Ray LaHood joined Barack Obama’s Cabinet as U.S. secretary of transportation in January 2009, retiring in July 2013. In the president’s words: “Years ago, we were drawn together by a shared belief that those of us in public service owe an allegiance not to party or faction, but to the people we were elected to represent. And Ray has never wavered in that belief.” Previously, LaHood served in the Illinois House of Representatives, as a staff member to U.S. representative Thomas F. Railsback (R-IL) and to House Republican leader Robert H. Michel (R-IL). LaHood won the first of seven elections as a Republican from central Illinois to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 (He did not run in 2008). He holds a BS in education and sociology from Bradley University. In January 2014, LaHood joined DLA Piper, a global business law firm, as a senior policy advisor.
Frank H. Mackaman directs the work of The Dirksen Congressional Center (Pekin, Illinois), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. Previously director of the Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum, he holds a PhD and an MA in American history from the University of Missouri and a BA from Drake University. Mackaman’s publications include Understanding Congressional Leadership, Gerald R. Ford: Presidential Perspectives from the National Archives and The Education of a Senator: Everett McKinley Dirksen. He has taught courses on the presidency and Congress at the University of Michigan and Bradley University. Mackaman is past president of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress.