View source for John R. Block

{{Short description|American politician (born 1935)}}

{{More footnotes needed|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image        = John Block.jpg
| imagesize    = 
| caption      = 
| order        = 21st
| title        = [[United States Secretary of Agriculture]]
| term_start   = January 23, 1981
| term_end     = February 14, 1986
| president    = [[Ronald Reagan]]
| predecessor  = [[Robert Bergland]]
| successor    = [[Richard Edmund Lyng|Richard E. Lyng]]
| office2      = [[Illinois Department of Agriculture|Illinois Director of Agriculture]]
| term_start2  = February 3, 1977
| term_end2    = January 22, 1981
| governor2    = [[James R. Thompson]]
| preceded2    = Pud Williams
| succeeded2   = Larry Werries
| birth_date   = {{birth date and age|1935|2|15}}
| birth_place  = [[Galesburg, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_date   = 
| death_place  = 
| party        = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse       = Susan Rathje "Sue" Block
| children     = Hans Block<br/>Cynthia Block<br/>Christine Block
| alma_mater   = [[U.S. Military Academy]]
| profession   = 
| signature    = 
|branch=[[United States Army]]
|serviceyears=
|battles=
|unit=[[101st Airborne Division|101st Airborne]]
}}

'''John Rusling Block''' (born February 15, 1935) is a former [[U.S. secretary of agriculture]], during the Reagan administration. He later became a lobbyist.

== Early life ==
Block was born in [[Galesburg, Illinois]], on February 15, 1935. Of German descent, Block was the son of Julius Judd Block and Madeline (née Maddy) Block. He came from a strongly rural background where the home had no electricity. He graduated from [[United States Military Academy|West Point]] in 1957 and served in [[101st Airborne Division|101st Airborne]]. After that, he became successful in [[agribusiness]].

== Government services ==
Block was a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] whose agriculture successes formed the basis for his position as the Illinois Director of Agriculture. This led to him becoming the [[secretary of agriculture]] in President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s administration. He was involved in the [[Food Security Act of 1985|1985 Farm Bill Act]].

Block was a Secretary of Agriculture, when more farmers lost their farms than at any time since the Great Depression of the 1930s.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}  During his term as Secretary, a Federal court judge ruled in a [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|due process]] decision, ''Coleman vs. Block'', 663 FSupp 1315, 1332 (D.N.D. 1987), that the [[U.S. Department of Agriculture]] ("USDA") and [[Farmers Home Administration]] ("FmHA") were not giving farmers enough notice of alternative [[debt restructuring]] options. The Court ordered the USDA and FmHA to amend the forms issued to farmers. The decision eventually led to restructuring and reorganization of many farm debts.  During the U.S. government's appeal of the decision, Congress passed the [[Agricultural Credit Act of 1987]], Pub. L. No. 100-233, 101 Stat. 1568 (1988). Title VI of the Act made extensive changes in the statutory provisions which had formed the background for the ''Coleman'' litigation, the changes being designed to carry out the intent of the ''Coleman'' decisions.

In June 1981, Secretary Block invited agricultural and educational leaders willing to work cooperatively toward the common goal of educating the public about the role of agriculture to a workshop in Washington, DC. The resulting task force recommended that the U.S. Department of Agriculture help coordinate local and state [http://www.agclassroom.org/get/about.cfm Agriculture in the Classroom] efforts. The [http://www.agclassroom.org/get/doc/25th_book.pdf Declaration of Principle] was announced by Secretary of Agriculture John Block with a fanfare on Ag Day, March 21, 1983. The Declaration of Principle spelled out the purpose of the Agriculture in the Classroom program and featured the signatures of all seven living former Secretaries of Agriculture. There are now [http://www.agclassroom.org/index.cfm Agriculture in the Classroom] programs in every state and many U.S. Territories. Canada, with assistance from USDA, developed an [http://www.aitc-canada.ca/en/ Agriculture in the Classroom] program in every Province as well as a national organization. Countries around the world are interested in Agriculture in the Classroom because they have experienced the same needs in agricultural education.

== Post-government career ==
[[File:20181214-OSEC-LSC-0012 (46318437331).jpg|thumb|right|Block in 2018]]
Since then he has been an executive at [[John Deere]] and is President of Food Distributors International. In 1992, he won the [[Horatio Alger]] Award. He has been the active in global food programs as well.

In 2004, he joined the Board of Directors of "Digital Angel", which is more of an Internet company. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Friends of the World Food Program (currently known as World Food Program USA), a non-profit dedicated to supporting the UN World Food Program and its efforts to end global hunger. He is a Senior Policy Adviser at [[Olsson Frank Weeda|Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz]], a Washington law and lobbying firm that specializes in representing interests before the USDA and related federal agencies. Since 2008, he has served on the Board of Directors for Aemetis.

==Private life==
He married Suzanne Rathje "Sue" Block, a cousin of famed Chicago banker [[Frank C. Rathje]]. He and Suzanne had one son and two daughters: Hans, Cynthia and Christine. He was a very large farmer outside of Knoxville, Illinois and his children attended public school in Knoxville, Illinois. He has a daughter, Savannah, with his second wife and they live in Dunn Loring, Virginia.

==External links==
*[https://millercenter.org/president/reagan/essays/block-1981-secretary-of-agriculture John Block profile from a site on Presidents]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060908073351/http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/1977/ii771019.html Essays on John Block from 1977]
*[http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/10786b.htm Block's Resignation letter to Reagan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910115623/http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/10786b.htm |date=2015-09-10 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630174418/http://horatioalger.org/members/member_info.cfm?memberid=blo92 Horatio Alger Award site]
*[http://www.johnblockreports.com John Block Reports] Archived radio commentary from John Block's weekly radio spot about agriculture and government
*{{C-SPAN|7388}}
{{S-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{U.S. Cabinet official box
|before= [[Robert Bergland]]
|after= [[Richard Edmund Lyng|Richard E. Lyng]]
|years= January 23, 1981 – February 14, 1986
|president= [[Ronald Reagan]]
|department= Secretary of Agriculture}}
|-
{{s-prec|usa}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ray Marshall]]|as=Former US Cabinet Member}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States order of precedence|Order of precedence of the United States]]<br>''{{small|as Former US Cabinet Member}}''|years=}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Donald P. Hodel]]|as=Former US Cabinet Member}}
{{S-end}}
{{USSecAg}}
{{John Deere}}
{{Reagan cabinet}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Block, John R.}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Illinois]]
[[Category:American food industry businesspeople]]
[[Category:Secretaries of agriculture of the United States]]
[[Category:Reagan administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Illinois]]
[[Category:20th-century United States government officials]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:People from Galesburg, Illinois]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:John Deere]]