Mineta, Norman Yoshio, 1931-

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Norman Yoshio Mineta (born November 12, 1931) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the San Jose, California city council, as Mayor of San Jose, as the U.S. Representative from California's 13th and 15th districts, as Secretary of Commerce in the last months of the Clinton administration and as Secretary of Transportation for five and a half years in the George W. Bush administration.

Born in San Jose, Mineta's family was interned for several years in the Heart Mountain internment camp near Cody, Wyoming, along with thousands of other Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans. He attended public schools in San Jose, in Heart Mountain, and in Evanston, Illinois, graduating from San Jose High School before earning a B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley. After graduating, Mineta joined his father’s insurance firm and began exploring a possible entry into local politics. From 1962 to 1964, Mineta served on San Jose’s human relations commission, and from 1966 to 1967, he sat on the board of directors of the city’s housing authority. That year he jumped to the city council, where he served double duty as vice mayor from 1968 to 1971. In 1971, Mineta was elected Mayor of San Jose. As mayor, Mineta clamped down on San Jose’s runaway development. He worked to funnel growth back toward the city’s center, tightening zoning requirements and passing a “pay-as-you-grow” tax to cover the cost of additional public services.

In 1974, Mineta ran for the United States House of Representatives in what was then California's 13th congressional district. During his time in Congress, Mineta co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and served as its first chair. Mineta served as chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 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. He resigned his seat mid-term to accept a position with Lockheed Martin in 1995. After serving as vice president of Lockheed Martin Corporation, he was appointed in 2000 by President Clinton as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, making him the first Asian American to hold a presidential cabinet post. 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 was the only Democrat to have served in Bush's cabinet and the first Secretary of Transportation to have previously served in a cabinet position.

Mineta joined Hill & Knowlton Strategies as vice chairman, resigning as Secretary of Transportation shortly thereafter. On August 10, 2010, he was named as Vice Chairman of L&L Energy, which is headquartered in Seattle and operates coal mines and other facilities related to coal production in China.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Mineta, Norman Yoshio, 1931-. Norman Mineta papers, 1961-2001 (bulk 1975-1995). San Jose State University
creatorOf Norman Y. Mineta Papers, 1975-1996 Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
referencedIn Records of the Office of the Staff Secretary. 1976 - 1981. Presidential Files. 1977 - 1981. 3/16/78 Jimmy Carter Library
referencedIn University of California, Berkeley. Institute of Governmental Studies. [California special election, 1995 (Dec. 12), candidates to replace Mineta in the 15th congressional district, Campbell and Estruth : newspaper clippings]. Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley
creatorOf Norman Y. Mineta Papers, 1975-1996 Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
referencedIn Ernie Renzel Papers, 1900-2007, (1953-2004) History San José Research Library.
creatorOf Norman Yoshio Mineta diary, circa 1941-1943. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn East West Research Files, 1967-1989 University of California, Berkeley. The Ethnic Studies Library.
referencedIn Janet Gray Hayes papers, 1914-2002, 1974-1982 San José State University. Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Democratic Party (U.S.) corporateBody
associatedWith East West newspaper person
associatedWith Hayes, Janet Gray person
associatedWith Heart Mountain Relocation Center (Wyo.) corporateBody
associatedWith Renzel, Ernest H., Jr., 1907-2007 corporateBody
memberOf San Jose (Calif.). City Council corporateBody
associatedWith San José State University. Library. Special Collections & Archives. corporateBody
memberOf United States. Congress. House. corporateBody
leaderOf United States. Department of Commerce corporateBody
leaderOf United States. Department of Transportation corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf University of California at Berkeley corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
District of Columbia DC US
San Jose CA US
Arcadia CA US
Heart Mountain Relocation Center WY US
Berkeley CA US
Evanston IL US
Subject
Asian American legislators
Asian Americans
Cabinet officers
Cabinet officers
Political campaigns
City council members
City council members
Civil rights movement
Compensation (Law)
Democratic Party (U.S.)
Japanese Americans
Japanese Americans
Japanese Americans
Japanese Americans
Legislators
Legislators
Mayor
Mayors
Pacific Islanders
Reparations for historical injustices
Transportation
Transportation
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945
Occupation
Businessmen
Cabinet officers
City council members
City Government Official
Insurance agents
Mayors
Representatives, U.S. Congress
Activity

Person

Birth 1931-11-12

Male

Americans

Japanese,

English

Information

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