The first Asian American cabinet secretary grew up as the “enemy child.”
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.
The phrase “Enemy Child” later became the title of Andrea Warren’s acclaimed biography of Mineta’s childhood, capturing the cruel contradiction of an American boy imprisoned by his own country before rising to become a U.S. congressman and cabinet secretary.
Mineta’s Services
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, which became the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which officially apologized for the incarceration of Japanese Americans and granted redress to survivors.
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.
History Did NOT Repeat
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.
United
In that moment, Mineta didn’t just protect airplanes — he protected a generation of Americans from being scapegoated because of their faith or ethnicity.
His life was a testament to the concept of the United States of America. “United” being the key word.
Norman Mineta, a Democrat, and Alan Simpson, a Republican, formed an unlikely, lifelong friendship after meeting in 1943 as Boy Scouts at the Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming, where Mineta’s family was imprisoned. They openly referred to their relationship as a “love affair” and actively worked together to promote civility and bipartisan cooperation.
Something rare nowadays, especially from someone who was labeled the “enemy child.”