Elaine Chao
| Elaine L. Chao 趙小蘭 |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 29, 2001 |
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| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Alexis Herman |
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| In office 1991 – 1992 |
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| President | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Paul Coverdell |
| Succeeded by | Carol Bellamy |
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| Born | March 26 1953 
Taipei, Taiwan |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Mitch McConnell |
Elaine Lan Chao (traditional Chinese: 趙小蘭; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhào Xiǎolán; Wade-Giles: Chao Hsiao-lan;[1] born March 26, 1953) currently serves as the 24th United States Secretary of Labor in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush. She is the first Chinese American[2] to be appointed to a President's cabinet in American history. Chao is the President's only original cabinet member, making her the longest serving cabinet member during President Bush's administration.[1]
Childhood and education
Chao was born in Taipei, Taiwan, to James S. C. Chao (趙錫成 Zhào
Xīchéng), a Shanghainese entrepreneur, and Ruth Mu-lan Chu (朱木蘭 Zhū Mùlán), a historian. Her parents had fled to Taiwan from mainland China after the Chinese Communists took over as a
result of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. At the age of eight, Elaine Chao and her
family immigrated to the United States, where her father had already settled a few years earlier. She attended Syosset High School on
Chao received her B.A. in Economics from Mount Holyoke College in 1975 and her MBA from the Harvard Business School. She also studied at MIT, Dartmouth College, and Columbia University. She is the recipient of 29 honorary doctoral degrees from colleges and universities around the world.
Career
After a brief stint as a banker with Citigroup, she was selected as a White House Fellow in 1983, working in the Office of Policy Development. After her fellowship, she moved to California and worked as a vice president with Bank of America Capital Markets Group.
George H.W. Bush Administration
In 1986, Chao returned to Washington D.C. as Deputy Administrator of the Maritime Administration in the US Department of Transportation. From 1988 to 1989, she served as Chairwoman of the Federal Maritime Commission.
In 1989, President George H. W. Bush nominated Chao to be Deputy Secretary of Transportation, the number two position in the department. From 1991 to 1992, Chao was Director of the Peace Corps. She was the first Asian American to serve in all these positions. She expanded the Peace Corps's presence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia by establishing the first Peace Corps programs in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union.
United Way and Heritage Foundation
Following her service in the government, Chao worked for four years as President and Chief Executive Officer of
Labor Secretary
As Secretary of Labor, Chao pursued changes in the overtime regulations. The Department of Labor enacted revised regulations that raised the minimum weekly salary for executive, administrative, and professional employees who are exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act from $155 to $455. The changes were the first since 1975. The final regulations went into effect in August 2004. The administration touted that these changes would provide strengthened overtime protection for 6.7 million workers, however many groups, including the AFL-CIO and Economic Policy Institute (half of whose board members are union presidents) believed it would do the opposite. After Donald Rumsfeld had stepped down from his position as Secretary of Defense, she became the only original Cabinet member still serving in the Bush Administration in the same position to which she was appointed.
Timeline
- 1983: White House Fellow, Office of Policy Development, the White House
- 1986: Deputy Administrator, Maritime Administration, US Department of Transportation
- 1988–89: Chairwoman, Federal Maritime Commission
- 1989: Deputy Secretary of Transportation
- 1991–92: Director, Peace Corps
- 1992–96: President and Chief Executive Officer,
United Way of America - 1996: Distinguished Fellow, Heritage Foundation
- 2001–Present: U.S. Secretary of Labor
Family
Elaine Chao is married to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Minority Leader of the United States Senate. She is the eldest of six girls in her family.
Notes and references
- ^ Hsiao-lan means "little orchid." Elaine Chao has four sisters, three of whom also have names starting with "Little" (Xiao). They are: Xiao-mei (小美, little beauty), Xiao-pu (小甫), Xiao-ting (小婷).
- ^ Press Briefing by Administration Officials on American Competitiveness Initiative (February 1, 2006), retrieved July 27, 2006
External links
- Office of the Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
- Elaine L. Chao at the Notable Names Database
- U.S. Department of Labor Biography
- Peace Corps biography of Elaine Chao news clips
| Preceded by Paul Coverdell |
Director of the Peace
Corps 1991–1992 |
Succeeded by Carol Bellamy |
| Preceded by Alexis Herman |
United States
Secretary of Labor Served Under: George W. Bush 2001 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Carlos Gutierrez |
United States
order of precedence as of 2007 |
Succeeded by |
| United States Secretaries of Labor | ||
|---|---|---|
| Secretaries of Commerce & Labor | Cortelyou • Metcalf • Straus • Nagel |  |
| Secretaries of Labor | Wilson • Davis • Doak • Perkins • Schwellenbach • Tobin • Durkin • Mitchell • Goldberg • Wirtz • Shultz • Hodgson • Brennan • Dunlop • Usery • Marshall • Donovan
• Brock • McLaughlin • |
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| Current members of the United States Cabinet | |
|---|---|
| Bodman | Boltenc | Bushc | Chao | Cheneyc | Chertoff | Connera | Gates | Keislera | Gutierrez | Jackson | Johnsonc | Kempthorne | (c) Cabinet-Level only, (a) acting |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Chao, Elaine |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Chao, Elaine Lao |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | 24th United States Secretary of Labor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 26, 1953 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Taipei, Taiwan |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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