Get to Know Tennessee 6th District Congressman John Rose

Backroads and Backstories with Paul Bailey

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Congressman John Rose grew up in Cookeville. His dad worked for Farm Credit so he spent a lot of his time out on the farm.
• John developed a passion for agriculture and farming. That is when his goal in life became to take over the family farm.
• John is the eighth generation of his family to farm on the same farm ground in Smith County and DeKalb County, and his son, Guy, would be the ninth generation.
• Later, John got a BS degree in Agribusiness Economics at Tennessee Tech. He continued his education by attending Vanderbilt Law School.
• A fellow law student and John started a business in 1992 that aimed at training information technology professionals.
• He ended up selling his business in November of 2000 and John came home to be a farmer. Later, he became Commissioner of Agriculture.
• His position as the Commissioner of Agriculture helped him learn more about the government and informed his views and perspectives.
• The episode was recording on the 19th anniversary of September 11. Paul Bailey and John Rose recall where they were on Sept. 11, 2001.
• John says that the threat of terrorism still exists today. He believes America needs to constantly put up a strong defense.
• An effective congressman needs to be present and show up for the counties they present.
• John’s constituents ask him about the federal response to the coronavirus the most out of any other topic.
• “We cannot stop the spread of coronavirus until we have a vaccine, an effective vaccine.” - Congressman John Rose
• “On the case of President Trump, we have a person who is unapologetically pro-American: believes in this country, believes in the American ideal, and wants to see that grow and continue in advance, and wants to see that passed onto future generations of Americans.” -Congressman John Rose
• “I represent you all, so even if you feel differently about issues of the day, don't hesitate to reach out and let me know. And it's not hard to find us: you can go to johnrose.house.gov, and it has all of our contact information.” -Congressman John Rose

Transcript

Announcer: For the politics of Nashville, to the history of the Upper Cumberland, this is the Backroads and Backstories podcast, with Senator Paul Bailey.

Senator Bailey: Welcome back to the podcast. I'm your host, Senator Paul Bailey. Joining us in today's episode is Tennessee 6th District Congressman John Rose. Welcome, Congressman. Glad to have you with us today.

Congressman Rose: Thank you, Senator Bailey. It's my privilege to be here.

Senator Bailey: Well, as we get started, I'd like for you to tell us just a little bit about yourself and what it was like growing up here in the Upper Cumberland.

Congressman Rose: Sure. So, I was born here in Cookeville, in 1965; Cookeville Hospital over here, the youngest of four in my family. My dad worked for the Farm Credit System, then Production Credit Association and my family moved here the year before in 1964 from our family farm, which is on the DeKalb-Smith county line, down around the Lancaster, Temperance Hall area. And so my dad worked for Farm Credit—so growing up, I grew up in Cookeville but he continued to farm, and so that meant afternoons and weekends and summers we spent a lot of time on the farm. So, I kind of got a little bit of small-town life and a little bit of farm life as a kid growing up.

And really the farm part really sunk in for me, and I developed a real interest in passion in agriculture and farming, and then later in elementary school and high school, was in 4-H, and then FFA, and developed projects on the farm. And that became my goal in life was to move to the family farm and take over the farm at some point, hopefully. I am the youngest of four, so that was never a certain thing. But it was a great life growing up, and I grew up in a good time, I feel like, and made a lot of impressions on me about rural life in this area. And so it was always my goal, then, to live right here in the Upper Cumberland and hopefully continue the legacy on our family farm.

Senator Bailey: Well, you and I are similar in age, and I have an 18-year-old son as well as two older children, and although we live on a small farm, I still don't think that he's had the full experience of being on the farm like I had. During my time of growing up, obviously, we milked cows, I had bottle calves that I had to take care of, chickens that I had to take care of. And my children didn't necessarily have all of those chores that they had to do on a daily basis. So, I think that our children today are missing out on just a little bit of what you and I went through back then.

Congressman Rose: A lot of them are, sadly, and I've told Chelsea if we don’t—our son Guy, he'll be three here in about three weeks, and I've told her—we moved to Cookeville three years ago, and I said we've got to get back because if he doesn't grow up with that is an everyday part of his life, he won't have the same passion and interest in it. And I'm the eighth generation of our family to farm there on the same farm ground in Smith County and DeKalb County, and Guy would be the ninth generation. I’m certainly hopeful that he will decide—there's no pressure. A 230-year legacy, now. But I hope that he decides to continue it.

Senator Bailey: I totally understand and there's one thing—of course, you're in Washington and spend a lot of time there in Congress. I’m State Senator, and so usually in Nashville on a full-time basis, January through April. One thing that I really enjoy, especially in the spring, is getting on my tractor and mowing hay, and feeding the cattle, and so forth. So, I know that is therapy for me. I usually call it tractor therapy. So, I'm sure you understand that.

Congressman Rose: Absolutely. Being able to complete what I would call ‘real work’ on a farm, there's a therapeutic nature to it to be sure, and a sense of accomplishment that it's hard to get doing the things that we do as legislators.

Senator Bailey: So, then you attended Tennessee Tech?

Congressman Rose: That's right. After I graduated from Cookeville High School in 1983, I worked on a bachelor's degree and ultimately got a BS degree in Agribusiness Economics at Tennessee Tech, and had a great experience there. Great school, great professors, just a wonderful experience. And then went on to graduate school at Purdue in Indiana, and studied Agricultural Economics there. I realized while I was there, that really had not been, necessarily, the best preparation to help me achieve my life goal, which was to come back and take over the family farm.

So while I was there, I was kind of thinking, what could I do that would allow me to choose where I lived to live in the rural Upper Cumberland and make enough money to buy my siblings out of the farm? And so I decided law school was the answer, that I could become a country lawyer. And so that took me to law school in 1990 and graduated in ’93 from Vanderbilt Law School, and then—not through the plan that I had, but through another plan, and it's strange how God lays out our path for us—but I ultimately got to achieve that goal, and I moved back to Middle Tennessee and into our family farm in 1994. A...