Rodney Earl Slater (born February 23, 1955) is an American politician of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

who served as the United States Secretary of Transportation under President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

from 1997 to 2001. Prior to being appointed to the Clinton Cabinet, Slater served as the administrator of the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

from 1993 to 1997.

Education

Slater graduated from

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

in 1977, and received his Juris Doctor degree from the

University of Arkansas School of Law The University of Arkansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a State university system, state university. It has around 445 students enrolled in its Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Law (LL.M) ...

in 1980.

Early career

Slater became a research assistant to the State Judiciary Committee of the Arkansas Constitutional Convention in 1979–80, an assistant attorney general for the state of Arkansas in 1980. He was appointed to several state government positions in Arkansas by

. Positions included assistant to the governor between 1983 and 1987, and member of the Arkansas State Highway Commission between 1987 and 1993. Slater was also the director of governmental affairs for

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osa ...

during that time.

Appointment to federal positions

President Clinton meeting with advisers on Air Force One

After Clinton was elected president, 1993 Slater became the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

Director of the

. In 1997, Slater was appointed to be the

Secretary of Transportation A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...

. He was the second African American to hold that post.

Projects

Slater was able to muster bipartisan support in congress for his projects including: *

Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century The United States federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) is a federal transportation bill enacted June 9, 1998, as and . TEA-21 authorized federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit ...

(TEA-21), making a record $200 billion investment in surface transportation. * Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21), which provides a record $46 billion to provide safety and security of the nation's aviation system *Negotiated of 40 Open skies agreements with other countries

Private sector

Slater is part of a group of investors headed by Stan Kasten that successfully purchased the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

team, the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

. Slater is a partner at the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

law firm of

Squire Patton Boggs Squire Patton Boggs is an international law firm with 42 offices in 20 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C. based Patton Boggs. It is one of the 30 largest law firms in the ...

, where he is head of the transportation practice and works on projects related to the transportation infrastructure. He is also a partner in James Lee Witt Associates, a risk management firm headed by former

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Ex ...

director

James Lee Witt James Lee Witt (born January 6, 1944) is a former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), during the tenure of U.S. President Bill Clinton and is often credited with raising the agency's level of professionalism and ability to ...

. He serves on the board of directors of

Africare Africare is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. which provides development aid for Africa. It was founded by Dr. Joseph Kennedy and C. Payne Lucas in 1970, former Peace Corps members who worked in eastern Niger. Africare is the l ...

, a nonprofit providing development aid to countries in Africa, and The Dance Theater of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

, and is the chair of the Board of Trustees of

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

. Slater also serves on the corporate boards of

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

and

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas ...

. He has been appointed to join the board of

WS Atkins Atkins is a British multinational engineering, design, planning, architectural design, project management and consulting services company. It is a subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin and is headquartered in London. The company was founded as WS Atkins & ...

as a non-executive director effective 9 September 2011. As of December 3, 2014 Slater was appointed to serve as special counsel to

Takata Corporation was a Japanese automotive parts company. The company had production facilities on four continents, with its European headquarters located in Germany.Anghel, Alexandru (December 10, 2009)."Takata Petri hires 1,000 people in half a year in Arad an ...

in support of Takata's dealings on the 2013 airbag recall issues they are facing. They will advise the Company as they address the current challenges Takata faces. He also led a safety advisory panel for

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

and served as independent monitor for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

References

External links

Profile
at Squire Patton Boggs * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Rodney E. 1955 births 20th-century American politicians Administrators of the Federal Highway Administration African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States Arkansas lawyers Arkansas State University faculty Clinton administration cabinet members Delta Air Lines people Eastern Michigan University alumni Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Living people People from Marianna, Arkansas United States Secretaries of Transportation University of Arkansas School of Law alumni Verizon Communications people Members of the Arkansas State Highway Commission Clinton administration personnel People associated with Squire Patton Boggs