Federico Fabian Peņa (born March 15, 1947) was United States Secretary of Transportation from 1993 to 1997, during the presidency of Bill Clinton.
Born in Laredo, Texas, Peņa earned a B.A. (1969) and a J.D. (1972) from the University of Texas. Moving to Colorado, where he became a practicing attorney, Peņa was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1979, where he rose to become minority Speaker. In 1983, Peņa defeated a 14-year incumbent to become the first Hispanic Mayor of Denver, a post to which he was re-elected in 1988.
Peņa advised Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton on transportation issues during Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign, and Clinton chose Peņa to head the United States Department of Transportation. Although he intended to leave Clinton's cabinet after a single term, Peņa served as Secretary of Energy for one year, from 1997 to 1998. Peņa currently heads an investment firm.
|- style="text-align: center;"
| width="30%" |Preceded by:
Hazel R. O'Leary
| width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |United States Secretary of Energy
1997–1998
| width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Bill Richardson
Last updated: 05-07-2005 17:20:11