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Norman Mineta

Norman Mineta
Mineta c. 2001
14th United States Secretary of Transportation
In office
January 25, 2001 – July 7, 2006
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byRodney Slater
Succeeded byMary Peters
33rd United States Secretary of Commerce
In office
July 21, 2000 – January 20, 2001
PresidentBill Clinton
Preceded byWilliam M. Daley
Succeeded byDonald Evans
Ranking Member of the House Transportation Committee
In office
January 3, 1995 – October 10, 1995
Preceded byBud Shuster
Succeeded byJim Oberstar
Chair of the House Transportation Committee
In office
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995
Preceded byBob Roe
Succeeded byBud Shuster
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California
In office
January 3, 1975 – October 10, 1995
Preceded byRobert Lagomarsino (redistricted)
Succeeded byTom Campbell
Constituency13th district (1975–1993)
15th district (1993–1995)
59th Mayor of San Jose
In office
January 9, 1971 – January 9, 1975
Preceded byRon James
Succeeded byJanet Gray Hayes
Personal details
Born(1931-11-12)November 12, 1931
San Jose, California, U.S.
DiedMay 3, 2022(2022-05-03) (aged 90)
Edgewater, Maryland, U.S.
Resting placeOak Hill Memorial Park, San Jose, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
May Hinoki
(m. 1961; div. 1986)

Deni Brantner
(m. 1991)
Children4
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BS)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Unit Army Military Intelligence Corps

Norman Yoshio Mineta[1] (Japanese: 峯田 良雄, November 12, 1931 – May 3, 2022) was an American politician from California. A member of the Democratic Party, Mineta served in the Cabinet for US Presidents Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and George W. Bush, a Republican.

Mineta served as the mayor of San Jose from 1971 until 1975. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 until 1995. Mineta served as the United States Secretary of Commerce during the final months of Bill Clinton's presidency. He was the first person of East Asian descent to serve as a US Cabinet secretary and the first Asian American mayor of a major US city.[2][3]

As the United States Secretary of Transportation for President Bush, Mineta was the only Democratic cabinet secretary in the Bush administration. He oversaw the creation of the Transportation Security Administration in response to the September 11 attacks that had occurred early in his tenure. 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 Secretary of Transportation in the department's history. A month later, the public relations firm Hill & Knowlton announced that Mineta would join it as a partner. In 2010, it was announced that Mineta would join L&L Energy as vice chairman.

Mineta died on May 3, 2022, from a heart ailment in Edgewater, Maryland, at the age of 90.[4]

  1. ^ "Dick Cheney: Personal Reflections on his Public Life".
  2. ^ Witte, Brian; Chea, Terence (May 3, 2022). "Norman Mineta, transportation secretary in 9/11 era, dies". Associated Press. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  3. ^ "'Norman Mineta and His Legacy: An American Story' Screening". Detroit PBS. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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