- LaHood, Ray
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▪ American politicianborn Dec. 6, 1945, Peoria, Ill., U.S.American politician who served as a Republican (Republican Party) in the U.S. House of Representatives (Representatives, House of) (1995–2009) before becoming U.S. secretary of transportation (2009– ) in the administration of Democratic (Democratic Party) Pres. Barack Obama (Obama, Barack).LaHood grew up in the Peoria, Ill., area, and he earned a bachelor's degree in education and sociology from Bradley University in 1971. He worked as a teacher and as an urban planner before entering politics in 1977 as an aide to U.S. Rep. Thomas Railsback. In 1982 LaHood finished the term of a retiring Illinois state representative, but he was unsuccessful in his bid to win the seat outright. The following year he joined the staff of U.S. House of Representatives minority leader Robert Michel, a career politician who was known for his ability to broker deals that crossed party lines. He was named Michel's chief of staff in 1990, and, upon Michel's retirement in 1994, LaHood was elected to fill his mentor's vacant congressional seat.Although LaHood took office as a Republican when that party's congressional fortunes were on the rise, he distanced himself from party leaders such as Newt Gingrich (Gingrich, Newt), and he was one of a handful of Republicans who refused to sign Gingrich's “Contract with America,” a document outlining legislation to be enacted by the House within the first 100 days of the 104th Congress. Nonetheless, in 1998 Republican leadership selected LaHood to chair the House impeachment proceedings against Pres. Bill Clinton (Clinton, Bill). Observers agreed that LaHood brought an element of impartiality and civility to the proceedings, and these traits characterized the rest of his term in Congress. He served on the House transportation and appropriations committees, and he secured funding for a number of infrastructure improvement projects in his district.In 2007 he announced that he would not run for reelection. The following year he was selected by Obama to head the Department of Transportation, and he was confirmed by the Senate in January 2009.
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Universalium. 2010.
