William T. Coleman, Secretary of TransportationWilliam T. Coleman was sworn in as Secretary of Trans

William T. Coleman, Secretary of Transportation

William T. Coleman was sworn in as Secretary of Transportation on March 7, 1975, becoming the second African American to hold a Cabinet post.

Coleman, a practicing lawyer, also brought prior experience in government service. He worked as an assistant counsel to the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, through which he first met Gerald Ford. Previously he had been a member of President Eisenhower’s Committee on Government Employment Policy.

Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall administered the oath of office at the swearing in ceremony. He and Coleman had previously worked together on NAACP civil rights cases in the 1950s, including several that led up to the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

As Secretary of Transportation Coleman dealt with issues ranging from railroads to landing rights for the Concorde to trucking regulations. After the Ford administration he returned to practicing law. Coleman received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1995.

: Justice Thurgood Marshall and William T. Coleman in the Red Room prior to Coleman being sworn in as Secretary of Transportation. March 7, 1975. (White House photograph A3576-23A)