Raymond H LaHood was born on December 6,1945 and is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama.
41 Facts About Ray LaHood
2.
In 2015 Seeking Bipartisanship: My Life in Politics, a book by Ray LaHood, coauthored with Frank H Mackaman of The Dirksen Congressional Center, was published by Cambria Press.
3.
In 2017, LaHood admitted to the FBI that while holding federal office he had accepted a $50,000 payment from a foreign national for personal home repairs, and that he violated federal government ethics by not reporting the payment on his Office of Government Ethics Form 278.
4.
In 2019, government prosecutors and Ray LaHood agreed to a Non-Prosecution Agreement that required Ray LaHood to admit responsibility, repay the $50,000 loan and pay a $40,000 fine to the US government.
5.
Ray LaHood graduated from Spalding Institute, worked his way through Canton Junior College and Bradley University in Peoria, earning a Bachelor of Science in education and sociology in 1971.
6.
Ray LaHood was director of the Rock Island County Youth Services Bureau and then district administrative assistant for US representative Tom Railsback, a Moline, Illinois Republican, from 1977 to 1982.
7.
Ray LaHood was appointed in 1982 to fill a vacant seat in the Illinois House of Representatives, serving for nine months, and running for the seat in November 1982, but losing to Democratic candidate Bob DeJaegher.
8.
Ray LaHood then became administrative assistant and ultimately the chief of staff to US House Minority Leader Robert Michel, serving from 1982 until 1994.
9.
When Michel announced his retirement in 1994, Ray LaHood ran for and won his seat in the House, representing Illinois's 18th congressional district.
10.
Ray LaHood was one of only three Republicans elected to the House that year who did not sign on to the Contract with America, Newt Gingrich's manifesto for a Republican majority, and was a member of the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership.
11.
In 1997, in an effort to promote bipartisan cooperation, Ray LaHood organized bipartisan retreats for members of Congress.
12.
Ray LaHood was a strong advocate for preserving the legacy of Abraham Lincoln; Ray LaHood's district covered much of the territory that Lincoln represented during his single term in the House.
13.
Ray LaHood authored a law that established the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, which laid the groundwork for celebrating the 16th President's 200th birthday in 2009, and he was a lead Capitol Hill supporter for the Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.
14.
Ray LaHood served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from 1995 until 2000, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence beginning in 1998, and the House Appropriations Committee beginning in 2000.
15.
Ray LaHood was said to be considering a challenge to Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich's re-election bid in 2006, but chose to run for another term in Congress instead.
16.
Ray LaHood won the 2006 race against Steve Waterworth by a margin of 147,108 to 71,106.
17.
On July 26,2007, Ray LaHood stated he would not seek re-election in 2008.
18.
In 2007 Ray LaHood considered, but later decided against, applying for the post of president of Bradley University.
19.
On December 19,2008, President-elect Barack Obama announced that he would nominate Ray LaHood to be the next Transportation Secretary.
20.
Ray LaHood served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from 1995 to 2000.
21.
Ray LaHood's nomination was confirmed by the Senate by voice vote on January 21,2009.
22.
Ray LaHood was, with Robert Gates, one of two Republican members of the original Obama Cabinet.
23.
Ray LaHood is a supporter of airline passenger rights to facilities, food and water during lengthy on-aircraft delays.
24.
On December 6,2011, Ray LaHood accepted the resignation of FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, who was charged with drunk driving near his Washington home.
25.
In February 2013, Ray LaHood lamented the amount of infrastructure spending that was approved by Congress during his tenure at the Department of Transportation.
26.
Ray LaHood went on to mention that Congress passed a $105 billion surface transportation bill last year, but he lamented the fact that the measure only provided appropriations for road and transit projects until 2014.
27.
Ray LaHood announced his plans to step down as Transportation Secretary at the end of Obama's first term in 2013.
28.
Ray LaHood did not seek any public office after that and instead entered the private sector.
29.
On January 29,2013, Ray LaHood announced he would resign as the Secretary of the Department of Transportation upon the confirmation of his successor by the United States Senate.
30.
Pritzker nominated Ray LaHood to serve as a member of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Board of Trustees.
31.
Ray LaHood did not support Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and endorsed the Democratic nominee Joe Biden in 2020.
32.
That section corresponds to much of what was contained in the major multi-year revision that was the Upgrade 74 project in the last decade that Ray LaHood had backed in the later years of his tenure in the US House.
33.
Ray LaHood was Inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln by the Governor of Illinois in 2016 in the area of Government and Law.
34.
Ray LaHood did not to seek re-election in 2008, and Barack Obama nominated him to be US Secretary of Transportation.
35.
Ray LaHood's son is the Egypt director of the International Republican Institute.
36.
Sam Ray LaHood left Egypt along with several foreign NGO workers on March 1,2012.
37.
Sam Ray LaHood was tried in absentia by an Egyptian criminal court, and convicted of operating without a license and receiving foreign funding.
38.
Ray LaHood was given a five-year jail term and fined 1,000 Egyptian pounds.
39.
In 2012, while serving as US Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood accepted a $50,000 check that he knew had originated from Gilbert Chagoury, a foreign national.
40.
Ray LaHood failed to disclose this on two government ethics forms, and he made misleading statements to the FBI when asked about the source of the check.
41.
The Department of Justice considered the investigation resolved in March 2021 after Ray LaHood agreed to pay a $40,000 fine.