Wilson Memorial Arch

For James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture from 1897 to 1915.

Wilson rose to national prominence in early 1897 when newly-elected President William McKinley nominated him as his Secretary for Agriculture. During sixteen consecutive years of Republican administrations, Presidents McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft retained him in that position. It was not until March 1913, following the election of a Democratic president (Woodrow Wilson) that Wilson left that office. In all, Wilson served as Secretary of Agriculture from March 6, 1897 to March 5, 1913 — the longest duration served by any American cabinet official.

His tenure as Secretary of Agriculture is known as a period of modernization of agricultural methods. He also organized greater food inspection methods, as well as great improvement of many roads across the country.

Wilson has been commemorated in Washington, D.C. by a bridge linking the U.S. Department of Agriculture Administration Building to the U.S. Department of Agriculture South Building across Independence Avenue.

Photo 90, Nov 2011