Norman Mineta

This 2009 portrait on Norman Mineta by Everett Raymond Kinstler hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

"On September 11, 2001, when it became clear that terrorists were using hijacked airplanes to attack the United States, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta acted decisively to shut down air space across the entire country, preempting the possibility of further hijackings. Mineta made the decision just moments after Flight 77 hit the Pentagon and while 4,546 planes were still in the sky.

Born in San Jose, California, to immigrant Japanese parents, Mineta and his family were interned in Wyoming during World War II. After college and military service, Mineta launched his political career as mayor of San Jose. He served in Congress for twenty years before retiring to work in the airplane industry. He returned to government as a cabinet member in the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush." -- National Portrait Gallery