Meet the Bush Cabinet: A biographical roundup

Here's an at-a-glance guide to President Bush's nominees for Cabinet positions and other high-ranking administration posts:

Agriculture Secretary
Anne M. Veneman was appointed California's agriculture director by former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, serving from 1995 to 1999. Before she held that position, she rose through the ranks of the U.S. Agriculture Department and became the deputy secretary during the first Bush administration. Most recently Veneman has been practicing private law in Sacramento, specializing in food, agriculture, environment, technology and trade issues, but she also served as the co-chairwoman for George W. Bush's presidential campaign in California during the 2000 election. Commerce Secretary
Donald L. Evans served as chairman of George W. Bush's general election campaign and has been Bush's head fundraiser since his 1978 congressional campaign. An oil executive and one of Bush's long-time friends, Evans is considered largely responsible for the $100 million fund-raising record set by Bush's presidential campaign.

Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld, a former Illinois congressman, has served on three Republican administrations. Under President Nixon, he held several administrative positions including counselor to the President and director of the Economic Stabilization Program. He was named Secretary of Defense by President Ford in 1975, after which he accepted a position in the private sector as CEO of the pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle & Co. Rumsfeld served as an adviser to the Departments of State and Defense and as a member of the General advisory Committee on Arms Control during President Reagan's administration. Most recently, he chaired the U.S. Ballistic Missile Threat Commission, which addressed the development of a missile defense system, a program he openly supports.

Education Secretary
Rod Paige was appointed superintendent of the Houston Independent School District--the largest school district in Texas and the seventh largest in the nation--in 1994, after being elected to the school board in 1989 and serving as its president in 1992. He has also served as dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University, and he has held several advisory positions with the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Association of School Boards. In 1999 he was given the Richard R. Green Award for Urban Educator of the Year by the Council of the Great City Schools, and he was also named Superintendent of the Year by National Alliance of Black School Educators.

Energy Secretary
Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich., lost his re-election bid to Democratic congresswoman Debbie Stabenow this November. While in the Senate, Abraham served as chairman of the Immigration subcommittee and as chairman of the Manufacturing and Competitiveness subcommittee. Abraham, the son of Lebanese immigrants, was the only Arab-American in the Senate during his term. In 1982, at the age of 30, he began an eight-year chairmanship of the Michigan Republican Party, and in the early 1990s held positions as deputy chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle and as co-chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy Thompson has been the governor of Wisconsin since 1986. Now serving his fourth term, he is the nation's longest-serving governor. Thompson has also served in the Wisconsin State Legislature, where he held the position of minority leader in 1981. Thompson is known for his conservative politics, including his "Wisconsin Works" program, which ended welfare grants in the state. He was named to the Amtrak Board of Directors by both former President Bush and President Clinton, and in 1998 he was promoted to chairman.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary
Mel Martínez was the co-chairman of George W. Bush's Florida campaign and is a strong political ally of Gov. Jeb Bush. He practiced law in Orlando until he was elected to serve as county chairman of Orange County, Florida. Martinez, who came to this country as a Cuban refugee, spoke before the Senate Judiciary Committee this March on behalf of the Florida relatives of Elián González, and he actively campaigned against the boy's return to Cuba.

Interior Secretary
Gale Norton served as Colorado's attorney general from 1991 to 1999, and during her term she chaired the Environment Committee for the National Association of Attorneys General. Additionally, she held several positions in the administration of President George Bush, including associate solicitor of the Department of Interior and a position on the Western Water Policy Commission. Norton is currently the Environment Committee Chair for the Republican National Lawyers Association.

Attorney General
John Ashcroft has been involved in Missouri politics for nearly two decades, serving as the state's attorney general, governor and senator. After serving one term, he lost his Senate seat in 2000 to former Gov. Mel Carnahan, who died in a plane crash before the election and whose Senate seat will be filled by his widow, Jean Carnahan. Ashcroft briefly considered a run for the presidency but withdrew his candidacy early in 1999.

Labor Secretary
Elaine Chao has been the director of the Peace Corps and served as deputy secretary of transportation in President George Bush's administration. She served as president and chief executive officer of the United Way from 1992-1996 and spoke at the Republican National Convention this summer. Currently, Chao is chairwoman of the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center Advisory Council. She and her husband, three-term Kentucky senator and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Mitch McConnell, have three children.

Secretary of State
Colin Powell last held public office as the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, where he gained popularity and overwhelming respect for his leadership during the Persian Gulf War. He is a highly decorated Army General and has been given such distinct honors as the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and an honorary knighthood from the queen of England. After his retirement from his chairman position in 1993, Powell founded America's Promise, a national volunteer organization.

Transportation Secretary
Norman Y. Mineta, the first Asian-American to hold a Cabinet-level position, currently serves as Commerce Secretary in the Clinton Administration and is George W. Bush's only Democratic appointee. Mineta served as mayor of San Jose, Calif., and represented the Silicon Valley area of California in the U.S. House for 21 years. While in Congress, he founded and chaired the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and served as chairman of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation. Mineta was the driving force behind the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which provided official apologies and reparations to Japanese-Americans, including Mineta and his family, who were forced to enter internment camps during World War II. Before his recent confirmation as Commerce Secretary, Mineta was a vice president at Lockheed Martin Corp.

Treasury Secretary
Paul O'Neill is the chairman and former CEO of Alcoa Corporation, the world's leading producer of aluminum, which has 140,000 employees worldwide. O'Neill is one of the world's leading businessmen and is also friends with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. He held government positions at the U.S. Veterans Administration and the Office of Management and Budget in the 1960s and 70s.

Veteran Affairs Secretary
Anthony Principi was appointed deputy secretary of veteran affairs by President George Bush in 1989, and he was named the administration's acting secretary in 1992. During the Clinton administration he chaired the 12-member, bipartisan Congressional Commission on Military Servicemembers and Veterans Transition Assistance, popularly known as "The Principi Commission," which recommended vast expansions in veteran benefits. He has also served as the Republican chief counsel and staff director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Veteran Affairs.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator
Christine Whitman would cut her term as New Jersey governor short in order to take the administration position. She has been elected to two terms (in 1993 and again in 1997) and has become a well-known politician during her tenure. Whitman was thrust into the national spotlight when she delivered the Republican response to President Clinton's 1995 State of the Union Address, and this summer she was considered to be a possible running mate for George W. Bush.

Office of Management and Budget Director
Mitch Daniels is currently the senior vice president of corporate strategy and policy at Eli Lilly and Company, which is perhaps best known for its patent and distributing rights on the anti-depressant Prozac. He served in the Reagan administration as an assistant to the President and as liaison to the nation's state and local officials, and later he held the position of executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Earlier in his career he was an adviser to Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., both in the Senate and when Lugar was mayor of Indianapolis.