Cedar Rapids Weather
Vilsack Picked for Agriculture SecretaryBy Josh Hinkle, ReporterRelated Content
CHICAGO - President-elect Barack Obama wants former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to be the nation's next Secretary of Agriculture.
Walking onto stage on Wednesday, former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack stepped into an office created a century and a half ago by President Lincoln. An office dubbed the people's department. "And I know it will be the people's department once more when Tom is at the helm," said Barack Obama, President-elect. President-elect Barack Obama chose Vilsack to head the Department of Agriculture because of his guidance in Iowa of the large farms feeding the world and the small family farms feeding our communities. "America's farmers and ranchers deserve a secretary of agriculture that respects them for the contribution they make to all of us every day. I hope to be that secretary," said Tom Vilsack, Ag Secretary nominee. Just two years ago, he hopes to hold Obama's upcoming job as he put his own bid for the Democratic Presidential ticket. And when he did bow out, he backed Obama's biggest opponent, Hillary Clinton, until her defeat this summer. Some Iowans speculated that was the reason Obama didn't tap Vilsack initially for this post a month ago. Vilsack told TV9 that the issue hasn't come up, saying the delay was just part of the process. Not any ill will on the part of the President-elect. "I campaigned very vigorously for the President-elect in a number of states. I counted up the other day, I was in 33 states in the last 11 months," said Vilsack. Now, with an upcoming role in Washington and his wife Christy still working in Des Moines, Vilsack still has some big decisions to make. Watch the exclusive 1-on-1 interview with Vilsack here. More Good Stuff |
YouNews™ Politics!Have video or pictures from the local or national political scene? How about comments and questions for your representitives? Share Them On YouNews!
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
Do You Support Obama's Handling of the Bail Out? |
Conversation Guidelines
Be Kind
Don't use abusive, offensive, threatening, racist, vulgar or sexually-oriented language.
Don't attack someone personally. Keep it civil and be responsible.
Share Knowledge
Be truthful. Share what you know and what you are passionate about.
What more do you want to learn? Keep it simple.
Stay focused
Promote lively and healthy debate. Stay on topic. Ask questions and give feedback on the story's topic.
Report Trouble
Help us maintain a quality comment section by reporting comments that are offensive. If you see a comment that is offensive, or you feel violates our guidelines, simply click on the "x" to the far right of the comment to report it.
read the full guidelines here »
Commenting will be disabled on stories dealing with the following subject matter: Violent crime, sexual abuse, Amber Alerts, Operation Quickfinds and suicides.
Most Popular >>