Claude Raymond Wickard served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1940 to 1945. Wickard was born on his family farm in Carroll County

Carroll County, Indiana

Carroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 20,155. The county seat is Delphi.Carroll County is part of the Lafayette, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

, near Camden

Camden, Indiana

Camden is a town in Jackson Township, Carroll County, Indiana, United States. The population was 611 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

. He graduated from Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

 in 1915, with a bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in agriculture, and was chosen as "Master Farmer of Indiana" in 1927 for his improvements in stock feeding and farming. Elected to the Indiana Senate

Indiana Senate

The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year terms without term limits...

 in 1932, he was appointed as Undersecretary of Agriculture. When Henry A. Wallace

Henry A. Wallace

Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...

 resigned as Secretary of Agriculture in 1940 to run for Vice-President of the United States, Wickard succeeded to the post. During World War II, Wickard headed the War Foods Administration, promoting increased farm production as a matter of patriotism. His slogan was "Food Will Win the War and Write the Peace".

Wickard resigned in 1945 to become chief of the Rural Electrification Administration, until 1953. He ran, unsuccessfully, as the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1956, losing to incumbent Homer E. Capehart

Homer E. Capehart

Homer Earl Capehart , American business innovator and politician, was born in Algiers, Indiana, in Pike County. During the First World War, he served as a Sergeant in the United States Army Supply Corps, but was never sent overseas.-Business career:Capehart attained fame as the father of the...

. Wickard was killed in an automobile accident on April 29, 1967, at the age of 74. Reportedly, he ran a stop sign at the intersection of State Highway 18

Indiana State Road 18

State Road 18 in the U.S. State of Indiana is an east–west route in North Central Indiana running from the Illinois border in Benton County almost to the Ohio border, terminating at U.S. Route 27 /State Road 67 in Jay County...

 and U.S. Highway 421 near Delphi, Indiana

Delphi, Indiana

Delphi is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, Indiana, United States. Located twenty minutes northeast of Lafayette, it is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, and his vehicle was hit by a crushed-stone truck. He was buried at the Maple Lawn Cemetery in Flora, Indiana

Flora, Indiana

Flora is a town in Monroe Township, Carroll County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,036 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Flora is located at ....

.