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Ex-Dallas mayor to be named trade representative
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-19 10:56 DALLAS – The negotiating skills Ron Kirk used as Dallas mayor should serve him well as US trade representative. A Democratic officials said Thursday that president-elect Barack Obama has chosen Kirk, 54, for the post. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because Obama has not made the selection public. Obama plans to formally announce the selection possibly as early as Friday.
"It requires people skills, hands-on cooperation, contact," he said. "And that's the kind of thing you have to do when you are a mayor running a city and that's a skill that will be quite valuable." Kirk, a partner in the Dallas office of the Houston-based powerhouse law and lobbying firm Vinson & Elkins, was the first black to be elected Dallas mayor. He was overwhelmingly elected in 1995 and won again by a wide margin in 1999. He resigned in 2001 to run as a Democratic candidate for US Senate, but was defeated by Republican John Cornyn. Reached by phone Thursday, Kirk had no comment on word that he was to be named US trade representative other than to acknowledge he'd met with transition officials. Jan Hart Black, president of the Dallas Regional Chamber, said that as mayor Kirk was a "superb trade emissary to the world" for the region and a gifted negotiator who focused on trade with Canada and Mexico. John Murphy, vice president for international affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, said that Kirk has a strong record of working with the business community. "People in the Texas business community who have worked with him speak highly of his understanding of international business opportunities and trade. He's got a real-world appreciation for the importance of trade to the economy," Murphy said. Frank Vargo, vice president for international economic affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers, said that it will help that Obama and Kirk seem to have a good relationship, because a trade representative must have access to the president to be effective. Kirk has said he met Obama at a Democratic event in Chicago, where Obama sought his advice on running for the US Senate. The two continued to bump into each other, discovering they had much in common politically and personally, including being the fathers of two daughters. When Obama decided to run for president, Kirk has said he told him: "I'll be your guy in Texas" and became state chairman for Obama's campaign. As mayor, Kirk was known for political moderation and evenhandedness. He also helped bring a $420 million sports arena to Dallas. Kirk, the son of civil rights activists in segregated East Austin, has long displayed a talent for building bridges. As class president of his integrated high school in the 1970s, he helped mediate racial tensions. Soon after he became mayor he worked to defuse a racial powderkeg at Dallas City Hall. Kirk is the youngest of four children. His late father, Lee, was the first black postal clerk in Austin, and his mother, Willie Mae, a schoolteacher, worked to repeal the poll tax and register blacks to vote. After earning a law degree from the University of Texas, Kirk worked for former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen as a legislative aide. He returned to Texas to lobby the state legislature in Austin, first as an attorney with the city of Dallas, and later with a law firm. Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards appointed him secretary of state, a job he held until George W. Bush was elected governor. |
