Vilsack says he does not know his future
August 25, 2014 | 06:30 PM
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said this weekend that he does not know what lies ahead.
“I don’t know what my future is, to be honest,” Vilsack told the Associated Press in Iowa. “I really don’t. I enjoy serving. I’ve just been blessed having this job. It’s a great job. I was blessed being governor. I loved being governor. I enjoyed not as much being a state senator. It was OK. I liked being a mayor. I've just been very fortunate and very lucky. Who knows what is next, if anything.”
Vilsack spoke with the AP after touring a food processing company in Marshalltown with Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, the Democratic candidate for the Senate to replace retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
Chuck Abbott, the former Reuters reporter who now writes the Food & Environment Report Network’s Ag Insider, noted today that Vilsack is approaching the tenure of Dan Glickman, who was secretary for five years and 10 months during the Clinton administration.
Abbott noted that most agriculture secretaries serve for a few years, although Orville Freeman served eight years under presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, and Ezra Taft Benson served for eight years under President Dwight Eisenhower.
The record holder, Abbott said, is “Tama Jim” Wilson, an Iowan,who was secretary for 16 years, beginning in 1897.
▪ Associated Press — Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says he’s not worried about 2014 farm profitability
▪ USDA — Former Secretaries of Agriculture
“I don’t know what my future is, to be honest,” Vilsack told the Associated Press in Iowa. “I really don’t. I enjoy serving. I’ve just been blessed having this job. It’s a great job. I was blessed being governor. I loved being governor. I enjoyed not as much being a state senator. It was OK. I liked being a mayor. I've just been very fortunate and very lucky. Who knows what is next, if anything.”
Vilsack spoke with the AP after touring a food processing company in Marshalltown with Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, the Democratic candidate for the Senate to replace retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
Chuck Abbott, the former Reuters reporter who now writes the Food & Environment Report Network’s Ag Insider, noted today that Vilsack is approaching the tenure of Dan Glickman, who was secretary for five years and 10 months during the Clinton administration.
Abbott noted that most agriculture secretaries serve for a few years, although Orville Freeman served eight years under presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, and Ezra Taft Benson served for eight years under President Dwight Eisenhower.
The record holder, Abbott said, is “Tama Jim” Wilson, an Iowan,who was secretary for 16 years, beginning in 1897.
▪ Associated Press — Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says he’s not worried about 2014 farm profitability
▪ USDA — Former Secretaries of Agriculture
