Federico Peña

From dKosopedia

Federico Peña was elected Mayor of Denver as a reform Democrat in 1981. Prior to that he had been a state legislator and an attorney for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF). His victory was a milestone because it marked the end of the old Democratic Party machine that controlled Denver politics and because Peña was the first Hispanic/Latino to be elected Mayor of Denver.

Peña was the subject of a bitter and racially divisive recall election almost immediately after his first election. He survived the recall and was re-elected in 1985.

Peña's signature accomplishment was supervising the successful completion of Denver International Airport. United Airlines and the Republican Party have attempted, with a great deal of success, to belittle this accomplishment by pointing to the failure of the baggage system that was part of the original airport design. However, that system was successfully used by United until 2005, when it dumped the system as what was seen as a manuever to support a request for relief from its obligations to Denver as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Peña served as United States Secretary of Transportation and later United States Secretary of Energy under President Bill Clinton. He has worked in the private sector since 1998.