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The United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Edward T. Schafer, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become Secretary of Agriculture on January 28, 2008[1]. The position carries similar responsibilities to agriculture ministers of other governments.
The department includes several organizations. The 297,000 mi2 (770,000 km²) of national forests and grasslands are managed by the United States Forest Service.[2] The safety of food produced that are produced in the United States and sold here is ensured by the United States Food Safety and Inspection Service.[3] The Food Stamp Program works with the states to provide food to low-income people.[4] Advice for farmers and gardeners is provided by the United States Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.[5]
The line of succession for the Secretary of Agriculture is as follows:[6]
- Deputy Secretary of Agriculture
- Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services
- Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs
- Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development
- Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services
- Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment
- Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics
- Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety
- General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture
- Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Administration
- Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Congressional Relations
Secretaries of Agriculture[7]
| # |
Secretary of Agriculture |
State of Residence |
Term of Office |
President(s) served under |
| 1 |
Norman Jay Coleman |
Missouri |
February 15, 1889 - March 6, 1889 |
Grover Cleveland |
| 2 |
Jeremiah M. Rusk |
Wisconsin |
March 6, 1889 - March 6, 1893 |
Benjamin Harrison |
| 3 |
J. Sterling Morton |
Nebraska |
March 7, 1893 - March 5, 1897 |
Grover Cleveland |
| 4 |
James Wilson |
Iowa |
March 6, 1897 - March 5, 1913 |
William McKinley,
Theodore Roosevelt,
William Taft |
| 5 |
David F. Houston |
Missouri |
March 6, 1913 - February 2, 1920 |
Woodrow Wilson |
| 6 |
Edwin T. Meredith |
Iowa |
February 2, 1920 - March 4, 1921 |
| 7 |
Henry C. Wallace |
Iowa |
March 5, 1921 - October 25, 1924 |
Warren Harding,
Calvin Coolidge |
| 8 |
Howard M. Gore |
West Virginia |
November 22, 1924 - March 4, 1925 |
Calvin Coolidge |
| 9 |
William M. Jardine |
Kansas |
March 5, 1925 - March 4, 1929 |
| 10 |
Arthur M. Hyde |
Missouri |
March 6, 1929 - March 4, 1933 |
Herbert Hoover |
| 11 |
Henry A. Wallace |
Iowa |
March 4, 1933 - September 4, 1940 |
Franklin Roosevelt |
| 12 |
Claude R. Wickard |
Indiana |
September 5, 1940 - June 29, 1945 |
Franklin Roosevelt,
Harry Truman |
| 13 |
Clinton P. Anderson |
New Mexico |
June 30, 1945 - May 10, 1948 |
Harry Truman |
| 14 |
Charles F. Brannan |
Colorado |
June 2, 1948 - January 20, 1953 |
| 15 |
Ezra Taft Benson |
Idaho |
January 21, 1953 - January 20, 1961 |
Dwight Eisenhower |
| 16 |
Orville L. Freeman |
Minnesota |
January 21, 1961 - January 20, 1969 |
John Kennedy,
Lyndon Johnson |
| 17 |
Clifford M. Hardin |
Nebraska |
January 21, 1969 - November 17, 1971 |
Richard Nixon |
| 18 |
Earl L. Butz |
Indiana |
December 2, 1971 - October 4, 1976 |
Richard Nixon,
Gerald Ford |
| 19 |
John A. Knebel |
Oklahoma |
November 4, 1976 - January 20, 1977 |
Gerald Ford |
| 20 |
Robert S. Bergland |
Minnesota |
January 23, 1977 - January 20, 1981 |
Jimmy Carter |
| 21 |
John R. Block |
Illinois |
January 23, 1981 - February 14, 1986 |
Ronald Reagan |
| 22 |
Richard E. Lyng |
California |
March 7, 1986 - January 21, 1989 |
| 23 |
Clayton K. Yeutter |
Nebraska |
February 16, 1989 - March 1, 1991 |
George H. W. Bush |
| 24 |
Edward R. Madigan |
Illinois |
March 8, 1991 - January 20, 1993 |
| 25 |
Alphonso Michael "Mike" Espy |
Mississippi |
January 22, 1993 - December 31, 1994 |
Bill Clinton |
| 26 |
Daniel R. Glickman |
Kansas |
March 30, 1995 - January 19, 2001 |
| 27 |
Ann M. Veneman |
California |
January 20, 2001 - January 20, 2005 |
George W. Bush |
| 28 |
Michael O. Johanns |
Nebraska |
January 21, 2005 - September 20, 2007 |
| 29 |
Edward T. Schafer |
North Dakota |
January 28, 2008 - present |
References
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United States Secretaries of Agriculture |
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