Anthony Renard Foxx (born April 30, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the

United States Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

from 2013 to 2017. President Barack Obama nominated him in April 2013, and he was confirmed by a 100–0 vote in June 2013. Previously, he served as the Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, from 2009 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Charlotte City Council in 2005, upon his 2009 mayoral victory he became the youngest mayor of Charlotte and the second African American mayor.

Early life

Foxx was born on April 30, 1971, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was raised by his mother, Laura Foxx, and his grandparents, James and Mary Foxx, and graduated from West Charlotte High School. He graduated from

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

, where he was the first African American student body president, in 1993. Foxx majored in history, and went on to earn a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1996.

Legal career

After law school, Foxx returned to Charlotte to work for a short time at the Smith, Helms, Mullis, and Moore law firm, and left to become a clerk for Judge

Nathaniel R. Jones Nathaniel Raphael Jones (May 12, 1926 – January 26, 2020) was an American attorney, judge, and law professor. As general counsel of the NAACP, Jones fought to end school segregation, including in the northern United States. From 1979 until 199 ...

of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. Later he worked for the United States Department of Justice and the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. In 2004, he was the

campaign manager {{Political campaigning A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ( ...

for Representative Mel Watt. In 2001, he returned to Charlotte to work as a business

litigator - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

for

Hunton & Williams Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is an American law firm created by the merger of Hunton & Williams LLP and Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP on April 2, 2018. The firm has offices in 20 cities, primarily in the United States. History Hunton & Williams (formerl ...

. While a member of the city council, he retained his position as a litigator at Hunton & Williams, switching to part-time status.

Political career

Municipal government

Foxx was first elected to the Charlotte City Council in 2005 to an at-large seat, and was re-elected in 2007. He won election as Charlotte's 54th and youngest mayor in 2009 and was re-elected in 2011; he became the city's first Democratic mayor since

Harvey Gantt Harvey Bernard Gantt (born January 14, 1943) is an American architect and Democratic politician active in North Carolina. The first African-American student admitted to Clemson University after attending Iowa State University, Gantt graduated wi ...

left office in 1987. Upon becoming mayor, Foxx faced Charlotte's worst recession in more than 80 years. As the nation's second largest financial services center, the city lost more than 25,000 jobs in the recession. Foxx reformed the city's public safety pay plan and developed a demand-driven approach to workforce development that has become a national model. Foxx also announced the creation of more than 4,000 new jobs. He hosted a series of town hall meetings with unemployed workers, pushed for changes to the city's small business loan program, and pressed White House officials for economic recovery spending measures. From a transportation perspective, Foxx helped salvage the city's largest single capital project: The Blue Line Extension, which was threatened by lower than anticipated sales tax revenue.

Secretary of Transportation

On April 29, 2013, President Barack Obama announced that he would nominate Foxx to the post of the Secretary of Transportation. On June 27, 2013, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

confirmed the nomination by a unanimous vote. Foxx resigned from his elected position as mayor to accept the federal appointment. Foxx prepared and advocated for the Obama Administration's first surface transportation bill, the Grow America Act, in 2014, and worked to get its congressional incarnation, the FAST Act, passed. He consolidated the Department's financing programs and accelerated permitting policies. Foxx also put forth new rules governing the commercial use of drones, blueprinted a comprehensive national policy on autonomous vehicles, and launched the Department's first Smart City Challenge, engaging more than 70 cities to develop their own strategies to incorporate new technologies into their transportation networks. Foxx was the designated survivor for the

2015 State of the Union Address The 2015 State of the Union Address was given by the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, on January 20, 2015, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 114th United States Congress. It w ...

on January 20, 2015.

Private sector career

Foxx joined Lyft in October 2018 as the company's chief policy officer.

Personal life

Foxx is married to Samara Ryder, who is also an attorney. They have a daughter named Hillary and a son named Zachary.

References

External links

Secretary Foxx at USDOT
* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Foxx, Anthony 1971 births 21st-century American politicians African-American mayors in North Carolina African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States Carnegie Mellon University faculty Charlotte, North Carolina City Council members Davidson College alumni Living people Mayors of Charlotte, North Carolina New York University School of Law alumni North Carolina Democrats North Carolina lawyers Obama administration cabinet members United States Secretaries of Transportation Lyft people African-American city council members in North Carolina