Rodney Slater

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater joined Patton Boggs in 2001 as a partner in its public policy practice group, and is head of its transportation practice group in Washington, D.C. Mr. Slater was unanimously confirmed as the nation’s 13th Secretary of Transportation in 1997 and served as Secretary until the end of the Clinton Administration in January 2001. Under his leadership, the federal transportation budget doubled and in the Department’s “best in government” strategic and performance plans, the scope and definition of transportation was expanded to include a focus on safety, mobility and access, economic development and trade, the environment and national security. Prior to becoming Secretary of Transportation, Mr. Slater was head of the Federal Highway Administration. He was the first African-American Administrator in the agency’s century-long history. On the international stage, Mr. Slater played pivotal roles in liberalizing the global aviation marketplace and developing a bold and comprehensive plan to modernize our nation’s Marine Transportation System. Mr. Slater’s public service career began after he earned a law degree in 1980 from the University of Arkansas School of Law. From 1987 to 1992, Mr. Slater was a member of the Arkansas State Highway Commission, serving as its chairman, before joining the Clinton-Gore Administration.