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About the Show
Meet the statesman who served as cabinet secretary for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Imprisoned by the U.S. during World War II for his Japanese ancestry, Norman Mineta rose to become the first Asian American to serve in a presidential cabinet.
The child of immigrants, Norman Mineta's uniquely American story charts a path from the shame he experienced as a Japanese American inside a U.S. internment camp during World War II to his triumphant rise to political prominence that has shaped every level of government, and made him one of the most influential Asian Americans in the history of our nation. His distinguished career has been a continuous unmatched slate of firsts, including 20 years in the United States Congress and eventually serving in the Cabinets of two Presidents from different political parties - Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Still thriving today in his 80s, he is celebrated as a bipartisan visionary who preached political civility, yet was a bold change maker with a deft political touch whose legacy includes a lifelong commitment to social justice.
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