Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1210/

“Work hard at the job you’re at”

I think as I look back over the forty years I'd been in public service, one of the things I always tried to do was not to get caught up in this whole thing about, "Where are you gonna be?" "Where are you going?" and looking out into the future as to where you want to go. Because I think a lot of people make a mistake about keeping their sight on where they want to go, and they'll stumble over something right in front of them. And so I've always maintained, work hard at the job you're in, do a good job there. Because then, if you come to a fork in the road, and it's like the great American philosopher Yogi Berra said, "When you come to the fork in the road, take it." But if people are so intent on their goal way over there, that's, that's driving them. It's not a personal decision, and I want to be in control of myself, not let other outside things direct me as to what I'm going to be doing. So I've always maintained: work hard at the job you're at.

And so I always figured, just work hard at being mayor. Be a good mayor, and whatever happens in terms of opportunities that pop up or whatever you want to do, you can then do it. If you're mayor and a very difficult task comes up, if you've got creditability and a depth of, reserve of goodwill, then you can sacrifice some of that goodwill to take on this very difficult task. And so I've always felt, you just work hard at the job you're at, don't worry about having to keep your sight on where you're going to go in the future, 'cause that can really, you can stumble over something right in front of you.


Date: July 4, 2008

Location: Colorado, US

Interviewer: Tom Ikeda

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Norman Mineta was born on November 12, 1931 in San Jose, California. He and his family were incarcerated at the Heart Mountain internment camp during World War II.

He began his political career when he was appointed to a vacant San Jose City Council seat in San Jose and was elected to the seat the following term, followed by vice mayor and then becoming Mayor of San Jose in 1971.

Mineta served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1995 and was a key figure behind the passage of H.R. 442, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which officially apologized for and redressed the unconstitutional, mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

In 2000, he became the first Asian American to hold a post in the presidential cabinet when President Clinton appointed Mineta as his Secretary of Commerce. The following year, President George W. Bush appointed him Secretary of Transportation, the only Democrat in Bush's cabinet, where he served as the longest serving Secretary of Transportation since the position was created in 1967. (December 2011)

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