Later this week, Norman Mineta, the longest-serving transportation secretary, will step down from the Bush cabinet. Under Mineta, 74, the Transportation Security Administration was created.
It was Mineta’s call to ground all domestic U.S. flights after the 9/11 attacks. It’s now part of his legacy. It was also his decision to prohibit profiling at America’s airports. Those random searches of wheel chair-bound grandmothers from Dubuque: That’s also part of his legacy.