Neal McCaleb

Neal A. McCaleb (June 30, 1935 – January 7, 2025) was a Chickasaw civil engineer and politician from Oklahoma. A member of the Republican Party, McCaleb served in several positions in the Oklahoma state government and then as the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs under President George W. Bush.

Early life Neal McCaleb, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on June 30, 1935 to Burt and Zelma McCaleb. In 1975, McCaleb was named the charter Chairman of the American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers.

Oklahoma politics McCaleb was elected as a Republican to represent the 35th district of the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1974 succeeding Jan Turner. He was succeeded in office by Steve Sill in 1983. In 1978, McCaleb's colleagues elected him House Minority Leader. He remained in that position until his retirement from the Legislature. In 1982, he unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Oklahoma.

Bellmon administration and Oklahoma Good Roads Association Governor of Oklahoma Henry Bellmon appointed McCaleb to serve as the State's first Secretary of Transportation. Republican Frank Keating was elected to succeed him in that position. Keating appointed McCaleb to serve as his Secretary of Transportation. Additionally, Keating appointed McCaleb as the head of both the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. McCaleb remained in all three positions until July 2001 when he resigned to take join the George W. Bush administration.

During his tenure he oversaw the extension of the Kilpatrick Turnpike and the H. E. Bailey Turnpike.

National politics Presidential appointments McCaleb was appointed by President Richard Nixon to serve on the National Council on Indian Opportunities from 1972 to 1974.

McCaleb remained in that position until November 2002, when he returned home to Oklahoma. He resigned after being held in contempt of court by Judge Royce Lamberth alongside Gale Norton for violating court orders, but the charges were later dismissed on appeal. a financial industry firm completely owned by the Chickasaw Nation. Anoatubby also made McCaleb the chairman of the board for Chickasaw Nation Industries, a wholly owned subentity of the Nation responsible for promoting economic development for the tribe. He died on January 7, 2025, at the age of 89.

McCaleb was a member of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the Chickasaw Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma State University College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology Hall of Fame.