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Elaine L. Chao 趙小蘭
24th United States Secretary of Labor
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 29, 2001
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Alexis Herman
12th Director of the Peace Corps
In office 1991 – 1992
President	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Paul Coverdell
Succeeded by	Carol Bellamy
Born	March 26, 1953 (1953-03-26) (age 54) Taipei, Republic of China
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.^[3]

Contents 1 Childhood and education 2 Career 2.1 George H.W. Bush Administration 2.2 United Way and Heritage Foundation 2.3 Labor Secretary 2.4 Timeline 3 Family 4 Notes and references 5 External links

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 Long Island, New York.

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.

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.

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.

Following her service in the government, Chao worked for four years as President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of America. She is credited with returning credibility and public trust back to the organization after an embarrassing financial mismanagement scandal involving former United Way of America president Bill Aramony. From 1996 until her appointment as Secretary of Labor, Chao was a Distinguished Fellow with the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank.

As Secretary of Labor, Chao immediately began withdrawing regulations designed to ensure a safe and healthy workplace. Most notable was the ergonomics regulation, which had recently been published. Chao also pulled a number of regulations concerning various health and safety aspects of the mining industry, such as respirable dust, asbestos, surface haulage, and escape routes. The effects were felt within six months when a mining disaster killed 13 underground coal miners at the Jim Walter No. 5 mine in Brookwood, Alabama. This was the first of many mine disasters that marked Chao's tenure as labor secretary. While fatalities did occur at mines during the previous administration, multiple fatalities at any mine were virtually non-existent. Subsequent mining disasters during Elaine Chao's tenure as labor secretary include the Sago Mine and Aracoma Mine in West Virginia, the Darby No. 1 Mine in Kentucky, and the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah.

The disaster at the Crandall Canyon Mine was noteworthy in that six miners and three members of the rescue team, including one labor department mine inspector, were killed. The owner of the Crandall Canyon Mine, Robert Murray, publicized his close relationship with Chao's husband, causing allegations of influence peddling and bribery to surface.

In the summer of 2003, Secretary Chao also led the "Jobs and Growth Tour," travelling across the United States in a tour bus and defending the administration's labor policies at many stops along the way.

In addition to withdrawing health and safety regulations, 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 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.

• 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

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.

• Office of the Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao

• U.S. Department of Labor Biography
• Peace Corps biography of Elaine Chao news clips
• Daily Show report of August 11 2003 details Chao's partying

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 Michael Leavitt

v • d • e 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 • Dole • Martin • Reich • Herman • Chao

v • d • e Current members of the United States Cabinet
Bodman · Boltenc · Bushc · Chao · Cheneyc · Chertoff · Connera · Gates · Gutierrez · Jackson · Johnsonc · Kempthorne · Leavitt · Mukasey · Paulson · Peake · Peters · Nusslec · Rice · Schwabc · Spellings · Waltersc (c) cabinet-level only, (a) acting

Persondata
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