Ronald Reagan: Nomination of John R. Block To Be Secretary of Agriculture

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Nomination of John R. Block To Be Secretary of Agriculture
January 20, 1981

Ronald Reagan
1981

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The President today nominated John R. Block, of Springfield, Ill., to be Secretary of Agriculture.

Mr. Block is Illinois Director of Agriculture and owns and operates his family farm near Galesburg, Ill.

Mr. Block was born on February 15, 1935. In 1957 he was graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Since 1960, when he completed U.S. Army service as an infantry officer, he has guided the growth of Block Farms.

In September 1980 he led a 3-week people-to-people fact-finding mission to the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, Austria, and Switzerland. In 1978 and 1979 he served as a member of agricultural export teams traveling to China and Japan, and in 1977 represented Illinois at the Anuga Food Show in West Germany.

Mr. Block represents Illinois Governor James Thompson on the agricultural committee of the National Governors Association as well as the association's agricultural export task force. He has received numerous awards, including the Governor's Outstanding Achievement Award, the Cooperative Extension Service's Meritorious Service Award for outstanding contributions to Illinois agriculture, and the U.S. Jaycees Outstanding Young Farmer Award. He has served as president of the Mid-America International Agri-Trade Council and as chairman of a 11-State farm summit involving leaders of all major farm organizations. He is a trustee of the Farm Foundation and a former board member of the Illinois Farm Bureau.

Mr. Block and his wife, Sue, have a son and two daughters.

Citation: John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA. Available from World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=44267.

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