Dick Lyng died earlier this week. And most readers will ask who he was. He was not well known outside of agriculture, and his name was not even a household word in most farm houses while he was Secretary of Agriculture during most of the second term of President Ronald Reagan.

Lyng followed John Block, who was one of the more prominent Secretaries in recent decades, even though his Knox County heritage gave him quite a bit of notoriety here in Illinois. Following the outspoken Block as head of the USDA was a difficult task for anyone, but Lyng.

Many Secretaries of Agriculture have been very vocal advocates for rural America, such as Henry Wallace, Ezra Taft Benson, Earl Butz, and Block. They not only cut a wide swath in their policies, practices, and travels, but also became known in many US homes because of headlines they generated.

Lyng let the USDA itself grab the headlines, while he stayed in the "cage," which is the wood and glass enclosure surrounding the office of the Secretary. In fact, his favorite part of the office was a windowless enclosure containing a stand up writing desk and little else. Lyng administered a $30 billion dollar agency with 110,000 employees preferring to stand, rather than lean back in a luxurious executive chair favored by most other powerful folks within the Washington Beltway. Upon asking about the rather unusual arrangement during a visit to the "cage," I was told that was how Lyng was accustomed to working in private life, and when you become Secretary, you do have the choice of standing or sitting while you work.

Lyng was Block's understudy for five years at USDA, and had served a prior stint as an assistant Secretary during the first term of Richard Nixon. A Californian by birth, and CEO of his family's seed and bean processing company, Dick Lyng went to Washington with a host of other Californians during the Nixon and Reagan presidencies.

Current Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, a Californian herself, eulogized Dick Lyng, saying, "Secretary Lyng was a visionary leader in agriculture who worked passionately on behalf of this nation's farmers and ranchers. He was a friend, a mentor and person of great integrity whose insight, candor and wisdom will be sorely missed."

The resignation of John Block in 1986, following completion of the 1985 Farm Bill, allowed President Reagan to nominate Lyng as Secretary, knowing he was quite prepared to assume the post. Lyng was very much the consummate executive. But unlike his predecessors, he was quiet, and preferred to remain out of the limelight. He was respected for his leadership within the Department, and assembled a staff that continued to move US agriculture in the direction of market orientation pursuant to the 1985 Farm Bill.

Upon his departure from the USDA at the end of the Reagan administration, Lyng was ready to retire, and did so as quietly as he led the USDA. Many of his counterparts made headlines after their departure. Dan Glickman is a lobbyist in a Washington law firm. Block is a lobbyist with a grocery trade association. Both Butz and Mike Espy had lengthy legal troubles. Clayton Yeutter is a highly paid and vocal Washington consultant. Ed Madigan, an Illinois Congressman before his stint as Secretary, died of cancer after leaving office.

And so, Godspeed, Dick Lyng. Thanks for being a Secretary who stood up for agriculture, coast to coast, and even at your own desk.