Tom Vilsack

Tom Vilsack was born December 13, 1950, and elected Iowa's 39th Governor in 1998.

The Vilsack Administration tripled the number of Iowa children covered by health insurance, whose working parents previously could not afford it. And, with Senator Tom Harkin, he worked to establish a statewide drug-purchasing co-op, to help reduce the high cost of prescription drugs for seniors.

Vilsack also worked with Senator Harkin to secure $1 million in federal funds for a 17-county task force that focuses on eliminating methamphetamine production. His budget also provided $50 million for a new state crime lab.

A former mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa (pop. 8,751), Tom Vilsack was elected to the Iowa State Senate in 1992. As a Senator, Vilsack fought to require companies receiving state tax incentives to provide better pay and benefits, passed a law allowing workers to keep their health coverage when changing jobs, and helped redesign the state's Workforce Development Department. He also wrote the largest property tax relief bill in Iowa history, forcing the state to pick up 50 percent of county mental health costs.

Vilsack attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where he met Christie Bell of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. They married while Tom attended Albany Law School and returned to Mt. Pleasant after he graduated in 1975. Along with running a small law practice, Tom served as the president of the Mt. Pleasant Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce and United Way Board before he was elected mayor in 1987.