As the nation’s 22nd Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, Robert Reich implemented the Family and Medical Leave Act; led a national fight against sweatshops in the U.S. and illegal child labor around the world; headed the administration’s successful effort to raise the minimum wage; secured worker’s pensions; and launched job-training programs, one-stop career centers, and school-to-work initiatives.

Reich is the author of The Work of Nations; the best-sellers The Future of Success and Locked in the Cabinet; and Reason, among others. His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. In addition to teaching at UC Berkeley, Reich has worked as a faculty member at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, director of Policy Planning Staff of the Federal Trade Commission under President Jimmy Carter, assistant to the Solicitor General under President Gerald Ford, and chairman of The American Prospect, which he co-founded.

Lecture commentary provided by Robin Einhorn (History).