United States Secretary of Agriculture

The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments.

United States Secretary of Agriculture
Seal of the Department
Flag of the Secretary
Incumbent
Tom Vilsack
since February 24, 2021
United States Department of Agriculture
StyleMr. Secretary
(informal)
The Honorable
(formal)
Member ofCabinet
Reports toPresident of the United States
SeatJamie L. Whitten Building, Washington, D.C.
AppointerThe President
with Senate advice and consent
Term lengthNo fixed term
Constituting instrument7 U.S.C. § 2202
FormationFebruary 15, 1889
First holderNorman Jay Coleman
SuccessionNinth[1]
DeputyDeputy Secretary of Agriculture
SalaryExecutive Schedule, level I
Websiteusda.gov

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 and sold in the United States 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]

Secretary of Agriculture is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule,[5] thus earning a salary of US$221,400, as of January 2021.[6]

Since February 24, 2021, the current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who had previously served as the 30th secretary of agriculture in the Obama administration.

List of secretaries of agriculture

When the Department of Agriculture was established in 1862, its executive was a non-Cabinet position called the commissioner of agriculture. The commissioners of agriculture were:[7]

United States commissioners of agriculture
No. Portrait Name State of residence Took office Left office President(s)
1 Isaac Newton Pennsylvania July 1, 1862 June 19, 1867 Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
2 Horace Capron December 4, 1867 July 31, 1871
Ulysses S. Grant
3 Frederick Watts Pennsylvania August 1, 1871 1877
4 William Gates LeDuc Minnesota July 1, 1877 1881 Rutherford B. Hayes
5 George B. Loring Massachusetts July 1, 1881 1885 James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
6 Norman Jay Coleman Missouri April 3, 1885 February 14, 1889 Grover Cleveland

The position of secretary of agriculture was created when the department was elevated to Cabinet status in 1889. The following is a list of secretaries of agriculture, since the creation of the office in 1889.[8]

Parties

  Democratic (14)   Republican (18)

Status

  Acting Secretary of Agriculture

  Nominee for Secretary of Agriculture

No. Portrait Name State of residence Took office Left office President(s)
1 Norman Jay Coleman Missouri February 15, 1889 March 6, 1889 Grover Cleveland
2 Jeremiah McLain Rusk Wisconsin March 6, 1889 March 6, 1893 Benjamin Harrison
3 Julius Sterling Morton Nebraska March 7, 1893 March 5, 1897 Grover Cleveland
4 James Wilson Iowa March 5, 1897 March 3, 1913 William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard 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 Cantwell Wallace Iowa March 5, 1921 October 25, 1924 Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
8 Howard Mason Gore West Virginia November 22, 1924 March 4, 1925
9 William Marion 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 D. Roosevelt
12 Claude R. Wickard Indiana September 5, 1940 June 29, 1945
Harry S. Truman
13 Clinton Anderson New Mexico June 30, 1945 May 10, 1948
14 Charles F. Brannan Colorado June 2, 1948 January 20, 1953
15 Ezra Taft Benson Utah January 21, 1953 January 20, 1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower
16 Orville Freeman Minnesota January 21, 1961 January 20, 1969 John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
17 Clifford M. Hardin Nebraska January 21, 1969 November 17, 1971 Richard Nixon
18 Earl Butz Indiana December 2, 1971 October 4, 1976
Gerald Ford
19 John Albert Knebel Oklahoma November 4, 1976 January 20, 1977
20 Robert Bergland Minnesota January 23, 1977 January 20, 1981 Jimmy Carter
21 John Rusling Block Illinois January 23, 1981 February 14, 1986 Ronald Reagan
22 Richard Edmund Lyng California March 7, 1986 January 21, 1989
23 Clayton Yeutter Nebraska February 16, 1989 March 1, 1991 George H. W. Bush
24 Edward Rell Madigan Illinois March 8, 1991 January 20, 1993
25 Mike Espy Mississippi January 22, 1993 December 31, 1994 Bill Clinton
– Richard Rominger
Acting		 California December 31, 1994 March 30, 1995
26 Dan Glickman Kansas March 30, 1995 January 20, 2001
27 Ann Veneman California January 20, 2001 January 20, 2005 George W. Bush
28 Mike Johanns Nebraska January 21, 2005 September 20, 2007
– Charles F. Conner
Acting		 Indiana September 20, 2007 January 28, 2008
29 Ed Schafer North Dakota January 28, 2008 January 20, 2009
30 Tom Vilsack
1st term		 Iowa January 20, 2009 January 13, 2017 Barack Obama
– Michael Scuse
Acting		 Delaware January 13, 2017 January 20, 2017
– Mike Young
Acting		 January 20, 2017 April 25, 2017 Donald Trump
31 Sonny Perdue Georgia April 25, 2017 January 20, 2021
– Kevin Shea
Acting		 January 20, 2021 February 24, 2021 Joe Biden
32 Tom Vilsack
2nd term		 Iowa February 24, 2021 Incumbent

Living former secretaries of agriculture
(Back L to R) Yeutter, Glickman, Espy, and Block. (Front L to R) Johanns, Vilsack, Veneman, and Schafer.

As of November 2022, there are eight living former secretaries of agriculture (with all secretaries that have served since 1993 still living), the oldest being John R. Block (served 1981–1986, born 1935). The most recent secretary of agriculture to die was Robert Bergland (served 1977–1981, born 1928), on December 9, 2018. The most recently serving secretary to die was Edward Rell Madigan (1991–1993, born 1936) on December 7, 1994.

Name Term Birth date (and age)
John A. Knebel 1976–1977 (1936-10-04) October 4, 1936
John R. Block 1981–1986 (1935-02-15) February 15, 1935
Mike Espy 1993–1994 (1953-11-30) November 30, 1953
Dan Glickman 1995–2001 (1944-11-24) November 24, 1944
Ann Veneman 2001–2005 (1949-06-29) June 29, 1949
Mike Johanns 2005–2007 (1950-06-18) June 18, 1950
Ed Schafer 2008–2009 (1946-08-08) August 8, 1946
Sonny Perdue 2017–2021 (1946-12-20) December 20, 1946

Line of succession

The line of succession for the secretary of agriculture is as follows:[9]

  1. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture
  2. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services
  3. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Administration
  4. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services
  5. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics
  6. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety
  7. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment
  8. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development
  9. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs
  10. General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture
  11. Chief of Staff, Office of the Secretary
  12. State Executive Directors of the Farm Service Agency (in order of seniority by length of unbroken tenure) for the States of:
  13. Regional Administrators of the Food and Nutrition Service (in order of seniority by length of unbroken tenure) for the:
  14. Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Agriculture
  15. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights
  16. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Congressional Relations

References
  1. "3 U.S. Code § 19 – Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act". LII / Legal Information Institute.
  2. "USDA Forest Service – Caring for the land and serving people". Fs.fed.us. Retrieved September 24, 2005.
  3. "Home". Fs.fed.us. Retrieved September 24, 2005.
  4. "FNS Food Stamp Program Home Page". Fns.usda.gov. Retrieved September 24, 2005.
  5. 5 U.S.C. " § 5312"
  6. "Salary Table No. 2021-EX Rates of Basic Pay for the Executive Schedule (EX)" (PDF).
  7. Baker, Gladys L.; Rasmussen, Wayne D.; Wiser, Vivian; Porter, Jane M. (1963). "Century of Service: The First 100 Years of the United States Department of Agriculture". U.S. Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on October 26, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2018. Alt URL
  8. "Former Secretaries". U.S. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  9. "Amendments to Delegations of Authority, United States Department of Agriculture". Federalregister.gov. Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
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