STILWELL, Okla. — Markwayne Mullin is poised to serve on President Trump’s cabinet.
Senator Markwayne Mullin is Trump's pick to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
WATCH: MULLIN'S ROOTS: Stilwell HS teacher reminisces over Mullin's teenage years
“I was excited,” when the president called, Mullin said. The president and I have a really good relationship. We talk all the time anyway. I gotta be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting the call today, but super excited. And I’m more excited about, just ready to get started. There's a lot of work we can do, to get the Department of Homeland Security working for the American people.
Before Mullin made it to Washington, he grew up in Adair County.
“He’s just a great all-around guy, that I knew was gonna accomplish big things, even as a high school teenager,” Regina Barton said.
Barton helped mold Mullin, at Stilwell High School. Barton taught Mullin in a freshman biology class.
“Very outspoken. Didn’t care to tell ya what he thought. Even at a young age. Great leadership qualities. Would always take the bull by the horns when we had any kind of a project going on that was a group project,” Barton said of Mullin.
Mullin has the biggest group project of his life on the horizon. If confirmed by his Senate colleagues, Mullin will oversee the 260,000 people that make up DHS.
Mullin went to school in Stilwell, but he considers Westville his home. A small town just a few miles west of the Arkansas state line.
“He loved to make people laugh. He was just so fun-loving in class and you could always count on him for bringing a smile to his face everyday, cuttin’ up, and doin’ somethin’ funny,” Barton said. “I would hope that everyone here at Stilwell Schools made him a better person, made him more accountable, made him more responsible, respectful, and that’s our goal for all of our students, is to help them function better in society, and so I would hope that we were able to ensure that he learned those things.”
If confirmed, Mullin will become just the second Native American to serve on a presidential cabinet.
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