Cao, Quang Ánh

English language interview with Cao Quang Ánh from Louisiana. Cao is a native of Vietnam, the son of an officer in the U.S.-supported South Vietnamese Army. After the fall of Saigon to communist North Vietnam in 1975, Cao's father was imprisoned and his mother was left to raise the couple's seven children. Cao and two of his siblings fled the country for the U.S. He ultimately earned a B.S. in physics from Baylor University, and an M.A. in philosophy from Fordham University in 1995. Cao studied law at the Loyola School of Law from 1997 to 2000; after earning his J.D., he became an associate at the Waltzer Law Firm. After leaving Waltzer, he worked as in-house counsel for Boat People SOS, an organization "seeking to aid the social and cultural assimilation for poor immigrants." He opened a private practice, which he continues to operate, in 2002. Cao has also served on the Board of Elections for Orleans Parish, the Republican Parish Executive Committee and the Louisiana State Republican Executive Committee.
He was elected as a U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District in 2008, becoming the first Vietnamese-American ever elected to Congress and the first Republican to represent his district since 1891. He served one term.

2010-07-24

Interviewer: Roger Le