Let's make this birthday one to remember.

74 years old (Born on December 13, 1950)

Happy Birthday, Tom Vilsack! From governing Iowa with charm and wit as its 40th Governor, to serving up agricultural wisdom as the 30th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture—not once but twice—you've certainly harvested quite a career. Who else can say they almost ran for president in 2008 and still ended up planting seeds of progress nationwide?

Here's wishing you another year filled with bumper crops of success, bipartisan friendships (we can dream!), and plenty of corn-fed birthday cake. May your day be brighter than an Iowa sunrise—and may your jokes age better than ethanol subsidies!