Bottom Line: Earl Butz, who died this weekend at age 98, is best remembered for his offensive racial remarks that forced him to resign his position as Secretary of Agriculture in 1976. Few people realize that his remarks were considered off-the-record, but some media folks felt they were so vile that they should be put on-the-record.
It is another reminder that the only way you can guarantee remarks are not used by the media is to never say them in the first place. 02-04-2008
Earl Butz, former secretary of agriculture, dies at 98
Earl L. Butz, who orchestrated a major change in federal farm policy as secretary of agriculture in the 1970s but came to be remembered more for a vulgar racial comment that brought about his resignation during the 1976 presidential election race, died Saturday in Kensington, Md. Butz, who lived in West Lafayette, Ind., was 98.
Butz's son Bill, whom he had been visiting, said his father died in his sleep. Serving under President Richard M. Nixon and his successor, Gerald R. Ford, Butz was a forceful, sharp-tongued figure who promoted legislation sharply reducing federal subsidies for farmers.
On a plane trip after the Republican National Convention that August, accompanied by, among others, the entertainer Pat Boone and John W. Dean III, the former White House counsel, Butz made a remark in which he described blacks as "coloreds" who wanted only three things -- satisfying sex, loose shoes and a warm bathroom -- desires that Butz listed in obscene and scatological terms (see below).
Prominent figures from both parties called on Butz to quit, and Ford gave him a "severe reprimand" for "highly offensive" remarks. Butz resigned within days, saying that "the use of a bad racial commentary in no way reflects my real attitude." |
