Ann Christine Bell Vilsack (born July 9, 1950) is an American

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

. Vilsack is married to former Iowa Governor and

United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organ ...

Tom Vilsack. She served as the

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non- monarchical head of state or chief executive. The term is also used to describe a woman seen to be at the ...

of Iowa from 1999 until 2007. She was an unsuccessful 2012 Democratic nominee for U.S. Representative for

Iowa's 4th congressional district Iowa's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its northwestern part, bordering the states of Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, and the Missouri River. The district includes Sioux ...

Early life, marriage, and family

Vilsack was born Ann Christine Bell in

Mount Pleasant, Iowa Mount Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Iowa. The population was 9,274 in the 2020 census, an increase from 8,668 in the 2010 census. It was founded in 1835 by pioneer Presley Saunders. History The first permanent s ...

, where she was raised. Vilsack graduated from

Kirkland College Kirkland College was a small, private liberal arts women's college located in Clinton, New York, from 1968 to 1978. It was named for Samuel Kirkland, who founded Hamilton College. Hamilton absorbed Kirkland on June 30, 1978, and now maintains ...

in Clinton, New York, in 1972. She met her future husband, Tom Vilsack, while attending college. He reportedly approached her in the cafeteria and asked, "Are you a Humphrey or a Nixon supporter?" The couple married on August 18, 1973, in Mount Pleasant. They have two children.

Teaching career

The Vilsacks moved to Mount Pleasant in 1975. She began her career there as a

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

and a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. For eighteen years she taught at the

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

level, and also at the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

level, leading classes in language arts and journalism. For another six years, she taught English and journalism at

Iowa Wesleyan College Iowa Wesleyan University is a private university in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It is Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The institution is affiliated with the United Met ...

. She worked as a reporter and columnist for the ''Mount Pleasant News''. She earned a master's degree in journalism from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 co ...

in 1992. In April 2013, she joined the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as the Senior Advisor for International Education.

First Lady of Iowa

Christie Vilsack became First Lady of Iowa when her husband, Tom Vilsack was sworn in as governor in 1999. As First Lady, she focused on education and literacy issues. As founder and president of the Vilsack Foundation, she partnered with the

National Center for Family Literacy The National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) (formerly the National Center for Family Literacy) is an organization founded to create educational and economic opportunity for the most at-risk children and parents in the United States. Histo ...

to promote media literacy with parents and their children. In 2007, Christie Vilsack founded The Iowa Initiative, a privately funded foundation which aims to reduce the rate of

unintended pregnancies Unintended pregnancies are pregnancies that are mistimed, unplanned or unwanted at the time of conception. Sexual activity without the use of effective contraception through choice or coercion is the predominant cause of unintended pregnancy. Wo ...

among Iowa women ages 18 to 30. She served as executive director of the Initiative until February 2011, when she resigned to focus on exploring opportunities for seeking elected office. She now serves as chair of the Board of Directors.

Political career

Vilsack announcement in Ames 035 (5954171369) (cropped)

In October 2009, Vilsack told

WHO-DT WHO-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Grand Avenue in downtown Des Moines, and its transmitter is located i ...

she was considering a possible run against Republican Senator

Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the senior United States senator from Iowa, having held the seat since 1981. In 2022, h ...

in the 2010 U.S. Senate election in Iowa. A

Research 2000 Research 2000 was a U.S. opinion polling and marketing research company based in Olney, Maryland. It began doing research on upcoming elections in 1999 after its President, Del Ali, moved on from Mason-Dixon Political Media Research. Research ...

poll for the website

Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party and liberal American politics. The site includes glossaries and other content. It is sometimes considered an example of " netroots" activism. Daily Kos was ...

, conducted just days after the interview, showed that Grassley led Vilsack 51-40 in a hypothetical matchup, placing her in a statistical tie with the declared Democratic party candidates

Roxanne Conlin Roxanne Barton Conlin (born June 30, 1944) is an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa from 1977 to 1981. A Democrat, she was a candidate for Governor of Iowa in 1982 and for United States Senate ...

and Bob Krause. She ultimately decided not to run. In April 2011, Vilsack formed an exploratory committee to prepare for a potential campaign for Congress in Iowa's 4th District. She made her official announcement to run on July 19. On November 6, 2012 she was defeated by five-term Republican incumbent Steve King 53%-45%. She considered running against King again in 2014 but took a job with the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...

as the Senior Advisor on International Education instead.

References

External links

2012 Campaign contributions for Race: Iowa District 04
openSecrets.org; accessed May 14, 2017. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilsack, Christie 1950 births Schoolteachers from Iowa American women educators Candidates in the 2012 United States elections 21st-century American politicians First Ladies and Gentlemen of Iowa Iowa Democrats Literacy advocates Living people People from Mount Pleasant, Iowa Women in Iowa politics 21st-century American women politicians Iowa Women's Hall of Fame Inductees