Former Federal Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta died Tuesday of a heart ailment, according to his former chief of staff John Flaherty. He was 90.
Born in San Jose, Mineta was the first Asian American secretary to serve in a U.S. cabinet position. He served as U.S. secretary of commerce under former President Bill Clinton’s administration in 2000, and was the only democrat to serve as secretary under the George W. Bush administration from 2001-2006, according to a Tuesday ABC news article.
San Jose State Interim President Steve Perez said in a Tuesday campuswide email that Mineta served the community with his “humanity and leadership.”
“Secretary Mineta, a San José native, was a legendary, towering figure who made important, lasting, positive contributions to our region and country,” Perez said.
As transportation secretary, Mineta ordered commercial flights grounded after the 9/11 terror attacks, according to the same ABC News article.
Mineta claimed to have grounded 4,500 planes, according to a Tuesday New York Times article.
“I said, ‘Get the damn planes down,’” he told ABC News in 2001. He was praised for maintaining composure during the attacks.
Following the attacks, Mineta formed the Transportation Security Agency, the federal agency responsible for air safety, while forbidding U.S. airlines from discriminating against Middle Eastern or Muslim passengers by subjecting them to heightened preflight security, according to the same New York Times Article.
Prior to his cabinet service Mineta served as mayor of San Jose from 1971 until 1975 and represented California in the House of Representatives from 1975 to 1995, according to a Tuesday Washington Post article.
Mineta unsuccessfully pushed for Santa Clara County to join Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART, decades before San Jose connected to the transit system, according to a Tuesday Mercury News article.
Mineta also founded the SJSU Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI), which “is devoted to developing public sector leaders to serve the transportation industry.” according to their website.
The Mineta Transportation Institute of San Jose State, founded by Mineta, put out a statement today after his death on their website.
“MTI is proud to continue his legacy of improving our nation’s transportation systems and educating the transportation workforce of the future,” a Tuesday statement by the institute read. “Our collective hearts go out to the Mineta family and their friends in this time of mourning.”
Burford Furman, professor of Mechanical Engineering and co-founder of Spartan Superway, a student project at SJSU seeking solutions for transportation issues, said Mineta was a “massive supporter” of student activities on campus.
“. . .For the Spartan Superway project, that’s when he came to class. I mean, goodness gracious, how many times does the former secretary of transportation or secretary of commerce show up in a San Jose State classroom?” Furman said in a phone interview.
In 2001, city council approved the renaming of San Jose International Airport to the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, in honor of Mineta’s accomplishments and involvement in the community.
“You know, the airport's named after him. An institute at San Jose State is named after him. He's just a huge figure and the theme of, you know, the US government, let alone his other accomplishments,” Furman said.
Mineta is the son of Japanese immigrants who were excluded from citizenship under the Asian Exclusion Act of 1924, which prevented immigration from Asia into the U.S., according to a May 20, 2019 Time Magazine article.
Mineta and his family were interned for several years at the Heart mountain camp near Cody, Wyoming during World War II, according to the same article.
It was this experience that inspired Mineta to go into public service.
“I wanted to make sure that something like this would never happen again,” Mineta said in the same article. “I would speak for those who are underrepresented in government or have no representation at all.”
Mineta was instrumental to the passing of the Civil Liberties Act in 1988 as a congressional representative. He worked with former congressman Alan Simpson, a close friend of his who was interned at the same camp he was, according to a May 17, 2019 Atlantic article.
The act was signed into law by former President Ronald Reagan.
The law authorized payments and formal apologies to the survivors and heirs of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were interned during World War II, according to the same Atlantic article.
Furman spoke on how Mineta helped bridge the aisle between Democrats and Republicans during his time in office.
“Well, I hope that current legislators and government leaders step up to the integrity and the ability to work together on significant projects and legislate. . . and you know, consider his beginnings and what has happened to him to the Japanese internment. And it's just difficulties in his life and yet I think keep coming back to that you know to that gravitas.” Furman said.
Ron Swenson, sponsor of the Spartan Superway and colleague of Mineta, also spoke about Mineta’s integrity and how he “bridged the aisle between Democrats and Republicans.”
“You know, transportation is not Democratic. It's not Republican. You know, he was well known for bridging the aisle, between Republicans and the Democrats as evidenced by real issues.. Burford took the words right out of my mouth, I was gonna say ‘integrity.’ That's a really important part of being in political affairs,” Swenson said in a phone interview.
After he left government office in 2006, Mineta was awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in honor of his services. He is survived by his wife Deni, his sons, Davis and Stuart and stepsons Robert and Mark Brantner.
