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Elaine Chao

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Elaine Chao
NameElaine Chao
CaptionOfficial portrait, 2017
Office18th United States Secretary of Transportation
PresidentDonald Trump
Term startJanuary 31, 2017
Term endJanuary 11, 2021
PredecessorAnthony Foxx
SuccessorPete Buttigieg
Office124th United States Secretary of Labor
President1George W. Bush
Term start1January 29, 2001
Term end1January 20, 2009
Predecessor1Alexis Herman
Successor1Hilda Solis
Birth dateMarch 26, 1953
Birth placeTaipei, Taiwan
PartyRepublican
SpouseMitch McConnell (m. 1993)
EducationMount Holyoke College (BA), Harvard Business School (MBA)

Elaine Chao is an American public servant and former cabinet member who served in the administrations of two Republican presidents. She was the first Asian American woman to hold a Cabinet position, serving as the 24th United States Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush and later as the 18th United States Secretary of Transportation under President Donald Trump. Her career spans significant roles in the federal government, nonprofit leadership, and the corporate sector, and she is married to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Early life and education

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, she immigrated to the United States with her family at the age of eight. Her father, James S. C. Chao, founded the Foremost Group, a prominent international shipping company. She attended Syosset High School on Long Island before earning a degree in economics from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She subsequently obtained a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where she was a member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association.

Career in government and politics

Her early career included roles at Citibank and Bank of America before she entered public service as a White House Fellow during the Reagan administration. She later served as Deputy Administrator of the Maritime Administration within the United States Department of Transportation. Under President George H. W. Bush, she was appointed as United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation and subsequently as Director of the Peace Corps, becoming the first Asian American to lead that agency. She also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of America, helping to restore its reputation after a financial scandal.

Tenure as U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the United States Senate in 2017, she led the United States Department of Transportation for nearly four years. Her tenure focused on infrastructure policy, including the administration's Infrastructure Initiative, and emphasized streamlining regulations under initiatives like the DOT’s Regulatory Reform Task Force. She oversaw responses to several high-profile transportation safety issues, including the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and the implementation of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. She resigned her position on January 11, 2021, following the 2021 United States Capitol attack.

Tenure as U.S. Secretary of Labor

Appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed unanimously by the Senate, she served as United States Secretary of Labor from 2001 to 2009, the longest tenure in that position since the Eisenhower administration. Her priorities included implementing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's compliance assistance programs, modernizing overtime regulations, and promoting job training initiatives for the 21st-century workforce through the Employment and Training Administration. She also managed the department's response to the economic fallout following the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina.

Other professional activities

Beyond her cabinet service, she has held positions on the corporate boards of directors for companies including Dole Food Company, Wells Fargo, and News Corp. She has been a Distinguished Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., and remains involved with her family's foundation, the James S. C. Chao Family Foundation, which supports educational and cultural institutions. She has also served on the boards of Harvard's Kennedy School and the Smithsonian Institution.

Personal life

She married United States Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader from Kentucky, in 1993. The couple divides their time between Washington, D.C., and Louisville, Kentucky. Her father, James S. C. Chao, is a noted philanthropist who established the Ruth Mulan Chu Chao Center at Harvard Business School, named for her late mother. She is the eldest of six daughters, several of whom hold leadership roles in the Foremost Group and the family's philanthropic endeavors.

Category:1953 births Category:Living people Category:United States Secretaries of Labor Category:United States Secretaries of Transportation