Federal Government
Secretaries of Agriculture
The Department of Agriculture's mission is to enhance the quality of life for the American people by supporting production of agriculture, to
- ensure a safe, affordable, nutritious and accessible food supply
- care for agricultural, forest and range lands
- support sound development of rural communities
- provide economic opportunities for farm and rural residents
- expand global markets for agricultural and forest products and services
- and work to reduce hunger in America and throughout the world.
The Secretary of Agriculture is appointed by the president with the approval of the Senate. The undersecretary is the secretary's assistant and serves as acting secretary in his or her absence. The staff also includes assistant secretaries and service directors. The department was created in 1862 and the secretary was advanced to presidential cabinet status in 1889.
|
Term of Service
|
Secretary |
Home State |
Administration |
|
1889
|
Norman J. Coleman |
Missouri |
Cleveland |
|
1889 - 1893
|
Jeremiah M. Rusk |
Wisconsin |
B. Harrison |
|
1893 - 1897
|
J. Sterling Morton |
Nebraska |
Cleveland |
|
1897 - 1901
|
James Wilson |
Iowa |
McKinley |
|
1901 - 1909
|
James Wilson |
Iowa |
T. Roosevelt |
|
1909 - 1913
|
James Wilson |
Iowa |
Taft |
|
1913 - 1920
|
David F. Houston |
Missouri |
Wilson |
|
1920 - 1921
|
Edwin T. Meredith |
Iowa |
Wilson |
|
1921 - 1923
|
Henry C. Wallace |
Iowa |
Harding |
|
1923 - 1924
|
Henry C. Wallace |
Iowa |
Coolidge |
|
1924 - 1925
|
Howard M. Gore |
West Virginia |
Coolidge |
|
1925 - 1929
|
William M. Jardine |
Kansas |
Coolidge |
|
1929 - 1933
|
Arthur M. Hyde |
Missouri |
Hoover |
|
1933 - 1940
|
Henry A. Wallace |
Iowa |
F.D. Roosevelt |
|
1940 - 1945
|
Claude R. Wickard |
Indiana |
F.D. Roosevelt |
|
1945 - 1948
|
Clinton P. Anderson |
New Mexico |
Truman |
|
1948 - 1953
|
Charles F. Brannan |
Colorado |
Truman |
|
1953 - 1961
|
Ezra Taft Benson |
Utah |
Eisenhower |
|
1961 - 1963
|
Orville L. Freeman |
Minnesota |
Kennedy |
|
1963 - 1969
|
Orville L. Freeman |
Minnesota |
L.B. Johnson |
|
1969 - 1974
|
Clifford M. Hardin |
Indiana |
Nixon |
|
1974
|
Earl L. Butz |
Indiana |
Nixon |
|
1974 - 1976
|
Earl L. Butz |
Indiana |
Ford |
|
1976 - 1977
|
John A. Knebel |
Virginia |
Ford |
|
1977 - 1981
|
Bob Bergland |
Minnesota |
Carter |
|
1981 - 1986
|
John R. Block |
Illinois |
Reagan |
|
1986 - 1989
|
Richard E. Lyng |
California |
Reagan |
|
1989 - 1991
|
Clayton K. Yeutter |
Nebraska |
G.H.W. Bush |
|
1991 - 1993
|
Edward Madigan |
Illinois |
G.H.W. Bush |
|
1993 - 1995
|
Mike Espy |
Mississippi |
Clinton |
|
1995 - 2001
|
Dan Glickman |
Kansas |
Clinton |
|
2001 -
|
Ann M. Veneman |
California |
G.W. Bush |
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