Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the last of President Obama’s original cabinet members, won’t make promises but he might become the first secretary since the Johnson era to serve eight years. “I’ll say this, I believe it’s important in this particular department for continuity. I think the fact I’ve stayed for seven years has helped the department get its message out about what it does and who it impacts and it’s provided a greater awareness, I think, in this town of the important role that rural America plays generally,” he told reporters. “I can say this, I have no plans today to leave.”
Vilsack became agriculture secretary on Jan. 21, 2009, the first full day of the Obama administration. The record holder is “Tama Jim” Wilson, an Iowan like Vilsack, who served 16 years as agriculture secretary a century ago.