VILSACK
PART ONE
ROB MILLS
PERRYVILLE, MISSOURI
The history of the United States is filled with success stories that amaze. Everyone knows about the humble background that Abraham Lincoln emerged from. The current Vice President, J.D. Vance, became a household name when his book about life growing up in the rural south, “Hillbilly Elegy” became a number one best seller. And there are others.
One that comes to mind is Jack Buck. The legendary voice of the St. Louis Cardinals, who is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, wrote in his autobiography that he nearly refused the Horatio Alger “Rags to Riches” award given to him during his career. His reason: he felt it cast a negative image of his parents who had worked so hard for their family to survive the Depression.
One man who readily admits his life has been a success story no one could have seen coming, is former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Born in a Roman Catholic orphanage in Pittsburgh in 1951, the former Mayor and Governor of Iowa became the longest tenured Democrat, to serve as U.S. Agriculture Secretary.
Recently, MAFG spoke to Vilsack about his life and career. In a phone call from his office in Des Moines, he began by recollecting the lovingly, humorous scenario that led to his adoption. “I was taken care of by the Sisters of the Roselia Home in Pittsburgh for several months after I was born. My parents told me they selected me because I was the plumpest baby of all they looked at. To them, that meant I was healthy.”
Bud & Dolly Vilsack then took their new son home. He was raised Roman Catholic and attended Catholic schools. Things went well, for a while at least. His Dad was a successful insurance salesman and the Vilsack’s lived a good life. The ordeal of growing up began to visit Tom when he was in Middle School. “I changed schools in my 5th Grade year. Those years are formative for a young boy, and it can be tough making new friends,” he said. He speaks warmly of one friendship made in his boyhood, that has lasted seven decades.
But other, much more severe scenarios awaited the Vilsack family. Financial problems emerged, and their lifestyle fell from near affluence to difficulty making ends meet. Dolly Vilsack began to battle addictions and separated from her husband. For two years the Vilsack men were on their own. Mrs. Vilsack eventually won her battle and the family was reconciled. Life went on, never again to be disrupted in that manner.
After graduating from high school, Vilsack attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. He embarked on the road of higher education because of his father’s devotion to his son. “He never gave up through all the troubles we dealt with. When it came to my education, that man sacrificed everything for me.”
After having a successful college experience, Vilsack began his pursuit of a law degree. Sending out nine law school applications, he initially received eight rejections. But the ninth application got the thumbs up. He was accepted by Albany Law School, which is part of Union College, based in the state capital of New York. To this day, Vilsack believes the friendship between the Hamilton College Dean and the Dean of Albany Law School kicked this door open for him. “My law boards didn’t go well at the end of my time at Hamilton. I was very interested in the 1971 World Series, and that distracted me from studying. I nearly blew my opportunity to study law. My dean went to bat for me, and I was admitted,” he remembered.
The news was greeted with joy by the Vilsack family, but a heart-to-heart talk between father and son was a reminder of the financial mountain they would have to climb to make it all work. “He told me ‘I don’t know how were going to afford this, but we’ll figure it out.”
His Dad died the next day.
The providential path that emerged was that through his father’s death, Bud Vilsack’s Veterans and Social Security survivor benefits became available to Tom. That assistance and a Student Loan provided the money for Vilsack to enter law school and pay for the first year.
Two things had to happen for Tom to exit law school successfully. One, pass. Two, pay for it. Vilsack managed the academic part of it, but it took a duo to achieve the financial victory. His wife Christie, whom he’d met at Hamilton College, put her degree to work and taught school. Her salary combined with the other financial resources provided his tuition. In 1975, he graduated from Albany Law School. Their VW’s receive honorable mention; they did a lot of commuting back then.
For many a career in law would be a lifetime achievement. Bud Vilsack didn’t live to see what his efforts had unleashed, but his labor had a historic impact on American agriculture. His son would become a towering figure in that realm of life. At that time, no one had a clue what was up ahead.
(In Part Two of our article, we’ll examine Tom Vilsack’s introduction to the world of agriculture, the unexpected beginning of his political career and how he became Secretary of Agriculture). ∆
ROB MILLS: MAFG Staff