watson • Bradley • Hathaway • Starbird • Doerr • Solari • Moore • Welch • Pace • James • Mineta • Hayes • McEnery • Hammer • Gonzales • Reed

v • d • e United States Secretaries of Transportation Boyd • Volpe • Brinegar • Coleman • Adams • Goldschmidt • Lewis • Dole • Burnley • Skinner • Card • Peña • Slater • Mineta • Peters

v • d • e United States Secretaries of Commerce Secretaries of Commerce & Labor: Cortelyou • Metcalf • Straus • Nagel Secretaries of Commerce: Redfield • Alexander • Hoover • Whiting • Lamont • Chapin • Roper • Hopkins • Jones • Wallace • Harriman • Sawyer • Weeks • Strauss • Mueller • Hodges • Connor • Trowbridge • Smith • Stans • Peterson • Dent • Morton • Richardson • Kreps • Klutznick • Baldrige • Verity • Mosbacher • Franklin • Brown • Kantor • Daley • Mineta • Evans • Gutierrez

v • d • e Cabinet of President Bill Clinton (1993-2001) Vice President Al Gore (1993-2001) Secretary of State Warren Christopher (1993 – 1997) • Madeleine Albright (1997 – 2001) Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen (1993 – 1994) • Robert Rubin (1995 – 1999) • Lawrence Summers (1999 – 2001) Secretary of Defense Les Aspin (1993 – 1994) • William Perry (1994 – 1997) • William Cohen (1997 – 2001) Attorney General Janet Reno (1993-2001) Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt (1993 – 2001) Secretary of the Agriculture Mike Espy (1993 – 1994) • Dan Glickman (1994 – 2001) Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown (1993 – 1996) • Mickey Kantor (1996 – 1997) • William M. Daley (1997 – 2000) • Norman Mineta (2000 – 2001) Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (1993 – 1997) • Alexis Herman (1997 – 2001) Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala (1993-2001) Secretary of Education Richard Riley (1993-2001) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros (1993 – 1997) • Andrew Cuomo (1997 – 2001) Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña (1993 – 1997) • Rodney E. Slater (1997 – 2001) Secretary of Energy Hazel R. O'Leary (1993 – 1997) • Federico Peña (1997 – 1998) • Bill Richardson (1998 – 2001) Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jesse Brown (1993 – 1997) • Togo D. West, Jr. (1998 – 2000) • Hershel W. Gober, act. (2000 – 2001)

v • d • e Cabinet of President George W. Bush (2001 – 2009) Secretary of State Colin Powell (2001 – 2005) • Condoleezza Rice (2005 – present) Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill (2001 – 2002) • John Snow (2002 – 2006) • Henry Paulson (2006 – present) Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (2001 – 2006) • Robert Gates (2006 – present) Attorney General John Ashcroft (2001 – 2005) • Alberto Gonzales (2005 – 2007) • Michael Mukasey (2007 – present) Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton (2001 – 2006) • Dirk Kempthorne (2006 – present) Secretary of the Agriculture Ann Veneman (2001 – 2005) • Mike Johanns (2005 – 2007) • Ed Schafer (2008 – present) Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans (2001 – 2005) • Carlos Gutierrez (2005 – present) Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao (2001 – present) Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson (2001 – 2005) • Mike Leavitt (2005 – present) Secretary of Education Rod Paige (2001 – 2005) • Margaret Spellings (2005 – Present) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez (2001 – 2003) • Alphonso Jackson (2003 – 2008) • Steve Preston (2008 – present) Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta (2001 – 2006) • Mary Peters (2006 – present) Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham (2001 – 2005) • Samuel Bodman (2005 – present) Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi (2001 – 2005) • Jim Nicholson (2005 – 2007) • James Peake (2007 – present) Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge (2003 – 2005) • Michael Chertoff (2005 – present) Chief of Staff Andrew Card (2001 – 2006) • Joshua Bolten (2006 – present) Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Christine Todd Whitman (2001 – 2003) • Mike Leavitt (2003 – 2005) • Stephen Johnson (2005 – present) Trade Representative Robert Zoellick (2001 – 2005) • Rob Portman (2005 – 2006) • Susan Schwab (2006 - present)