Few expected this Republican in the Obama cabinet to cause such a stir. Yet, from his high speed rail advocacy to campaigning for road safety ("just say no to texting") to pushing livable communities, 64-year-old Ray LaHood has changed D.O.T.
"So how did LaHood transform what Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" called the "least glamorous" Cabinet position...?"
"Lookit," he says with a shrug, "the president asked me to do a job, so I'm doing it."
"Doing the job has meant globe-trotting to check out trains in China and Toyotas in Japan and to have meetings in Moscow. At home there are just two kinds of states: those where he's been to spread his gospel of safety and to inspect transportation systems, and those states that he plans to visit soon."
The 4-page blog goes on to detail LaHood's accomplishments as Secretary of the Dept. of Transportation, his personality, and his 'pet concerns' such as his "assault on distracted driving".
From "The Daily Show", December 15, 2009:
Host Jon Stewart's first question to LaHood is "If I were a CEO of a major company and I needed to meet the President" and it's really foggy, how would I get there?"
LaHood: "Amtrak, and also Greyhound."
Read the full story: A regular guy, but also a political achiever
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