Gary Faye Locke is an Americanpolitician. He is the current UnitedStates Secretary of Commerce and,as of March 9, 2011, the presidentialnominee to become the next UnitedStates Ambassador to China.
Locke was the 21st Governor ofWashington, serving from 1997 to 2005.
He was the first governor of a state in theUnited States mainland of Asian descent,and remains the only Chinese American inhistory to serve as a governor.
Locke was born on January 21, 1950 in Seattle, Washington.
A third-generation American with paternal ancestry from Taishan,Guangdong in China, Locke is the second of five children of Jamesand Julie Locke from Hong Kong, which at that time was a dependentterritory of the United Kingdom. His parents gave him the Chinesename of Luo Jiahui. He did not learn to speak English until he was fiveyears old.
On October 15, 1994, Locke married Mona Lee, a former televisionreporter for the NBC affiliate KING 5 television in Seattle. Her father wasfrom Shanghai, China and her mother from Hubei, China. Through a combinationof part-time jobs, financialaid and scholarships, Lockeattended Yale University,graduating with a Bachelorof Arts degree in politicalscience in 1972. He laterreceived his Juris Doctorfrom the Boston UniversitySchool of Law in 1975.
In 1982, Locke’s South Seattle district elected him to the WashingtonHouse of Representatives, where he served as chairman of theAppropriations Committee. Eleven years later, in 1993, Locke madehistory by becoming the first Chinese American to be elected King County’sCounty Executive, defeating Tim Hill. In 1996, he won the primary andgeneral elections for governor, becoming the first Chinese American stategovernor in United States history.
On February 25, 2009, Locke was announced as President BarackObama’s choice for Secretary of Commerce. His nomination was confirmedby the United States Senate by unanimous consent on March 24, 2009.
Locke was sworn in March 26, 2009, by District judge Richard A. Jones. Hewas sworn in by President Obama on May 1, 2009. He is the first ChineseAmerican Secretary of Commerce, and one of three Asian Americans inObama’s cabinet, joining Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Veteran AffairsSecretary Eric Shinseki, the most of any administration. Politico hasreported Locke has been a popular cabinet member among both businessand the executive branch.
Following the resignation of Jon Huntsman, Jr., Locke was nominatedby President Obama to serve as the next U.S. Ambassador to the People’sRepublic of China.
