Transportation Department

Norman Y. Mineta
Secretary
202-366-1111
Mineta, the only Democrat at the Cabinet table, has a reputation earned mostly on Capitol Hill as a consensus builder that has won him praise from all sides. On reflection, it's no surprise that Bush picked him, because these qualities-not to mention the experience that came with serving in the Clinton Cabinet-will come in handy. Mineta, 69, will face such daunting issues as airport delays, airline mergers, Amtrak's fate, and congested highways and byways. It's not clear how much power the lone Democratic Cabinet officer will have, especially on such politically divisive matters as labor or the environment. Mineta, a Japanese-American and California native, spent two years in an internment camp during World War II. He enlisted in the Army in 1953 after graduating from the University of California (Berkeley). Mineta served as an intelligence officer in Japan and Korea. Returning home to San Jose, he eventually jumped into politics and was elected mayor, a position he held from 1971-74. His congressional career spanned two decades, from 1975-95. Mineta focused primarily on transportation, developing an in-depth knowledge of aviation, highway, and mass transit operations. Named chairman of the House Transportation Committee in 1992, he worked to increase state and local government control of transportation decisions and funds. In 1995, Mineta resigned from the House to work as a lobbyist for the Lockheed Martin Corp. He also chaired the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, established by Congress to examine potential problems facing the aviation industry. Most recently, Mineta was President Clinton's Commerce Secretary, becoming in 2000 the first Asian-American to become a Cabinet officer.

Michael P. Jackson
Deputy Secretary
202-366-2222
Jackson's duties as the second in command include monitoring the day-to-day operations of 11 units of the department that oversee various forms of transport for getting people and goods from here to there. He is also is responsible for the performance of more than 100,000 civilians and uniformed personnel scattered around the country and abroad. Before joining Transportation, Jackson, 47, was vice president and general manager of business development at Lockheed Martin IMS, Transportation Systems and Services. Before that, he logged four years as senior vice president and counselor to the president at the American Trucking Associations. Jackson, a native of Houston, has also held a number of previous positions in the executive branch. From 1992-93, he was chief of staff to then-Transportation Secretary Andrew Card, now White House chief of staff. Jackson was also an assistant to the President and executive secretary to the Cabinet during the George H.W. Bush Administration. He has been a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, part of Washington's think-tank community, and he taught political science for a time at the University of Georgia and Georgetown University. Jackson received his undergraduate degree from the University of Houston and a doctorate in political science from Georgetown University.

Donna R. McLean
Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs
202-366-9191
In her first job after graduate school, McLean was a lowly program analyst in the department's Budget and Programs Office from 1989-90. Just 12 years later, she's now running the show. McLean, 36, is essentially the department's chief numbers cruncher, responsible for overseeing its $60 billion budget and for shepherding the budget through the appropriations process. Born and raised in the St. Louis area, McLean obtained her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Indiana University. After her initial tour at Transportation, she was a budget examiner at the Office of Management and Budget, where she focused on aviation matters. From 1993-99, she was a GOP staff member at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's aviation panel. Most recently, she worked as the chief financial officer at the Federal Aviation Administration. McLean wins praise for her smarts and budget skills. And one former colleague at the House Transportation Committee, who remembers McLean's preparations for tense hearings after the ValuJet airline crash in 1996, points out that she's a cool customer. "The one thing I always remember is how calm she was in the midst of this storm. It was the one thing I always marveled at."

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