Have you ever met someone who just exuded a sense of class, grace and integrity? If so, then you will know why this week’s Word of Encouragement is dedicated to Norman Yoshio Mineta, who passed away this week at the age of 90. Mineta was elected to Congress in 1974 and served 10 terms representing Silicon Valley and then served with distinction as a Cabinet Secretary for both President Clinton and President Bush.
Even though he was interred in a U.S. Government World War II internment camp in Wyoming, I never detected any bitterness. Instead, he chose to move forward and exemplified a spirit of service and dedication to our country.
I first met (then) Representative Mineta in his office when he was serving as the Chairman of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee. A small group of us were there to lobby for the deregulation of intrastate trucking. We accomplished this objective with the passage of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994.
Rep. Mineta listened intently, asked probing questions and after thanking us for our efforts, encouraged us to keep working on behalf of shippers and carriers. I never felt that he was pursuing a partisan agenda. Instead, he made it clear that he and his constituents were pursuing a bi-partisan agenda that would address America’s critical infrastructure needs. Months later, Rep. Mineta agreed to speak at our TranzAct Customer Conference and our friendship continued to blossom.
After leaving Congress, he worked for Lockheed Martin before returning to governmental service as the Secretary of Commerce under President Clinton and then serving as the Secretary of Transportation under George W. Bush. As the Secretary of Transportation on September 11, 2001, Secretary Mineta ordered all commercial flights grounded after the 9/11 terror attacks.
Even though he broke racial barriers for Asian Americans by serving in several high-profile government posts, he noted that he was an American who happened to be born to Japanese parents. In awarding Norman Mineta with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Bush stated that he was "a wonderful American story about someone who overcame hardship and prejudice to serve in the United States Army, Congress, and the Cabinet of two Presidents… Norm has given his country a lifetime of service, and he’s given his fellow citizens an example of leadership, devotion to duty, and personal character."
One of my fondest memories of Norman was when he was serving as the Vice Chairman for Hill Knowlton. He invited me to join him for a meal during one of his visits to Chicago. He wanted to personally thank me for a gift I had given him years earlier.
When he spoke at our conference, he shared a story about one of the things that upset him when he was sent to the internment camp. He loved baseball and was very upset when the government took his baseball bat and mitt.
At an earlier meeting, he had shared that after speaking at an industry association meeting he was given a baseball bat signed by Hank Aaron and Sadaharu Oh (the Japanese baseball player with the most home runs in the Japanese Baseball League). He had to give the bat back to the government because it exceeded the legal spending limit for gifts. Norman smiled and said: “Mike, the government keeps taking my bats.”
To say “Thanks” to Norman for speaking at our meeting, I called a good friend and big sports memorabilia dealer. I told him what I wanted and he sold me a Hank Aaron and Sadaharu Oh signed baseball bat that was under the legal limit for gifts. I gave Norm the bat, a certified receipt and a note that read: “The government can never take this bat away.” He thanked me for the gift and told me it was one of his favorite gifts.
On a personal level, he was a gifted leader and instrumental in the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which required the U.S. government to apologize to the 120,000 Japanese Americans forced to live in wartime internment camps.
In serving our country, Norman Mineta lived out the words written in Matthew: "Well done my good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!"
