Everything about Earl Butz totally explained
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.
Background
Born in
Albion, Indiana, 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
NFL player
Dave Butz.
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. In his time heading the
USDA, Butz revolutionized federal agricultural policy and reengineered many
New Deal era farm support programs. His mantra to farmers was "get big or get out," and he urged farmers to plant commodity crops like corn "from fencerow to fencerow." These policy shifts coincided with the rise of major agribusiness corporations, and the declining financial stability of the small family farm.
He was featured in the documentary
King Corn (film), highlighted as the person who started the rise of corn production, large commercial farms, and the overabundance of corn in American diets.
Scandals and resignation
At the 1974
World Food Conference in Rome, Butz made fun of
Pope Paul VI's opposition to "
population control" by quipping, in a mock Italian accent: "He no playa the game, he no maka the rules."
A spokesman for
Cardinal Cooke of the
New York archdiocese demanded an apology, and the White House Butz issued a statement saying that he hadn't "intended to impugn the motives or the integrity of any religious group, ethnic group or religious leader."
» Butz started by telling a dirty joke involving intercourse between a dog and a skunk. When the conversation turned to politics, Boone, a right-wing Republican, asked Butz why the party of Lincoln wasn't able to attract more blacks. The Secretary responded with a line so obscene and insulting to blacks that it forced him out of the Cabinet last week and jolted the whole Ford campaign. Butz said that "the only thing the coloreds are looking for in life are tight p - - - -, loose shoes and a warm place to s - - -."
» After some indecision, Dean used the line in Rolling Stone, attributing it to an unnamed Cabinet officer. But New Times magazine enterprisingly sleuthed out Butz's identity by checking the itineraries of all Cabinet members.
In any case, according to the
Washington Post, anyone familiar with Beltway politics could "have not the tiniest doubt in your mind as to which cabinet officer" uttered it.
Retirement and death
Butz returned to
West Lafayette, Indiana and was named dean emeritus of
Purdue University's School of Agriculture. On
May 22 1981, Butz pleaded guilty to federal
tax evasion charges, for having underreported income he'd 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.
Butz died in his sleep on February 2, 2008, aged 98 at his son Bill's home in
Washington, D.C.. At his death, Butz was the oldest living former Cabinet member from any administration.
Further Information
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