Neal A. McCaleb (June 30, 1935 – January 7, 2025) was an American civil engineer and Republican politician from

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. A member of the

Chickasaw Nation The Chickasaw Nation () is a federally recognized Indigenous nation with headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, in the United States. The Chickasaw Nation descends from an Indigenous population historically located in the southeastern United States, in ...

, McCaleb served in several positions in the Oklahoma state government and then as the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

Early life

Neal McCaleb, a citizen of the

, was born in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, on June 30, 1935 to Burt and Zelma McCaleb. His father was the director of the

Oklahoma Department of Transportation The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is an government agency, agency of the government of Oklahoma responsible for the construction and maintenance of the state's transportation infrastructure. Under the leadership of the Oklahoma Se ...

. McCaleb graduated from Putnam City High School in 1953 and received bachelor's degree in

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

from

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

(then known as Oklahoma A&M College) in 1957. Prior to entering politics, McCaleb was a practicing

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

. From 1967 to 1972 he served on the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission. In 1975, McCaleb was named the charter Chairman of the

American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers The American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers (AICAE) is a non-profit organization that promotes the development of American Indian professionals in the fields of architecture and engineering. The AICAE encourages the training, licensure ...

Oklahoma politics

McCaleb was elected as a Republican to represent the 35th district of the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's ...

in 1974 succeeding Jan Turner. He was succeeded in office by Steve Sill in 1983. In 1978, McCaleb's colleagues elected him House Minority Leader. He remained in that position until his retirement from the Legislature. In

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, he unsuccessfully ran for

Governor of Oklahoma The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma Executive (government), executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The gover ...

Bellmon administration and Oklahoma Good Roads Association

Henry Bellmon Henry Louis Bellmon (September 3, 1921 – September 29, 2009) was an American Republican politician from the U.S. State of Oklahoma. A member of the Oklahoma Legislature, he went on to become both the 18th and 23rd governor of Oklahoma, mai ...

appointed McCaleb to serve as the State's first

Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

. The post was created following the passage of the

Executive Branch Reform Act of 1986 The Executive Branch Reform Act of 1986 (74 O.S. Sections 10.1–10.4) is an Oklahoma state law that requires the Governor of Oklahoma to organize the various 500 or more departments, agencies, boards, commissions and other entities of the state ...

. In addition to his service as Secretary, Bellmon appointed him to serve concurrently as Director of the

. McCaleb served in both positions until the end of Bellmon's term in 1991. During his tenure, he oversaw the building of the

Cherokee Turnpike The Cherokee Turnpike is a controlled-access toll road in eastern Oklahoma. Opened in 1991, the route is a four-lane freeway carrying US-412 from east of Kansas, Oklahoma, to east of Chouteau, and has a total length of and a speed limit of ...

Kilpatrick Turnpike The John Kilpatrick Turnpike, signed as Interstate 344 (I-344) since November 2024, is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The turnpike forms a partial Ring road, beltway around the west and no ...

Creek Turnpike The Creek Turnpike, also designated State Highway 364 (SH-364), is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road that lies entirely in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The turnpike forms a partial beltway around the south and east side ...

, and

Chickasaw Turnpike The Chickasaw Turnpike, also designated State Highway 301 (SH-301), is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road in the rural South Central Oklahoma, south central region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A two-lane expressway, two- ...

. Following the end of Bellmon's term in 1991, McCaleb became the President of the Oklahoma Good Roads and Transportation Association, a

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

group dedicated to advocating safe, efficient and affordable state streets, roads and highways. He served as president until 1995.

Keating administration

In 1995, incumbent

David Walters David Lee Walters (born November 20, 1951) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 24th governor of Oklahoma from 1991 to 1995. Born in Canute, Oklahoma, Walters was a project manager for Governor David Boren and the younge ...

chose not to seek re-election as Governor. Republican

Frank Keating Francis Anthony Keating II (born February 10, 1944, as David Rowland Keating) is an American attorney, politician and a former FBI special agent who served as the 25th governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003. , Keating is one of only five gover ...

was elected to succeed him in that position. Keating appointed McCaleb to serve as his

. Additionally, Keating appointed McCaleb as the head of both the

and the

Oklahoma Turnpike Authority The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (formerly Oklahoma Transportation Authority) is an agency of Oklahoma that deals with issues regarding the Turnpikes of Oklahoma, Oklahoma turnpike system. Along with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, th ...

. McCaleb remained in all three positions until July 2001 when he resigned to take join the

administration. Keating appointed

Herschal Crow Herschal Hillear Crow, Jr. (March 30, 1935 – July 22, 2015) was an American politician in the state of Oklahoma. Crow was educated at Oklahoma State University and was a farmer, businessman and former teacher. He was elected to the Oklahoma S ...

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

to succeed him as Secretary. During his tenure he oversaw the extension of the

and the

H. E. Bailey Turnpike The H. E. Bailey Turnpike is an controlled-access toll road in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The route, opened on April 23, 1964, is a four-lane freeway that connects Oklahoma City to Lawton in its northern section a ...

. He also supported Oklahoma's Capital Improvement Plan which allocated funds to

state highways A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

and oversaw the opening of the

Heartland Flyer The ''Heartland Flyer'' is a daily passenger train that follows a route between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Fort Worth, Texas. It is operated by Amtrak and jointly funded by the states of Oklahoma and Texas. The train's daily round-trip begin ...

National politics

Presidential appointments

McCaleb was appointed by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

to serve on the National Council on Indian Opportunities from 1972 to 1974. He was later appointed by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

to the Indian Reservation Economies Commission.

George W. Bush administration

As a member of the

, McCaleb was appointed by Republican

in 2001 to be the Assistant

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...

for Indian Affairs in the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...

under Secretary of the Interior

Gale Norton Gale Ann Norton (born March 11, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 48th United States Secretary of the Interior under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006. A member of the Republican Party, she previously serve ...

. As the head of the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

, McCaleb was charged with the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States government for

Native Americans Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

, Native American

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

s, and

Alaska Natives Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tli ...

. McCaleb remained in that position until November 2002, when he returned home to Oklahoma. He resigned after being held in contempt of court by Judge

Royce Lamberth Royce Charles Lamberth (; born July 16, 1943) is a senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, who formerly served as its chief judge. Since 2015, he has sat as a visiting judge on the United States District C ...

alongside

for violating court orders, but the charges were later dismissed on appeal.

Chickasaw Nation

After leaving federal government service, McCaleb began work as advisor to

Bill Anoatubby Billy Joe Anoatubby (born November 8, 1945) is the 32nd Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, a position he has held since 1987. From 1979 to 1987, Anoatubby served two terms as Lieutenant Governor of the Chickasaw Nation in the administration of Go ...

, Governor of the Chickasaw Nation. McCaleb was tasked by Anoatubby with the development of long-term economic development plans and policy. Anoatubby appointed McCaleb to the board of directors of Chickasaw Community Bank a financial industry firm completely owned by the Chickasaw Nation. Anoatubby also made McCaleb the chairman of the board for Chickasaw Nation Industries, a wholly owned subentity of the Nation responsible for promoting economic development for the tribe.

Personal life and death

McCaleb was married and had four children and thirteen grandchildren. He died on January 7, 2025, at the age of 89. McCaleb was a member of the

Oklahoma Hall of Fame The Oklahoma Hall of Fame was founded in 1927 by Anna B. Korn to officially celebrate Statehood Day, recognize Oklahomans dedicated to their communities, and provide educational programming for all ages. The first Oklahoma Hall of Fame Induction Cer ...

, the

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

Hall of Fame, and the

College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology Hall of Fame.

Notes

References

External links

*
Neal McCaleb Profile and Videos
- Chickasaw.TV
Voices of Oklahoma interview.
First person interview conducted on September 22, 2011, with Neal McCaleb. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mccaleb, Neal 1935 births 2025 deaths 20th-century Native American politicians 21st-century Native American politicians George W. Bush administration personnel Heads of Oklahoma state agencies Republican Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Native American leaders Chickasaw Nation state legislators in Oklahoma State cabinet secretaries of Oklahoma United States Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel 20th-century members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives