Earl Lauer Butz was an American government official who served as the Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He was a staunch advocate for large-scale, industrial agriculture and is famously associated with the phrase "get big or get out." His policies fundamentally reshaped American farming, favoring corporate agribusiness and global exports over smaller family farms. Butz's political career ended abruptly in 1976 when he resigned in disgrace after making a widely condemned racist and obscene joke.