LaHood won't serve in second Obama term

By Keith Laing - 10/13/11 04:24 PM ET

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday that he will not serve under President Obama for a second term if the president is reelected next year.

LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Illinois, told a newspaper in his home state after a speech in Washington on Thursday that he was planning to leave the Obama administration when it completes its first term next year.

LaHood, 65, said the DOT job would likely be his last in the public sector.

“I’m not running for public office anymore,” he told the Chicago Tribune.

In his speech at the National Press Club, LaHood said he longed for the days when Democrats and Republicans came together on transportation issues, saying that President Reagan signed a highway bill passed by a Democratic Congress in 1982.

"Wouldn't it be great if we could re-create that type of bipartisanship today," he asked during his speech.

LaHood told the newspaper there would be "wonderful opportunities" in the private sector after he left office.

Another member of President Obama's Cabinet, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, reiterated on Thursday that she would only serve for one term.