Bush taps Nebraska governor for Cabinet
Gov. Mike Johanns to head Agriculture Department
 |  Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns, left, speaks after President Bush announces him as nominee for Secretary of Agriculture on Thursday. |
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| MICHAEL OWEN JOHANNS | Party: Republican
Occupation: Governor
Age: 54. Born June 18, 1950, in Osage, Iowa, to John and Adeline Johanns
Residence: Lincoln, Nebraska
Education: Bachelor's degree from St. Mary's; Law degree from Creighton University in 1974.
Professional experience: Clerk for Nebraska Supreme Court Judge; Hale McCown, 1974. Practiced law in O'Neill, 1975-1976. Became partner in the Lincoln law firm Nelson, Johanns, Morris, Holdeman & Titus, in 1977.
Political experience: As a Democrat, elected chairman of Lancaster Board of Commissioners in 1982. Left the board in 1987. Became a Republican in 1988. Elected to Lincoln City Council in 1989 as an at-large member. Elected mayor of Lincoln in 1991, and re-elected in 1995. Elected governor in 1998. Re-elected 2002.
Religion: Roman Catholic
Family: Divorced first wife, Connie, in 1986. Years later, married former state Sen. Stephanie Armitage, who had served with Johanns on the county board. A son and daughter from first marriage, a grandson and a granddaughter.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush on Thursday selected Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns, a Republican attorney who grew up on an Iowa dairy farm, as secretary of Agriculture to oversee the nation's farm and food programs.
Bush said Johanns was "an experienced public servant from America's agricultural heartland" with a long record of being "a faithful friend to America's farmers."
Johanns, 54, would succeed Ann M. Veneman, who recently announced her resignation despite saying earlier that she wanted to stay.
So far, seven of Bush's 15-member Cabinet have announced they won't be part of the second term. More are expected, and administration officials say Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson appears to be next.
Bush announced his intention to nominate the two-term governor in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
The nomination, which requires Senate confirmation, reflects the administration's desire to focus heavily on farm trade over the next four years.
As his wife Stephanie looked on, Johanns thanked Bush for inviting him to serve, saying "I have enormous respect for you."
"I look forward to advancing your rural agenda for the 21st century," Johanns said.
Born in Iowa and raised on a dairy farm, Johanns became a lawyer and served in county and city government before becoming mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1991. He won the governor's office in 1998 and in 2002 became the first Republican to win re-election in more than four decades.
"I'm very proud of my ag background. I do feel that those years on that dairy farm did much to define who I am as a person," Johanns said.
As governor, Johanns led a delegation of Nebraska's farm and business leaders on a trade mission to Japan, Taiwan, China, Singapore and a half dozen other countries.
Bush said that in his second term, he would put a high priority on helping farm families, including keeping taxes low and working to repeal the estate tax.
Bush praised Veneman, saying she had done a good job in dealing with agricultural issues, including fighting hunger, improvements in school nutrition programs, protecting forests and leading efforts "to prevent the spread of mad cow disease" when the nation's first case was reported a year ago.
Venman "earned the trust of farmers and ranchers across America," Bush said.
Veneman, a peach farmer's daughter who became the first woman to the head the Agriculture Department, presided during a period of unprecedented wariness about the safety of the nation's food supply.
Weeks after taking office in 2001, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Europe prompted Veneman to increase inspections and testing to prevent its arrival in the United States. After the September 11 attacks that year, concern grew that terrorists might seek to contaminate the nation's food supply.
In the only confirmed U.S. case of mad-cow disease, a Canadian-born Holstein was found to have been infected in Washington state last December.
Veneman quickly upgraded the country's defenses, banning high-risk meat products and meat from cows that could not stand or walk on their own, testing more cattle and promising to speed a nationwide animal tracking system.
Johanns had been considered a possible challenger to Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson in 2006.
Johanns graduated with a bachelor's degree from St. Mary's College in Winona, Minnesota, in 1971. He earned a law degree from Creighton University in 1974 and was a clerk for Nebraska Supreme Court Judge Hale McCown. He practiced law in the mid-1970s and became a partner in the Lincoln law firm of Nelson, Johanns, Morris, Holdeman & Titus in 1977.
First a Democrat, Johanns was elected to, and served as chairman of, the Lancaster Board of Commissioners in 1982. He left the board in 1987 and became a Republican in 1988. Before becoming mayor of Lincoln, he served on the Lincoln City Council in 1989 as an at-large member.
