Barney Frank wants a Cabinet post, Bob Cusack of
The Hill is reporting tonite.

Frank (D-Mass.)
told author Stuart Weisberg that he would like to be Housing and Urban
Development secretary. However, the 69-year-old lawmaker stresses that his
departure from Congress is not imminent.

He first wants to pass more
legislation on affordable housing, saying, “I want at least two years with
President Obama and a solidly Democratic Senate so that we can get the federal
government back in the housing business.â€Â

No president has ever
appointed an openly gay man or woman to the Cabinet. A couple of ambassadors
here and there, and some people quietly in the closet, as far back as the
Eisenhower administration, but never an openly gay man.

Weisberg, who
used to work for Frank on Capitol Hill, spent five years on his authoritative
book, titled "Barney Frank, The Story of America’s Only Left-handed, Gay,
Jewish Congressman".

Frank talks about how he struggled as a gay man growing
up in blue-collar Bayonne, N.J. He dated women throughout high school and
college, but knew he was gay at 13. Still, he delayed revealing his sexuality
until he had established a foothold in the House.

In the 501-page tome
— to be released later this month — Frank is described by people who know
him well as a masterful legislator, an impatient boss, and “socially
handicapped.â€Â

Frank has been the subject of many profiles, but Weisberg
provides news that political junkies crave.

In his first race for the
House, Frank almost went head to head with now-Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in the
1980 primary. After a meeting with Frank, Kerry opted not to run. Ten years
later, Republicans tried to persuade Bill O’Reilly to run against Frank.
O’Reilly also passed on the seat, but the Fox News commentator would clash
with Frank 18 years later in a 2008 interview that has been viewed more than 2
million times on YouTube.

There are other rich details in Weisberg’s
book, including Frank’s political battles with then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael
Dukakis (D) and Clarence Thomas, when the Supreme Court justice served as
director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Weisberg also states
that Frank was friends with the late Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Calif.) and admires Rep.
Dan Lungren (R-Calif.).

One of the most riveting parts of the book is
Frank’s recollection of his ethics scandal, when he paid a male prostitute for
sex. Various media outlets called for Frank to resign, but he persevered by
admitting his mistakes and asking the ethics committee to investigate him in
1989. Many Republicans, including then-Rep. Larry Craig (Idaho), called for
serious sanctions against Frank, who was ultimately reprimanded by the House,
408-18.

The following year, a Republican challenger to Frank’s
seat — described as “not the smartest person in the districtâ€Â — called
on Frank to take an AIDS test and reveal the results publicly. Frank replied
that he would do so if his GOP challenger would take an IQ test and release it
to the public.

Throughout his life, Frank has battled bouts with
depression and his voracious appetite. When Frank was advised by a political
operative to improve his appearance, Frank responded that “when you are 5 feet
10 inches and you have a 46 waist and your thighs rub together, your clothes
have a way of not looking good.â€Â

At other points in his life, he was
able to lose weight — a lot of it. He once lost 100 pounds in eight months.
Knowing that avoiding obesity would be a lifelong struggle, Frank said, “The
day I die, I will either be fat or hungry.â€Â

Sometimes to his detriment,
Frank was not shy in criticizing Democrats publicly, most notably President Bill
Clinton during the “don’t ask, don’t tellâ€Â debate. He also irritated
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) by suggesting Kennedy had no chance of becoming
president after his 1980 bid fell short.

The personal details about Frank
show a side of the Financial Services panel chairman that Washington insiders
have not seen. He pumped gas as a teenager at his father’s truck stop in New
Jersey, formally changed his name from “Barnettâ€Â to Barney and was an avid
baseball and tennis player. Weisberg writes that only Frank’s mother Elsie,
and his sister, Democratic strategist Ann Lewis, consistently won arguments
against him. Elsie Frank died in 2005.

Amid the GOP-led Congress’s
actions to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case, Frank challenged Republicans who
offered their medical analysis during the debate: “The caption tonight ought
to be: ‘We’re not doctors — we just play them on C-SPAN.’
â€Â

Weisberg writes that “the best of times is nowâ€Â for Frank, noting
the 15-term member is “at the top of his game as a lawmaker and as a
deal-maker … He feels comfortable with who he is and he is no longer
emotionally isolated.

“I am what I am," Frank said, adding, "sort of
like Popeye.â€Â

It would be a great finish to a marvelous career with ups
and downs. The important thing to remember about Barney Frank is that he
overcame adversity, dealt with embarrassments, and stayed the course to leave a
legacy of achievement. None of us make it through life without the waves that
drive us under. We just have to rise to the top again, deal with the pain, and
push on. Barney Frank is very human. Barney Frank is a symbol for gay men and
women though, to be known not for his lovers, but for his legislating. He
reminds us all that our achievements are won in boardrooms,not bedrooms.