Earl Butz
| Earl L. Butz | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 18th United States Secretary of Agriculture | |
|
In office December 2, 1971 – October 4, 1976 |
|
| President |
Richard M. Nixon Gerald R. Ford |
| Preceded by | Clifford M. Hardin |
| Succeeded by | John A. Knebel |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Earl Lauer Butz July 3, 1909 Albion, Indiana, United States |
| Died | February 2, 2008 (aged 98) Kensington, Maryland, United States |
| Resting place | Tippecanoe Memory Gardens, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Emma Powell Butz (m. 1937 - 1995, her death) |
| Relations | Verlo R. Butz Dale E. Butz Ruth E. Butz Buffenbarger Marie M. Butz Howard |
| Children | William Powell Butz Thomas Earl Butz |
| Parents | Herman Lee Butz (farmer) Ada Tillie Lower Butz |
| Alma mater | Purdue University |
| Religion | Lutheran |
Earl Lauer Butz (July 3, 1909 – February 2, 2008) was a United States government official who served as Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. His policies favored large-scale corporate farming and an end to New Deal programs, but he is best remembered for a series of verbal gaffes that eventually cost him his job.
Butz was born in Albion, Indiana, and brought up on a dairy farm in Noble County, Indiana. He was the eldest of five children and worked on his parents' 160-acre (65 ha) farm while growing up. He attended a one-room country school through 8th grade and graduated from high school in a class of seven.
Butz was 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 was the uncle of American football player Dave Butz.
Butz met the former Mary Emma Powell (1911–1995) from North Carolina in 1930, at the National 4-H Camp in Washington, D.C. They were married on December 22, 1937. They had two sons, William Powell and Thomas Earl Butz.
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.
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