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Bush names Nebraska governor as new secretary of Agriculture Monday, December 6, 2004
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush on Thursday chose Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns as secretary of agriculture to oversee the nation's farm and food programs, an administration official said.
Johanns, a Republican, would succeed Ann M. Veneman, who recently announced her resignation despite saying earlier that she wanted to stay.
The selection of Johanns reflects the administration's desire to focus heavily on farm trade over the next four years. As governor, Johanns led a delegation of Nebraska's farm and business leaders on a trade mission to Japan, Taiwan, China, Singapore and a half dozen other countries.
So far, seven of Bush's 15-member Cabinet have announced they won't be part of the second term. More are expected, and administration officials say Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson appears to be next.
Born in Iowa and raised on a dairy farm, Johanns, 54, became a lawyer and served in county and city government before becoming mayor of Lincoln, Neb., in 1991. He won the governor's office in 1998 and in 2002 became the first Republican to win re-election in more than four decades.
Johanns had been considered a possible challenger to Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson in 2006.
Johanns graduated with a bachelor's degree from St. Mary's College in Winona, Minn., in 1971. He earned a law degree from Creighton University in 1974 and was a clerk for Nebraska Supreme Court Judge Hale McCown. He practiced law in the mid-1970s and
became a partner in the Lincoln law firm of Nelson, Johanns, Morris, Holdeman & Titus in 1977.
First a Democrat, Johanns was elected to, and served as chairman of, the Lancaster Board of Commissioners in 1982. He left the board in 1987 and became a Republican in 1988. Before becoming mayor of Lincoln, he served on the Lincoln City Council in 1989 as an at-large member.
Veneman, a peach farmer's daughter who became the first woman to the head the Agriculture Department, presided during a period of unprecedented wariness about the safety of the nation's food supply. Weeks after taking office in 2001, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Europe prompted Veneman to increase inspections and testing to prevent its arrival in the United States. After the Sept. 11 attacks that year, concern grew that terrorists might seek to contaminate the nation's food supply.
Then came the discovery last year of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States. Veneman quickly upgraded the country's defenses, banning high-risk meat products and meat from cows that could not stand or walk on their own, testing more cattle and promising to speed a nationwide animal tracking system. Farm interests for the most part praised Veneman's response, while consumer advocacy groups said Veneman and her agency had not done enough.
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