The federation teaches youngsters about Bill Pickett, who invented steer wrestling, and the pugnacious "Stagecoach" Mary Fields, whose nickname was derived from her reliability in delivering mail across an ornery Montana frontier.
But in Cabinet, he'll surely prove an adversary for the Lib Dem Energy Secretary Ed Davey as he tries to steer through an Energy Bill in coming months.
The Republicans who have to steer tax proposals into law (Bill Thomas in the House of Representatives, Chuck Grassley in the Senate) have said there must be compromise.