Description

With a 36-year career in public service, Ray LaHood has extensive experience on major national policy issues, among them transportation and infrastructure. He served as the nation’s secretary of transportation under President Obama from 2009 to 2013 and quickly became known as a bipartisan leader and skilled conciliator in a highly partisan environment. His tenure was marked by landmark efforts to improve safety in every mode of transportation. Under his leadership, improvements to America’s infrastructure included building or replacing 350,000 miles of highway, repairing 20,000 bridges and renewing or constructing 6,000 miles of rail track. In 2015 LaHood penned the book “Seeking Bipartisanship: My Life in Politics,” which discusses his personal perspective on tumultuous times. Host Rick Pearson is the Chicago Tribune chief political reporter. He has covered Illinois and national politics for more than three decades, including the last four presidential contests. Pearson hosts a Sunday show on politics on WGN AM-720 and can be seen frequently on WGN-TV and CLTV.