10 Things You Didn’t Know About Tom Vilsack
President-elect Obama selected Vilsack to lead the Department of Agriculture
1. Thomas James Vilsack was born Dec. 13, 1950, in Pittsburgh, to an unwed mother who put him up for adoption. Bud and Dolly Vilsack adopted the infant.
2. He has been married to Christie Bell, a teacher, since 1973. They meet in college when Vilsack reportedly asked her if she supported Hubert Humphrey or Richard Nixon for president (her answer: Humphrey). The couple has two adult sons, Jess and Doug.
3. Vilsack earned a B.A. in history from Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., in 1972 and a law degree from Albany Law School in 1975. After law school, he and his wife settled in her hometown of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where he began his law career working with his father-in-law.
4. When the mayor of Mount Pleasant was shot and killed by an angry citizen during a City Council meeting, Vilsack decided to run for the office. He was elected in 1987 and served through 1992. He then ran for the Iowa State Senate, where he served from 1992 through 1998.
5. In 1998, Vilsack was elected governor; he was the first Democrat to hold the office in Iowa in more than 30 years. He was re-elected in 2002.
6. Vilsack took the oath of office both times with his hand on a Bible his mother gave him when he was 16. "It's the one he keeps by his bedside," his wife says, adding that Vilsack's mother "has been a motivation to him because she overcame alcoholism."
7. From 2000 through 2006, Vilsack made an annual "walk across Iowa" to meet constituents.
8. Vilsack entered the 2008 presidential race but ended his bid in early 2007 because of fundraising challenges.
9. He currently is a partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP and a distinguished fellow at Iowa State University's Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products.
10. A strong supporter of rural growth and renewable energy, Vilsack has been selected by President-elect Obama as secretary of agriculture. A confirmation hearing is set for January 14.
Sources:
- The Associated Press
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Biography Resource Center Online
- Carroll's State Directory
- Des Moines Register
- Dorsey & Whitney LLP: Our Attorneys, Tom
- Iowa State University: BIGMAP
- State of Iowa: Office of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor
- The New Republic
- The New York Times
Reader Comments
Helloooo, Qualifications?
What's up with US News? Has yet another media outlet fallen into Obamaworship? Why can't you give us the QUALIFICATIONS, if any, that Obama's people have for their various offices? These cutesy little "10 things" articles are putting me into a coma! What does Vilsack know about agriculture? Sounds to me like just another lawyer turned professional politician!
Where are the cuts in AG going to be?
I just wonder what Vilsack thinks of the AG programs being cut? Since Obama's announcement of the cuts for our nation's AG, I haven't heard anymore about it. Where are the cuts going to be exactly?
I hope we'll continue to supply our farmers their pay, supply our country with ample amounts of food in our grocery stores, will continue to supply our nation's public schools with USDA food for our children, supply USDA food for our nation's state food banks and food pantries, supply enough for non-profit organizations to continue to purchase bulk grains for 3rd world countries in need, continue to supply our nation, emergency food supplies, continue to supply our poor with commodity foods, and have enough food for trade to foreign countries.
I'd like to find out, where the AG cuts will be because its a scary thought of not having enough food in our stores and our nation's poor doing without, even moreso.
Louisiana Enacts the Most Comprehensive Advanced Biofuel Legislation in the Nation
Louisiana Enacts the Most Comprehensive Advanced Biofuel Legislation in the Nation
Governor Bobby Jindal has signed into law the Advanced Biofuel Industry Development Initiative, the most comprehensive and far-reaching state legislation in the nation enacted to develop a statewide advanced biofuel industry. Louisiana is the first state to enact alternative transportation fuel legislation that includes a variable blending pump pilot program and a hydrous ethanol pilot program.
Field-to-Pump
The legislature found that the proper development of an advanced biofuel industry in Louisiana requires implementation of the following comprehensive “field-to-pump” strategy developed by Renergie, Inc.:
(1) Feedstock other than corn;
(2) Decentralized network of small advanced biofuel manufacturing facilities;
(3) Variable blending pumps in lieu of splash blending; and
(4) Hydrous ethanol.
Please feel free to visit Renergie’s weblog (www.renergie.wordpress.com) for more information.
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