Earl Butz
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Earl Lauer Butz (born July 3, 1909) is a former United States government official who served as Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
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[edit] Background
Born in Albion, Indiana, Butz is an alumnus of Purdue University where he was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture in 1932, and then a doctorate in Agricultural Economics in 1937. He is the uncle of former NFL player Dave Butz.
[edit] Career
In 1948, Butz became vice president of the American Agricultural Economics Association, and three years later was named to the same post at the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. In 1954, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of Agriculture by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. That same year he was also named chairman of the United States delegation to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He left both of the aforementioned posts in 1957, when he became the Dean of Agriculture at his alma mater, Purdue University. In 1968 he was promoted to the positions of Dean of Education and vice president of the university's research foundation. In 1971, President Richard Nixon appointed Butz as Secretary of Agriculture, a position in which he continued to serve after Nixon resigned as the result of the Watergate scandal in 1974.
[edit] Scandal
Butz allegedly made a racist joke while on board Air Force One during Ford's 1976 re-election campaign. While some newspapers published the joke, others stated only that Butz had said something too obscene to print, and invited their readers to contact the editors if they wanted more information. The San Diego Evening Tribune offered to mail a copy of the whole quotation to anyone who requested it; more than 3,000 readers did so request, and received their copies.
Negative publicity from the statement forced Butz to resign from his Cabinet post on October 4, 1976.
[edit] Retirement
On May 22, 1981, Butz pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges, for having underreported income he had earned in 1978. On June 19 he was sentenced to five years in prison; however, all but 30 days of the term were suspended. He was also fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $61,183 in civil penalties.
As of 2007, Butz is the oldest living former Cabinet member, regardless of department or administration served in.
| Preceded by Clifford M. Hardin |
United States Secretary of Agriculture 1971–1976 |
Succeeded by John A. Knebel |
| 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 |
