Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack opened a press conference late Wednesday afternoon --- broadcast live on the cable networks --- saying he had spoken with dismissed Georgia rural development director Shirley Sherrod and Vilsack had apologized for the incident.

"She was extraordinarily gracious," he said.

(If you have been busy in the real world and haven't followed this, then see previous blog.)

Vilsack said he regretted the circumstances and accepted full responsibility. "This is a good woman and she's been put through hell. I could have done and should have done a better job. I want to learn for that experience. I want the agency and department to be better for that experience and be stronger for it."

Vilsack said there was no pressure from the White house "I want to make sure everyone understands. This was my decision and it was a decision I regret having made in haste," he said.

Because of USDA's sensitivity over discrimination, the secretary said he acted hastily in pressuring Sherrod for her resignation. The department still is dealing with thousands of discriminatory claims against USDA by blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and women farmers. Still, acting hastily, Vilsack said he had learned a great deal from the incident.

"One of the lessons I learned is these types of decisions require time. I didn't take the time I should have. And as a result a good woman has gone through a very difficult period. And I will have to live with that for a long time."

Vilsack said he had been traveling Monday and did not see the video clip, only a transcript of a portion of Sherrod's remarks at an NAACP meeting in March. Further, Sherrod had apparently gotten some indication late last week that such a clip could become public and had tried to email Vilsack and Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, but those emails failed to get to either one of them, Vilsack said.

Vilsack responded to multiple questions about the White House role in the firing, insisting there was no pressure from White House officials and the decision was his alone. Vilsack also said he had not spoken to President Obama about the situation. "This was something I decided and I have to accept full responsibility for this," he said.

Vilsack said he was planning to have a more deliberative process for making such decisions.

Vilsack said Sherrod had an "extraordinary life experience" as a claimant against USDA in the Pigford discrimination case, "and has experienced some of the prejudice and bias we are still dealing with today in terms of claims against the department." Adding Sherrod has a broad range of experience understanding USDA programs and working with the department. Vilsack said the department has a "unique" opportunity for Sherrod working in civil rights in advocacy and outreach. "This is a person because of those experiences, having been discriminated against and being a claimant, having gone through that process, having gone through the process she described in great detail in her speech, having gone through the last couple of days, she's uniquely positioned to be able to identify with a number of different people who might intersect with this agency in an effort to try to make sure we don’t continue to make the same mistakes we made in the past."

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