WS Chronicle

In 2012, then Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx faced a challenge few mayors face in a lifetime – bringing the Democratic National Convention to his city, and moving heaven and earth to make sure that it was successful.
President Barack Obama was vying for his second term in office, and with the eyes of the world focused on the Queen City, Foxx had to make sure everything was right.

“It was an incredible experience, not only for Charlotte and for me, but for North Carolina just being at the epicenter of our political system for a week,” Foxx recalls. “The exposure for the state, the business people that got exposed to North Carolina and subsequently decided they wanted to locate businesses there. The people who got a taste of the sweet tea in North Carolina and decided they wanted to move there.”
“There are so many ripple effects of hosting something like that,” he continued, “and the thing I’m most proud of is that the city pulled something like that off without a hitch.”

Four years later, now U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx doesn’t have to shoulder any worries about the DNC, this time next week in Philadelphia for four days. Unless something major happens along I-95, all Secretary Foxx has to do is attend and support his party’s nominee, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“This is the most important election in all of my lifetime,” Foxx said in a phone interview from Washington, D.C. last week. “With so much progress being made under the current [Obama] administration, the great risk is that the progress will stop, or we might go into reverse [with the election of Republican Donald Trump in November].”

“You’ve got someone in Secretary Clinton who understands the great challenges our country faces, someone who has been tested in so many ways, and who is the most prepared person to serve the country. My hope is not only that she wins the election, but that North Carolina leads the way.”

Anthony Foxx accepted the position to head the U.S. Dept. of Transportation in July 2013. He leads an agency with over 55,000 employees and a budget exceeding $70 billion. His primary job is to oversee the nation’s interstate roads, bridges and railways, making sure they are safe and efficient.

Like many Democrats, Secretary Foxx was pleased that Clinton’s primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, finally endorsed her last week, for it means a more unified party going into next week’s convention. But also like fellow Democrats, Foxx has no idea who Clinton will finally choose as a vice presidential running mate.

Thus far, Senators Elizabeth Warren [D-MA] and Tim Kaine [D-VA] are considered the most popular candidates from which Clinton could choose. Kaine is seen as the more moderate of the two.
“I think the most important thing for Secretary Clinton is picking somebody who can be a good partner with her,” Secretary Foxx said. “Somebody who maybe has a different take on things, but who has her respect, who is going to be able to execute on things that she directs, but will give her an honest and different read than what she would get elsewhere.”

Finally, with just six months left before the next president assumes office in January, Secretary Foxx reflected on the legacy of President Barack Obama.

“He is an amazing person. You have to be amazing to accomplish many of the things he’s been able to accomplish. History is going to be very kind to him, having confronted the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression, to go from losing three-quarters of a million jobs in single months when he came into office to now having the longest streak of months of job growth in the country’s history. That’s pretty impressive.”
Secretary Foxx continued, “The work the president did to close the gap in health care, helping so many people – 20 million plus who didn’t have healthcare access before. The work he’s done in international affairs, tracking down
[Osama] bin Laden. Efforts he’s taken to clean up our environment.

“The president has been a game-changer in so many ways,” Secretary Foxx concluded, “and I think all of us should be proud of him.”