James Wilson (politician, 1835)

James Wilson while serving as minister

James Wilson (born August 16, 1835 in Ayrshire , Scotland , † August 26, 1920 in Traer , Iowa ) was a Scottish- American politician of the Republican Party , who served as Secretary of Agriculture of the United States from 1897 to 1913, longer than anyone other ministers in US history served in cabinet .

Life

Born in Scotland, Wilson grew up on a farm as one of his parents' 14 children. In 1852 the family moved to the United States and settled in Connecticut before moving on to Iowa, where James Wilson's parents eventually built a farm in Traer, a town in Tama County , in 1855 . He attended college in Grinnell , was involved in farming, and was employed as a teacher.

Wilson's political career began in 1866 when he was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives , to which he was a member from 1867 to 1871; from 1870 to 1871 he acted there as the speaker . In 1870 he also took up a chair in agriculture at Iowa State Agricultural College , now Iowa State University , which he held until 1874.

James Wilson while serving as Congressman

From March 4, 1873, Wilson was a representative of the 5th electoral district of Iowa member of the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC There he was nicknamed "Tama Jim" to distinguish him from James F. Wilson , a Senator from Iowa . He first spent two legislative terms in Congress before resigning on March 3, 1877.

From 1878 to 1883, James Wilson served on the Iowa Railroad Commission. He then represented his state until March 3, 1885 for two more years in the House of Representatives, before he retired from politics and from 1890 to 1897 held the post of Dean of Agriculture at Iowa State University .

In March 1897, Wilson finally achieved nationwide fame when US President William McKinley appointed him to his cabinet as Secretary of Agriculture . He kept this office under his successors Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft , before he left the federal government on March 5, 1913 after the election of the Democrat Woodrow Wilson at the age of 77. Wilson's tenure is seen as a period of modernization in the agricultural sector. In the field of food inspections and road construction he made great contributions.

James Wilson returned to Iowa after the end of his tenure, where he died ten days after his 85th birthday on August 26, 1920. To commemorate him dorm was on the campus of Iowa State University , the name Wilson Hall awarded. His farmhouse, Knapp-Wilson House in Ames , was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964 .

Web links

• James Wilson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• James Wilson in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• James Wilson in the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia (English)
• James Wilson at The Political Graveyard