Posted on 02/22/2003 10:54:36 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Orville Freeman, a former Minnesota governor and longtime ally of former Vice President Hubert Humphrey who served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1961 to 1969, died Thursday in Minneapolis. He was 84 and had Alzheimer's disease.
As agriculture secretary, he took office in a time of huge grain surpluses and complaints from small farmers. A friend remarked that the governor took the post with some reluctance and that his only experience in agriculture was mowing his lawn.
Mr. Freeman saw part of the solution to agricultural surpluses in more aggressive international marketing and in aid to the less fortunate, both at home and abroad. He expanded the staff of the Foreign Agriculture Service and, with Food For Peace Director George McGovern (the future senator and presidential nominee) sent mountains of food to fight famines.
(Excerpt) Read more at bayarea.com ...
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