United States Secretary of Agriculture

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United States Secretary of Agriculture
Seal of the Department
Flag of the Secretary
Incumbent
Sonny Perdue
since April 25, 2017
United States Department of Agriculture
StyleMr. Secretary
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
Websitewww.usda.gov

The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The secretary is former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue. Perdue took office on April 25, 2017 after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate by an 87–11 vote. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in 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 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] Advice for farmers and gardeners is provided by the United States Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.[5]

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:[6]

United States Secretaries of Agriculture
No. Portrait Name State of Residence Took Office Left Office President(s)
1 Newton seated Isaac Newton Pennsylvania July 1, 1862 June 19, 1867 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Abraham Lincoln
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Andrew Johnson
2 Horace Capron December 4, 1867 July 31, 1871
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Ulysses S. Grant
3 Frederick Watts Pennsylvania August 1, 1871 1877
4 William Gates LeDuc Minnesota July 1, 1877 1881 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Rutherford B. Hayes
5 George B. Loring Massachusetts July 1, 1881 1885 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | James A. Garfield
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Chester A. Arthur
6 Norman Jay Coleman Missouri April 3, 1885 February 14, 1889 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 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.[7]

Parties

  Democratic (14)   Republican (18)

No. Portrait Name State of Residence Took Office Left Office President(s)
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |1 Norman Jay Coleman Missouri February 15, 1889 March 6, 1889 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Grover Cleveland
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |2 Jeremiah McLain Rusk Wisconsin March 6, 1889 March 6, 1893 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Benjamin Harrison
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |3 Julius Sterling Morton Nebraska March 7, 1893 March 5, 1897 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Grover Cleveland
rowspan=4 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |4 James Wilson Iowa March 5, 1897 March 5, 1913 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | William McKinley
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Theodore Roosevelt
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | William Howard Taft
rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Woodrow Wilson
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |5 David F. Houston Missouri March 6, 1913 February 2, 1920
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |6 Edwin T. Meredith Iowa February 2, 1920 March 4, 1921
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |7 Henry Cantwell Wallace Iowa March 5, 1921 October 25, 1924 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Warren G. Harding
rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Calvin Coolidge
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |8 Howard Mason Gore West Virginia November 22, 1924 March 4, 1925
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |9 William Marion Jardine Kansas March 5, 1925 March 4, 1929
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |10 Arthur M. Hyde Missouri March 6, 1929 March 4, 1933 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Herbert Hoover
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |11 Henry A. Wallace Iowa March 4, 1933 September 4, 1940 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Franklin D. Roosevelt
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |12 Claude R. Wickard Indiana September 5, 1940 June 29, 1945
rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Harry S. Truman
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |13 Clinton Presba Anderson New Mexico June 30, 1945 May 10, 1948
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |14 Charles F. Brannan Colorado June 2, 1948 January 20, 1953
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |15 Ezra Taft Benson Utah January 21, 1953 January 20, 1961 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Dwight D. Eisenhower
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |16 Orville Freeman Minnesota January 21, 1961 January 20, 1969 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | John F. Kennedy
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Lyndon B. Johnson
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |17 Clifford M. Hardin Nebraska January 21, 1969 November 17, 1971 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Richard Nixon
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |18 Earl Butz Indiana December 2, 1971 October 4, 1976
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Gerald Ford
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |19 John Albert Knebel Oklahoma November 4, 1976 January 20, 1977
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |20 Robert Bergland Minnesota January 23, 1977 January 20, 1981 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Jimmy Carter
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |21 John Rusling Block Illinois January 23, 1981 February 14, 1986 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Ronald Reagan
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |22 Richard Edmund Lyng California March 7, 1986 January 21, 1989
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |23 Clayton Keith Yeutter Nebraska February 16, 1989 March 1, 1991 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | George H. W. Bush
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |24 Edward Rell Madigan Illinois March 8, 1991 January 20, 1993
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |25 Mike Espy Mississippi January 22, 1993 December 31, 1994 rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Bill Clinton
– Richard Rominger
Acting 		California December 31, 1994 March 30, 1995
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |26 Dan Glickman Kansas March 30, 1995 January 20, 2001
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |27 Ann Veneman California January 20, 2001 January 20, 2005 rowspan=4 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | George W. Bush
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |28 Mike Johanns Nebraska January 21, 2005 September 20, 2007
– Charles F. Conner
Acting 		Indiana September 20, 2007 January 28, 2008
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |29 Ed Schafer North Dakota January 28, 2008 January 20, 2009
style= "background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |30 Tom Vilsack Iowa January 20, 2009 January 13, 2017 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Barack Obama
– Michael Scuse
Acting 		Delaware January 13, 2017 January 20, 2017
– Mike Young
Acting 		January 20, 2017 April 25, 2017 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | Donald Trump
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |31 Sonny Perdue Georgia April 25, 2017 Incumbent

Living former secretaries of agriculture

See also: List of living former members of the United States Cabinet
(Back L to R) Yeutter, Glickman, Espy, and Block. (Front L to R) Johanns, Vilsack, Veneman, and Schafer.

As of June 2024, 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 (age 87)
John R. Block 1981–1986 (1935-02-15) February 15, 1935 (age 89)
Mike Espy 1993–1994 (1953-11-30) November 30, 1953 (age 70)
Dan Glickman 1995–2001 (1944-11-24) November 24, 1944 (age 79)
Ann Veneman 2001–2005 (1949-06-29) June 29, 1949 (age 74)
Mike Johanns 2005–2007 (1950-06-18) June 18, 1950 (age 73)
Ed Schafer 2008–2009 (1946-08-08) August 8, 1946 (age 77)
Tom Vilsack 2009–2017 (1950-12-13) December 13, 1950 (age 73)

Line of succession

The line of succession for the secretary of agriculture is as follows:[8]

  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:
    1. California
    2. Iowa
    3. Kansas
  13. Regional Administrators of the Food and Nutrition Service (in order of seniority by length of unbroken tenure) for the:
    1. Mountain Plains Regional Office (Denver, Colorado)
    2. Midwest Regional Office (Chicago, Illinois)
    3. Western Regional Office (San Francisco, California)
  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. ^ "Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES)". Csrees.usda.gov. Retrieved September 24, 2005.
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ "Former Secretaries". U.S. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  8. ^ "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.

External links

U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Secretary of the Interior Order of Precedence of the United States
as Secretary of the Agriculture 		Succeeded byas Secretary of Commerce
U.S. presidential line of succession
Preceded by 9th in line Succeeded by
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