Ray LaHood

Ray LaHood
16th United States Secretary of Transportation
In office
January 23, 2009 – July 2, 2013
PresidentBarack Obama
DeputyThomas J. Barrett
John Porcari
Preceded byMary Peters
Succeeded byAnthony Foxx
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 18th district
In office
January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2009
Preceded byRobert Michel
Succeeded byAaron Schock
Member of the
Illinois House of Representatives
from the 72nd district
In office
May 1, 1982 – January 11, 1983
Preceded byBen Polk
Succeeded byBob DeJaegher
Personal details
Born (1945-12-06) December 6, 1945 (age 78)
Peoria, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseKathy
Children4, including Darin
EducationSpoon River College
Bradley University (BS)

Raymond H. LaHood (/ləˈhʊd/ lə-HOOD; born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives (1982–1983) and United States House of Representatives (1995–2009).

In 2015, Seeking Bipartisanship: My Life in Politics, a book by Ray LaHood, coauthored with Frank H. Mackaman of The Dirksen Congressional Center, was published by Cambria Press.

In 2017, LaHood admitted to the FBI that while holding federal office he had accepted a $50,000 payment from a foreign national for personal home repairs, and that he violated federal government ethics by not reporting the payment on his Office of Government Ethics Form 278. In 2019, government prosecutors and LaHood agreed to a Non-Prosecution Agreement that required LaHood to admit responsibility, repay the $50,000 loan and pay a $40,000 fine to the U.S. government.[1]

  1. ^ "Lahood NPA". U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved June 28, 2022.