Vilsack, Thomas J. (Thomas James), 1950-

<p>Thomas James Vilsack (born December 13, 1950) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 32nd United States secretary of agriculture under the Biden administration. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 30th secretary of agriculture from 2009 to 2017 in the Obama administration and as the 40th governor of Iowa from 1999 to 2007.</p>

<p>On November 30, 2006, he formally launched his candidacy for nomination for President of the United States by the Democratic Party in the 2008 election, but ended his bid on February 23, 2007.</p>

<p>Barack Obama announced Vilsack's selection to be Secretary of Agriculture on December 17, 2008. His nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent on January 20, 2009. Until his January 13, 2017 resignation one week prior to the end of Obama's second term as president, he had been the only member of the U.S. Cabinet who had served since the day Obama originally took office.</p>

<p>On July 19, 2016, the Washington Post reported that Vilsack was on Hillary Clinton's two-person shortlist to be her running mate for that year's presidential election. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine was ultimately selected.</p>

<p>Vilsack was born on December 13, 1950 in a Roman Catholic orphanage (or "Foundling Home") in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his 23-year-old birth mother (a secretary) had lived since September 1950 under the pseudonym of "Gloria"; he was baptized as "Kenneth." He was adopted in 1951 by Bud, a real-estate agent and insurance salesman, and Dolly Vilsack. They named him Thomas James.</p>

<p>Vilsack attended Shady Side Academy, a preparatory high school in Pittsburgh. He received a bachelor's degree in 1972 from Hamilton College in New York. While at Hamilton he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1975 from Albany Law School of Union University, New York.</p>

<p>He married Christie Bell in 1973, and moved with her to her hometown of Mount Pleasant, Iowa in 1975, where he practiced law.</p>

<p>Tom Vilsack became president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) in February 2017, after serving eight years as the nation’s 30th Secretary of Agriculture.</p>

<p>Vilsack provides strategic leadership and oversight of USDEC's global promotional and research activities, regulatory affairs and trade policy initiatives. This includes working with industry leaders to develop a long-term vision for building sales and consumer trust in U.S. dairy. Together with the USDEC board, he creates strategies to successfully achieve the shared vision. He serves as the organization's primary spokesperson and ambassador to a host of global and domestic stakeholders.

<p>As leader of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Vilsack worked diligently to strengthen the American agricultural economy, build vibrant rural communities and create new markets for the tremendous innovation of rural America. During his tenure, Vilsack fought to put Americans back to work and to create a strong and sustainable economy. Under his leadership, USDA supported America's farmers, ranchers and growers, who are driving the rural economy forward, provided food assistance to millions of Americans, carried out unprecedented conservation efforts, made record investments in our rural communities and helped provide a safe, sufficient and nutritious food supply for the American people.</p>

<p>Prior to his appointment, he served two terms as the Governor of Iowa, in the Iowa State Senate and as the mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Vilsack received his bachelor's degree from Hamilton College and his law degree from Albany Law School in New York.</p>

<p>Vilsack has been honored for his public service and work to advance American agriculture by the Congressional Hunger Center, Global Child Nutrition Foundation, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, National Corn Growers Association, American Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union.</p>

<p>A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Vilsack was born into an orphanage and adopted in 1951. After graduating from law school, Vilsack moved to Mt. Pleasant Iowa, his wife Christie's hometown, where he practiced law. They have two adult sons, two daughters-in-law, and four grandchildren.</p>

<p>Thomas James Vilsack was born on December 13, 1950, and days later he was placed in a Catholic orphanage in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he remained until he was adopted by Bud and Dolly Vilsack. His orphaned infancy would not be the last of his troubled childhood; for much of his life, his mother struggled with prescription drugs and alcohol, and she left the family when Vilsack was only 13. Vilsack enrolled in Hamilton College in upstate New York where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1972, and three years later he earned a law degree from Albany Law School. After law school, he moved with his future wife to her hometown of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Vilsack's path to politics and public office was an unconventional one but also one that allowed him to work on nearly every level of government. In a bizarre and tragic turn of events, December 10, 1986, proved to be the beginning of Vilsack's career in public office. A man name Ralph Davis opened fire on Mayor Edward King, killing the mayor during a city council meeting in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Because of his prior work in the community, Vilsack was asked to run for the office, an election that he won. After three terms as mayor of Mount Pleasant, Vilsack served as a state senator from 1992 until 1998. He was able to win the gubernatorial race in Iowa in 1998 as a Democrat despite the fact that Republicans had held the seat for the previous thirty years.</p>

<p>Because of his concern with the problems facing local Iowan communities and the profitability of small farmers, Vilsack was able to win the race by emphasizing his vision for making Iowa the "Food Capital of the World." During his campaign, he promoted the idea of redirecting the focus of his state on economic opportunity in rural communities and small towns through value-added agriculture, a promise he kept once elected. He focused a large majority of his attention towards creating new jobs and enhancing the economic opportunity within small rural communities. A strong advocate for alternative sources of energy, he was a supporter of the Iowan corn growers and the ethanol industry. President Barack Obama selected Vilsack as the secretary of the Department of Agriculture. Named Governor of the Year in 2001 by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, many experts believed Vilsack was the perfect candidate for the position because of his experience as governor of a highly agricultural state. Many feared, however, that his interest would push him to be partial to the corn-growing farmers of Iowa.</p>