Norman Mineta, transportation secretary during 9/11, dies
By Gregory Wallace, CNN
Norman Mineta, who oversaw the Department of Transportation during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, died on Tuesday afternoon. He was 90.
“My dad passed away peacefully Tuesday afternoon at his home surrounded by his family,” David Mineta said in a statement provided by Mineta’s former chief of staff, John Flaherty.
Flaherty told CNN that the elder Mineta died in Edgewater, Maryland, of a heart ailment.
Mineta served in both the administrations of President Bill Clinton, as commerce secretary, and President George W. Bush, as transportation secretary, where he oversaw aviation security during 9/11 and its aftermath.
He had previously served two decades in Congress, elected as a Democrat out of his native California.
Mineta and his family were held at an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II, according to his biography on the Bush administration’s official website.
Bush described Mineta’s legacy on Tuesday as “a wonderful American story about someone who overcame hardship and prejudice.”
“As my Secretary of Transportation, he showed great leadership in helping prevent further attacks on and after 9/11,” Bush wrote. “As I said when presenting him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 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.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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