John Rusling Block
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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 position as Illinois Director of Agriculture. 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 also serves on the Board of Directors of Friends of the World Food Program, a non-profit dedicated to supporting the UN World Food Program and its efforts to end global hunger. He currently is a Senior Policy Adviser at Olsson, Frank & Weeda, an FDA and USDA law firm.
[edit] 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
- Friends of the World Food Program United States agency helping raise funds and awareness about global hunger
| Preceded by Robert Bergland |
United States Secretary of Agriculture 1981–1986 |
Succeeded by Richard E. Lyng |
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