Alexis Herman

Alexis Herman

23rd United States Secretary of Labor
In office May 1, 1997 – January 20, 2001
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Robert Reich
Succeeded by	Elaine Chao
12th Assistant to the President for Public Liaison
In office January 20, 1993 – May 1, 1997
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	David Demarest
Succeeded by	Maria Echaveste
Personal details
Born	July 16, 1947 (1947-07-16) (age 64) Mobile, Alabama
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Dr. Charles Franklin
Alma mater	Edgewood College Spring Hill College Xavier University of Louisiana
Profession	social worker, politician, C.E.O.

Alexis Margaret Herman (born July 16, 1947 in Mobile, Alabama) was the 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor, serving under President Bill Clinton. Prior to her appointment, she was Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Background

The daughter of politician Alex Herman and schoolteacher Gloria Caponis, Alexis grew up in a Catholic home^[1] in Mobile and earned her high school diploma in 1965 from the Heart of Mary High School. She briefly attended Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, and Spring Hill College in Mobile, but transferred to Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, where she became an active member of the Gamma Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority^[2] and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 1969.

Herman was Queen of Carnival for the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association (Mobile's African-American Mardi Gras umbrella organization) in 1974. Her Carnival king, Douglas Wicks, would go on to become the first African-American elected to the Mobile County Commission since Reconstruction.^[3]

After college, Herman worked for Catholic Charities and other agencies, advocating for minority women employment. Jimmy Carter met the young Herman while campaigning in Atlanta, Georgia and, after winning the White House in 1977, tapped her to be Director of the Labor Department's Women's Bureau. At age 29, she was the youngest person to ever serve in that position.

In 1981, Herman founded her own consulting firm - A.M. Herman & Associates. She served as president of the company while remaining active in Democratic politics. During her tenure as chief of staff and later vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, she was responsible for organizing the 1992 Democratic National Convention.

After Bill Clinton's victory in the 1992 Presidential election, Herman became deputy director of the Presidential Transition Office. She was later appointed to head the White House Office of Public Liaison, where she was responsible for the administration's relations with interest groups.

During Clinton's second term, Herman was named Secretary of Labor, the first African American to be nominated for that position and the fifth woman to be appointed. Her nomination was initially opposed by Congressional Republicans and labor unions, but she earned praise from her peers for her handling of the 1997 UPS workers strike. She came under investigation for taking cash bribe and/or illegal campaign donations as an aide to Clinton from 1994 to 1996. She was the 5th cabinet officer be investigated by independent counsel. Bill Clinton testified on her behalf. In 2000 the investigation ended with no indictment.

During the 2000 Florida election recount, Herman was part of team planning a transition to a Gore Administration, and she was mentioned as a likely candidate for White House Chief of Staff. She was replaced as Secretary of Labor in the George W. Bush administration by Elaine Chao.

Herman now serves as the co-chairperson (with James Roosevelt, Jr.) of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Herman also now serves on the boards of several major companies, including The Coca-Cola Company's Human Resources Task Force, Toyota's Diversity Advisory Board, Cummins, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, and Prudential and is the chairman and CEO of New Ventures, Inc.

Honorary titles
Preceded by Yvonne Kennedy	Queen of Carnival, Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association 1974	Succeeded by Winifred A. Lucy
Political offices
Preceded by Robert Reich	United States Secretary of Labor Served under: Bill Clinton 1997—2001	Succeeded by Elaine Chao

United States Secretaries of Labor

Secretaries of Commerce & Labor	Cortelyou • Metcalf • Straus • Nagel

Secretaries of Labor	Wilson • Davis • Doak • Perkins • Schwellenbach • Tobin • Durkin • Mitchell • Goldberg • Wirtz • Shultz • Hodgson • Brennan • Dunlop • Usery • Marshall • Donovan • Brock • McLaughlin • Dole • Martin • Reich • Herman • Chao • Solis

Cabinet of President Bill Clinton (1993–2001)

Cabinet

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 Agriculture	Mike Espy (1993 – 1994) • Dan Glickman (1995 – 2001)

Secretary of Commerce	Ron Brown (1993 – 1996) • Mickey Kantor (1996 – 1997) • William 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 Slater (1997 – 2001)

Secretary of Energy	Hazel O'Leary (1993 – 1997) • Federico Peña (1997 – 1998) • Bill Richardson (1998 – 2001)

Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Jesse Brown (1993 – 1997) • Togo West (1998 – 2000) • Hershel Gober* (2000 – 2001)

acting secretary.

Cabinet-level

Vice President	Al Gore (1993 – 2001)

White House Chief of Staff	Mack McLarty (1993 – 1994) • Leon Panetta (1994 – 1997) • Erskine Bowles (1997 – 1998) • John Podesta (1998 – 2001)

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency	Carol Browner (1993 – 2001)

Ambassador to the United Nations	Madeleine Korbel Albright (1993 – 1997) • Bill Richardson (1997 – 1998) • Richard Holbrooke (1999 – 2001)

Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Leon Panetta (1993 – 1994) • Alice Rivlin (1994 – 1996) • Franklin Raines (1996 – 1998) • Jacob Lew (1998 – 2001)

Director of National Drug Control Policy	Lee Brown (1993 – 1995) • Barry McCaffrey (1996 – 2001)

Trade Representative	Mickey Kantor (1993 – 1997) • Charlene Barshefsky (1997 – 2001)

Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency	James Lee Witt (1993 – 2001)*

Director of Central Intelligence	John Deutch (1995 – 1996) • George Tenet (1997–2001)

Administrator of the Small Business Administration	Erskine Bowles (1993 - 1994) • Philip Lader (1994 – 1997) • Aída Álvarez (1997–2001)

took office in 1993, raised to cabinet-rank in 1996

Assistant to the President for Public Liaison

Special Counsel to the President, Special Assistant to the President, Assistant to the President for Public Liaison, Assistant to the President for Public Outreach, Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs

Charles Colson · William J. Baroody, Jr. · Midge Costanza · Anne Wexler · Elizabeth Dole · Faith Whittlesey · Linda Chavez · Mari Maseng · Rebecca Range · Bobbie Kilberg · Cecile B. Kremer · Alexis Herman · Maria Echaveste · Minyon Moore · Mary Beth Cahill · Lezlee Westine · Rhonda Keenum · Julie E. Cram · Valerie Jarrett

References

^ Alexis Herman bio from Kevo.com
^ "Notable Deltas". Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.. http://www.deltasigmatheta.org/notable_deltas.htm. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
^ [1]
^ NPR: Who's Who on the Rules and Bylaws Committee
^ MyDD: Vote Counting the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee
^ CNN.com: It's decision day for Democrats

Persondata
Name	Herman, Alexis
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 16, 1947
Place of birth	Mobile, Alabama
Date of death
Place of death

Alexis Herman

Background

References

External links