Ed Schafer

Gold Seal was a North Dakota-based manufacturing company founded by his father, Harold Schafer, in 1942.

Gold Seal was the distributor of "Mr. Bubble" bubble bath, "Glass Wax" glass cleaner and "Snowy Bleach".

Edward Thomas Schafer (born August 8, 1946) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 30th governor of North Dakota from 1992 to 2000 and as the 29th United States secretary of agriculture from 2008 to 2009 under President George W. Bush.

Schafer attended the University of North Dakota, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1969.

There he became a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.

He earned an M.B.A. degree from the University of Denver in 1970.

Schafer is married to the former Nancy Jones.

They have two children: Thomas "Tom" Schafer and Ellie Schafer.

Schafer has two stepchildren: Eric Jones and Kari (Jones) Hammer.

His sister, Pam Schafer, was the first wife of former Democratic-NPL U.S. Senator Kent Conrad.

Schafer took a full-time job after graduation with his family's firm, the Gold Seal Company.

Ed Schafer rose through the ranks at Gold Seal, working in several divisions of the company until serving as company president from 1978 to 1985.

At its height Gold Seal generated more than $50 million in annual revenues, making it one of North Dakota's largest privately held firms.

Schafer has long had an interest in building machinery and equipment from used, scrap materials.

He was selected as a contestant on the Discovery Channel's engineering game show Junkyard Wars. His team worked to build a machine from junked components.

In 1990, Schafer unsuccessfully challenged then-U.S. Congressman Byron Dorgan as Dorgan ran for reelection.

Schafer captured 35% of the vote to Dorgan's 65%.

These efforts assisted in the development of China into a primary export market for North Dakota's products and services in the 1990s.

As governor during the rise of the global internet and its introduction to broader society, Schafer realized the need for internet access across North Dakota.

He worked with both government and business leaders, implementing various efforts "to upgrade North Dakota's communications infrastructure and make high-speed voice and data networks available to farmers, ranchers and rural businesses", and to individual households.

Schafer was elected twice as the 30th governor of North Dakota, holding office from 1992 to 2000.

He is a Republican and a self-styled conservative.

He entered the 1992 North Dakota gubernatorial campaign as the Republican nominee.

He and Republican lieutenant governor nominee Rosemarie Myrdal defeated the Democratic nominee for governor, former North Dakota Attorney General Nicholas Spaeth, and the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, Julie Hill.

Schafer and Myrdal captured nearly 58% of the vote, to 41% for Spaeth and Hill.

When Schafer became governor, North Dakota was facing major budgetary and financial hurdles.

This continued, on and off, throughout his two terms.

"As governor, Schafer had to deal with budget crunches during his eight years as state budget maker in the Capitol," according to the Bismarck Tribune.

While governor, Schafer oversaw annual state budgets that exceeded $4.5 billion and a state employee workforce of more than 12,000.

Schafer prioritized the expansion and diversification of North Dakota's economy.

For example, he worked with the private sector to expand the production and distribution of value-added agricultural products such as corn sweeteners and pasta.

During his time in office, he helped to build a closer trading relationship with China in concert with other North Dakota government officials, federal government trade specialists and private sector business leaders.

In 1995 Schafer served as Chair of the Midwestern Governors Association.

When Schafer ran for reelection in 1996, he and Myrdal defeated Lee Kaldor, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, and Barbara Pyle, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor.

In 2003 Schafer competed during the show's fifth season, when he also served as the captain of the "High Flyers" team.

His team took 2nd place in the competition, losing to the "Jet Doctors" in the season finale.

From January to July 2016 he served as interim president of the University of North Dakota.

Schafer was born and raised in Bismarck, North Dakota, and is the son of Marian Nelsen and businessman Harold Schafer.

He is of German descent.

He has one sister, Pamela (Pam).