Talk:Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services

Latest comment: 4 years ago by GreenMassai in topic List of Past Assistant and Under Secretaries

Disputed title edit

The actual title is "Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services", not "...Agriculture...". Can the title of this article be corrected somehow? Amustard (talk) 15:42, 16 May 2009 (UTC)Reply

List of Past Assistant and Under Secretaries edit

So far as I can tell, the first predecessor of this position was established in 1953 when Secretary Ezra Taft Benson convinced Congress to expand the number of assistant secretaries from 1 to 3. Prior to that the Secretary had only two subcabinet subordinates, the Under Secretary and a lone Assistant Secretary of Agriculture. The functions appear to have been split across positions and re-merged at various points, creating a bit of a muddle -- anybody who can add clarity is urged to comment!

An incomplete list of the succession since 1953 includes:

  • Romeo E. Short, Assistant Secretary for the Foreign Agricultural Service, July 21, 1953-September 28, 1953 (Eisenhower)
  • John H. Davis, Assistant Secretary for Commodity Marketing and Adjustment, February 1953-1954 (Eisenhower) (see http://www.ameu.org/page.asp?aid=425&iid=156&pg=1)
  • Ross Rizley, Assistant Secretary for Stabilization?, Dec 1953-Dec 1954
  • James A. McConnell, Assistant Secretary for Stabilization?, Jan 1955-Dec 1955
  • Don Paarlberg, Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Foreign Agriculture, July 1957-September 1958 (Eisenhower)
  • Clarence Ludlow Miller, Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Foreign Agriculture, February 1959-January 1961
  • Marvin L. McLain, Assistant Secretary for Agricultural Stabilization, per Congressional hearings on PL480 operations August 19, 1958
  • James T. Ralph, for Stabilization, January 1961-December 1962
  • John Duncan, Jr., for Marketing and Foreign Agriculture, January 1961-July 1963, (Kennedy) per 'FAS Letter' Jan-Mar 1961
  • George L. Mehren, for Marketing, August 1963-
  • Roland R. Renne, for Int'l Affairs, March 1963 to March 1964?, (Kennedy) per 'FAS Letter' Jan 1963
  • Dorothy Houston Jacobson, for Int'l Affairs, March 20, 1964-?, (Johnson) per 'FAS Letter' Apr-May 1964 (her papers are housed with the papers of Orville Freeman at the Minnesota Historical Society, see http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00372.xml) She was Freeman's aide and speech writer before becoming assistant secretary.
  • Clarence Palmby, January 1969-June 1972 (Nixon)
  • Carroll G. Brunthaver, June 1972-January 1974 (Nixon)
  • Clayton K. Yeutter, IACP, March 1974-? 1975 (Ford)
  • Richard Bell, IACP, July 1975-January 1977 (Ford)
  • Dale Hathaway, IACP April 1977- (Carter)

(position elevated to Under Secretary status in 1978 by Act of Congress)

  • Seeley Lodwick (Reagan) 1981?-1983?
  • Daniel G. Amstutz (Reagan), 1983-1987
  • Richard T. Crowder (Bush 41) 1989-?
  • Eugene Moos (Clinton) 1993-?

(IACP renamed FFAS in 1994 reorganization, authorized by Act of Congress)

  • August Schumacher, Jr. (Clinton), 1997-2001
  • J.B. Penn, May 2001-March 2007 (Bush 43)
  • Mark Keenum,?2007-January 2009 (Bush 43)
  • James W. Miller, (Obama)

Can anybody help to fill in the blanks? Amustard (talk) 15:56, 12 July 2009 (UTC) Added some updates this weekend 189.216.153.230 (talk) 22:44, 26 July 2009 (UTC) See also some of the appointment dates here: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/sen_agriculture/append5.html 189.216.153.230 (talk) 00:06, 27 July 2009 (UTC)Reply