Service has been at the heart of Elaine Chao’s career, which has included successful work in the private sector and government.

For eight years, Chao was secretary of the Department of Labor and she served as deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation, so she knows the critical work of a president’s cabinet and how to get things done without chafing too many people. That’s just one of the reasons why she would be a good pick for President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet as secretary of the Department of Transportation.

A transportation system that moves goods and people efficiently is critical to the success of many things, such as job creation and families’ well-being. Chao would be in charge of helping get an infrastructure spending bill through Congress and administering the department.

Chao, an Asian-American, has the skills for such a job. She started in banking after Harvard Business School and then went on to learn as much as she could about her relatively new government, having immigrated as a pre-teen with her family from China. She became a White House Fellow. After another brief stint in banking, Chao returned to government work to be deputy administrator of the Maritime Administration, eventually becoming chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission. She was the U.S. secretary of labor from 2001-2009 and deputy secretary of transportation from 1989 to 1991.

Chao took over as president and CEO of the national United Way organization at a time when it was plagued by mismanagement and rampant improper spending by executives. She helped put a shine on the organization’s tarnished reputation.

Her service extends even further to the Peace Corps, for which she was director.

Chao, despite her busy schedule over the years, has spoken at events in Bowling Green, including a fundraiser for The Salvation Army and an annual business dinner for the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce.

She also sometimes travels with her husband, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and the two maintain residences in Louisville and Washington. Some Trump supporters wonder why the president-elect would pick someone who is married to McConnell, who didn’t go out of his way to support Trump.

Maybe it’s more about getting someone who can do the job, while at the same time possibly making a political ally of the Senate majority leader, who likely won’t be a rubber stamp for every idea that comes out of the White House.