Louis Caldera

Louis Caldera

Louis Edward Caldera (born April 1, 1956 in El Paso , Texas ) is an American politician ( Democratic Party ). From 1998 to 2001 he was the 17th  Secretary of State for the United States . He became director of the White House Military Office in the administration of President Barack Obama , but resigned from office on May 8, 2009.

Studies and professional career

The son of Mexican immigrants entered the military service in the US Army and initially studied at the Military Academy in West Point , which he graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science .

After a subsequent five-year military service and the final promotion to captain in Fort Dix ( New Jersey ), he studied business education and law at Harvard University . He completed these two courses in 1987 with an MBA and a Juris Doctor . At the university he also met his wife Eva Orlebeke Caldera. The marriage produced three daughters.

After being admitted to the bar, he worked as a lawyer from 1987 to 1991 . He then spent two years Deputy General Counsel ( Deputy Counsel ) of Los Angeles County .

After President Clinton's resignation from office, he first became Vice Chancellor of California State University . He was then President of the University of New Mexico (UNM) from August 2003 until his resignation in January 2006 . Since then he has been a professor of law at the UNM Law School for the subjects of corporate governance , electoral law and parliamentary law .

Supervisory board positions

Caldera was a member of the board of directors of IndyMac Bank from 2002 and remained in that position until the bank was acquired by the United States government in July 2008.

Caldera was also on the board of directors of Southwest Airlines . He resigned from this post on January 15, 2009 to move to the post of Director of the White House Military Office.

Political career

Caldera began his political career in 1992 with the election to the California State Assembly . There he represented until 1997 as a Democrat the 46th constituency of his state, an area with 400,000 inhabitants in the center of Los Angeles . During this time he was also chairman of the banking and finance committee, the tax and duty committee and the budget committee.

Before the end of his third term, he moved to Washington in 1997 , where he became the administrative director and chief operating officer (COO) of the domestic program Corporation for National and Community Service . On May 22, 1998, President Bill Clinton named him Secretary of the Army . He was sworn in on July 2, and served until the end of Clinton's tenure on January 20, 2001.

In the administration of Barack Obama from January 2009 Caldera held the office of director of the White House Military Office. In that capacity, Caldera cleared a low-altitude flight on April 27 over New York City and adjacent New Jersey areas of a Boeing VC-25 flying as Air Force One when the President is on for photographs of the aircraft to be prepared for PR purposes .

Although the Federal Aviation Administration and some selected authorities were informed of the photo flight in advance, the mission was kept secret from the public. The overflight caused panic in the city and fear of an act of terrorism - thousands left their jobs in a hurry. It turned out that both New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Obama learned of the mission through press coverage.

The incident led to severe criticism of Caldera. Caldera resigned on May 8 following an investigation ordered by Deputy White House Chief of Staff Jim Messina .

Web links and background literature

General biographical information

• Biography on the homepage of the US Army
• Biography in Hispanic Biographies Volume 3

Article in TIME magazine

• "The Risks Of Air Power" , article in TIME magazine on April 5, 1999
• "Who Owns The River" , article in TIME magazine on July 10, 2000

Individual evidence

1. ^ President-elect Barack Obama named Louis Caldera Director of the White House Military Office . Office of the President-Elect. December 2, 2008. Archived from the original on December 11, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 11, 2011.  
2. ↑ Felicia Fonseca: Caldera to resign Aug. 1 as UNM president (English) . In: Daily Lobo , January 25, 2006. Archived from the original on May 3, 2009 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved May 10, 2009.  
3. ↑ Professor Louis E. Caldera's biography on the homepage of the University of Mexico ( English ) University of New Mexico School of Law. Archived from the original on March 5, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
4. ↑ IndyMac Announces the Retirement of Frederick J. Napolitano; Louis Caldera joins IndyMac and IndyMac bank boards; Lydia Kennard Joins IndyMac Bank Board (English) . In: Business Wire , May 13, 2002. Retrieved May 10, 2009. 
5. ↑ Ron Ricks, Southwest Airlines Co .: Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders Wednesday, May 20, 2009 ( English , PDF) on April 17, 2009. Retrieved on 9 May, 2009.
6. ↑ Caldera Nominated New Army Secretary (English) . In: DefenseLink , US Department of Defense, June 1, 1998. Retrieved May 9, 2009. 
7. ^ Secretary of the Army Oath of Office Ceremony (English) , US Department of Defense. July 1, 1998. Retrieved May 9, 2009. 
8. ↑ White House apologizes for Air Force Flyover (English) , The New York Times. April 27, 2009. 
9. ^ White House aide Louis Caldera loses job over Manhattan flyover fiasco involving Air Force One , Daily News Washington Bureau. May 8, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2009. 

predecessor	Office	successor
Barbara Friedman	Member of the California State Assembly , 46th constituency 1992–1997	Gil Cedillo
Chris Garcia	President of the University of New Mexico August 2003 – January 2006	David W. Harris
Raymond A. Spicer	Director of the White House Military Office Jan. 20, 2009–8. May 2009	George D. Mulligan