The first Asian American cabinet secretary believed in service above party.
July 21, 2000: President Bill Clinton swore in Norman Y. Mineta as U.S. Secretary of Commerce, making him the first Asian American to serve in a presidential cabinet.
Norman Mineta’s journey to the White House cabinet room started in the unlikeliest of places: an incarceration barrack in Wyoming.
Mineta was just ten years old when his family was forced out of their home in San Jose and sent to the Heart Mountain camp during World War II. He would later recall the humiliation of being treated as the enemy by his own government, even as a child born in America.
Rather than turn bitter, Mineta turned to public service.
After graduating from UC Berkeley, he joined the U.S. Army as an intelligence officer, serving in post-war Japan and Korea. He later became the first Asian American mayor of a major U.S. city (San Jose), and in Congress, he co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and championed civil rights for all.
Most notably, Mineta was the driving force behind H.R. 442 — the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 — which officially apologized for the incarceration of Japanese Americans and granted redress to survivors. It was named after the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, made up of Nisei soldiers like those imprisoned with him at Heart Mountain.
Mineta was a Democrat. But his career reflected a rare kind of integrity that transcended party lines.
After serving as Secretary of Commerce under President Clinton, Mineta was appointed Secretary of Transportation by President George W. Bush — making him the only Democrat in the Bush cabinet and the longest-serving Transportation Secretary in U.S. history.
Then came 9/11.
As the Twin Towers fell and the U.S. faced the worst terrorist attack in its history, Secretary Mineta made the unprecedented call to ground every plane in American airspace. More than 4,000 aircraft were safely diverted or landed within hours.
But perhaps just as important as what he ordered… was what he refused to allow.
In the White House situation room, when some officials began suggesting that Muslim Americans and Arab communities be placed under heightened surveillance or restrictions — even interned — Mineta stood firm. He remembered what happened to Japanese Americans like himself in 1942. And he made it clear: “We are not going to do what we did to Japanese Americans.”
President Bush listened.
In that moment, Mineta didn’t just protect airplanes — he protected a generation of Americans from being scapegoated because of their faith or ethnicity.
During his tenure, America also achieved the lowest traffic fatality rate ever recorded, the safest three-year period in aviation history, and nationwide safety reforms — including persuading every state to adopt a .08% blood alcohol limit.
Mineta didn’t just break barriers. He rebuilt trust. Between government and the people it wronged. Between public safety and civil liberty. Between parties in a divided country.
His life was a testament to the concept of the United States of America. “United” being the key word.