John Rusling Block
John Rusling Block (born February 15, 1935 in Galesburg, Illinois) was an American politician. He came from a strongly rural background where the home had no electricity. He graduated from West Point in 1957 and served in 101st Airborne. After that he ran a successful agribusiness. He is a staunch Republican whose agriculture successes formed the basis for his positions with the governor. This led to him becoming the Secretary of Agriculture under Ronald Reagan from 1981-1986. This led to his involvement in the 1985 Farm Bill.
Since then he has been an executive at John Deere and is President of Food Distributors International. In 1992 he won the Horatio Alger Award. He has been active in global food programs as well. In 2004 he joined the Board of Directors of "Digital Angel" which is more of an Internet company. He currently is a Senior Policy Adviser at Olsson, Frank & Weeda, an FDA and USDA law firm.
External links
- John Block profile from a site on Presidents
- Essays on John Block from 1977
- Block's Resignation letter to Reagan
- Horatio Alger Award site
- Essay by him
| Preceded by Robert Bergland |
United States
Secretary of Agriculture 1981–1986 |
Succeeded by Richard E. Lyng |
| United States Secretaries of Agriculture | |
|---|---|
| Colman • Rusk • Morton • Wilson • Houston • Meredith • HC Wallace • Gore • Jardine • Hyde • HA Wallace • Wickard • Anderson • Brannan • Benson • Freeman • Hardin • Butz• Knebel • Bergland • Block • Lyng • Yeutter • Madigan • Espy • Glickman • Veneman • Johanns |  |
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