8 Asians

Back in September, I had the real pleasure to meet and interview Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu in Charlotte, North Carolina when I attended the Democratic National Convention. Well, like many who serve a full four years in The White House, Lu is moving on:

“As Cabinet secretary, Lu was tasked with conveying the president’s position and messaging to the heads of each federal agency. Lu has worked with Obama since the president first won his Senate seat in 2004, and has known Obama since their years together at Harvard Law School. In Obama’s Senate office, Lu worked as legislative director and acting chief of staff, a position he left to serve as executive director of the Obama-Biden transition team. President Obama hinted in his farewell statement that he is hoping to bring his longtime aide back into the fold after a short retirement from government service.”

Hopefully, we have not seen the last of Lu. Obama made history when he had three Asian Americans as department cabinet secretaries, including Secretary of Energy Dr. Stephen Chu, Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki, and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, who later moved on to become the United States ambassador to China.

A few months ago, I was watching the news when Obama was having a cabinet meeting and saw Lu sitting in the background and thought to myself, “Hey, I met that guy!” Lu was very approachable and down-to-earth and I certainly hope to see him in some role of public service in the near future. I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of him!