Slater: Loyalty’s a Two-Lane Highway

Back in earlier days as they climbed the political ladder together in Arkansas, Rodney Slater was among the most steady friends of Bill Clinton.

As the young Clinton rebounded from his 1980 gubernatorial reelection loss, Slater’s loyalty to the ousted governor earned him a seat on the Arkansas Highway Commission when Clinton returned to the Arkansas Statehouse in 1982.

Later, as Clinton consolidated his political clout to secure the governor’s mansion for a decade, Slater’s fortunes soared as well with a series of increasingly important appointments that culminated when he served as the first black chairman of the state’s Highway Commission.

When Clinton set out to travel the nation as the Democratic nominee for president in 1992, Slater became a deputy campaign manager and senior traveling advisor, which made him one of the few people--and often the only black--with an up-front seat on the plane. After the election, Clinton found a new job with familiar responsibilities for his old buddy: federal highway administrator.

Now Slater has won yet another political plum as Clinton has nominated him to serve in his second-term Cabinet as secretary of Transportation, replacing the outgoing Federico Pena, who has been nominated to be secretary of Energy.

The durability and mutual benefit of Slater’s relationship with Clinton were reflected in the nominee’s brief remarks during the White House announcement Friday. “I have been privileged to know our president for a long time,” he said.

That’s an understatement. Slater can trace virtually every step in his still-ascending career to Clinton’s own political rise.

A native of Marianna, Ark., Slater, 41, is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University, where he played football on a scholarship. He earned his law degree in 1980 from the University of Arkansas Law School in Fayetteville and promptly began his political career by serving as an assistant state attorney general.

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In an interview Friday after his nomination, Slater recalled how his late father-in-law, former Arkansas state delegate Henry Wilkins III, introduced him in 1979 to Clinton, who was serving his first term as governor. “He knew then that [Clinton] had everything one would need to be president,” Slater said.

“When he lost, everybody was shocked and I was despondent about what was going to happen in the state,” Slater said. “But almost from Day One, I was among the circle of believers who started talking about [Clinton’s] coming back to power.”

When Clinton rebounded in 1982, Slater was at his side. From 1983 to 1987, he worked as an executive assistant to Clinton, serving for two years as the governor’s specialist on community and minority affairs and two years as specialist on economic programs. He then joined the Highway Commission for six years.

Slater has confided to friends and colleagues that his ultimate political goal is to follow in Clinton’s footsteps as governor of Arkansas. But he has delayed any political plans in his home state to work for Clinton’s national policies.

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“Right now, I have the opportunity of a lifetime,” he said, deflecting talk of future political endeavors. “I’ve been very fortunate to work in an area--transportation--that demands a sense of bipartisanship,” he said. “And I have been successful in creating an image of myself as a person who believes in the promise of the American people working to solve problems.”

At the Federal Highway Commission, he earned recognition as a rising star among the second-tier of Clinton appointees. His agency, which is separate from the larger Transportation Department, has a $20-billion annual budget and 3,500 employees.

If confirmed by the Senate, as expected, Slater will acquire greater responsibility over transportation issues. In particular, he will be the White House point man for congressional reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, which is expected to establish the federal government’s six-year, $160-billion funding priorities.

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, however, was among the few to express concern over Slater’s nomination. Nader, who has a long history of opposition to transportation officials, accused Slater of being too cozy with industry leaders.

Slater is married to the former Cassandra Wilkins and is the father of a 3-year-old daughter, Bridgette.