Alexis Herman

Alexis Herman
Alexis Herman
23rd United States Secretary of Labor
	In office; May 1, 1997 – January 20, 2001
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Robert Reich
Succeeded by	Elaine Chao
Director of the Office of Public Liaison
	In office; January 20, 1993 – February 7, 1997
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Cecile Kremer
Succeeded by	Maria Echaveste
Director of the Women's Bureau
	In office; 1977–1981
President	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Carmen Rosa Maymi
Succeeded by	Lenora Cole Alexander
Personal details
Born	Alexis Margaret Herman; July 16, 1947 (age 77); Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Charles Franklin
Education	Edgewood College; Spring Hill College; Xavier University, Louisiana (BA)

Alexis Margaret Herman (born July 16, 1947 in Mobile, Alabama) was the 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor, serving under President Bill Clinton. Before that, she was Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison.

The daughter of politician Alex Herman and schoolteacher Gloria Caponis, Alexis grew up a Catholic home^[1] in Mobile and earned her high school diploma in 1965 from the Heart of Mary High School. For a short time, she went to Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, and Spring Hill College in Mobile, but then switched to Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, where she became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 1969.

After college, Herman worked for Catholic Charities and other agencies advocating minority women employment. Jimmy Carter met Herman while campaigning in Atlanta, Georgia, and after becoming President in 1977, picked her to be Director of the Labor Department's Women's Bureau. At age 29, she was the youngest person to ever serve in that position.

In 1981, Herman founded her own consulting firm - A.M. Herman & Associates. She served as president of the company while remaining active in Democratic politics. During her time as chief of staff and later vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, she was in charge of organizing the 1992 Democratic National Convention.

After Bill Clinton's win in the 1992 Presidential election, Herman became deputy director of the Presidential Transition Office. She was later picked to head the White House Office of Public Liaison, where she was responsible for the administration's relations with interest groups.

During Clinton's second term, Herman was named Secretary of Labor, the first African American to be picked for that position and the fifth woman to be picked. Congressional Republicans and labor unions initially opposed giving her the job. But she earned praise from her peers for her handling of the 1997 UPS workers strike. An independent counsel investigated her for taking cash bribes and/or illegal campaign donations as an assistant to Clinton from 1994 to 1996. She was the 5th cabinet officer be investigated by independent counsel. Bill Clinton testified on her side. In 2000 the investigation ended with no indictment.

During the 2000 Florida election recount, Herman was part of team planning a transition to a Gore Administration, and she was mentioned as a likely pick for White House Chief of Staff. She was replaced as Secretary of Labor in the George W. Bush administration by Elaine Chao.

Herman now serves as the co-chairperson (with James Roosevelt, Jr.) of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Herman also serves on the boards of several big companies, including Coca Cola Corporation's Human Resources Task Force, Toyota's Diversity Advisory Board, Cummins, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, and Prudential and is the chairman and CEO of New Ventures, Inc.^[5]

References

↑ Alexis Herman Archived 2007-09-11 at the Wayback Machine bio from Kevo.com
↑ NPR: Who's Who on the Rules and Bylaws Committee
↑ "MyDD: Vote Counting the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee". Archived from the original on June 4, 2008. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
↑ CNN.com: It's decision day for Democrats
↑ Washington Speakers Bureau: Alexis Herman

Other websites

[1] Alexis Herman Archived 2007-09-11 at the Wayback Machine bio from Kevo.com

[2] NPR: Who's Who on the Rules and Bylaws Committee

[3] "MyDD: Vote Counting the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee". Archived from the original on June 4, 2008. Retrieved October 10, 2009.

[4] CNN.com: It's decision day for Democrats

[5] Washington Speakers Bureau: Alexis Herman

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Cabinet of President William Clinton (1993 – 2001)
Vice President	Al Gore (1993 – 2001)
Secretary of State	Warren Christopher (1993 – 1997) • Madeleine Albright (1997 – 2001)
Secretary of the Treasury	Lloyd Bentsen (1993 – 1994) • Robert Rubin (1995 – 1999) • Lawrence Summers (1999 – 2001)
Secretary of Defense	Les Aspin (1993 – 1994) • William Perry (1994 – 1997) • William Cohen (1997 – 2001)
Attorney General	Janet Reno (1993 – 2001)
Secretary of the Interior	Bruce Babbitt (1993 – 2001)
Secretary of the Agriculture	Mike Espy (1993 – 1994) • Dan Glickman (1994 – 2001)
Secretary of Commerce	Ron Brown (1993 – 1996) • Mickey Kantor (1996 – 1997) • William M. Daley (1997 – 2000) • Norman Mineta (2000 – 2001)
Secretary of Labor	Robert Reich (1993 – 1997) • Alexis Herman (1997 – 2001)
Secretary of Health and Human Services	Donna Shalala (1993 – 2001)
Secretary of Education	Richard Riley (1993 – 2001)
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Henry Cisneros (1993 – 1997) • Andrew Cuomo (1997 – 2001)
Secretary of Transportation	Federico Peña (1993 – 1997) • Rodney E. Slater (1997 – 2001)
Secretary of Energy	Hazel R. O'Leary (1993 – 1997) • Federico Peña (1997 – 1998) • Bill Richardson (1998 – 2001)
Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Jesse Brown (1993 – 1997) • Togo D. West, Jr. (1998 – 2000) • Hershel W. Gober, act. (2000 – 2001)
Chief of Staff	Mack McLarty (1993 - 1994) • Leon Panetta (1994 - 1997) • Erskine Bowles (1997 - 1998) • John Podesta (1998 - 2001)

v t e United States Secretaries of Labor
Secretaries of Commerce and 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 Solis Perez Acosta Scalia Walsh Su (acting) Chavez-DeRemer (nominee)