Hoelscher is a graduate of Northeast Hamilton and graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in political science. His parents are Connie and Lurlin Hoelscher of Williams.

“He will be working out of the U.S. embassy in Rome,” said his mother Connie Hoelscher. “He will be helping farmers get better prices for their crops. He will also be helping people in other countries get enough food to eat.”

Hoelscher has been on the political stage since first appointed by George W. Bush in 2001 as a political coordinator. Since then, he has served in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was the director of the Office of State-Federal Relations for Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, and has served as the Deputy Director for Intergovernmental Affairs in Washington D.C..

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig made the following announcement Tuesday,

“Congratulations to Doug Hoelscher on his appointment as Minister-Counselor to the U.S. Mission to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Raised on a family farm in north central Iowa, Doug brings a firsthand understanding of agriculture and a lifelong commitment to the people and communities it supports. Throughout his career in public service, Doug has built a distinguished record of advancing sound policy and strengthening agriculture’s role both here at home and around the world. Iowa agriculture will be well represented on the global stage, and I wish Doug great success as he begins this important new role.”

Most recently, he has been serving as the chief operating officer of the America First Policy Institute since 2021 and chairmen since 2023.

His years in the political world was developed from his willingness to work hard, said his mother.

“He learned work ethics by living on a farm,” she said, “And he appreciated everyone he worked for.”

She explained further about his various appointments.

“He was sent to Florida by Bush when they had to do the Florida recount,” said Connie. For that assignment, both a member of the Republican and Democratic parties had to be together to monitor who went into the building, she explained. “They had to sleep outside the door inside the building where people entered, to be sure no one got inside the building during the recount.”

That effort earned him the attention of others working together in Florida.

He was home for a short period of time during the holidays, hurrying back to Washington because he had to pack.

“We’ve known for about six weeks, but we were told not to say anything until the press release,” said Connie. “He was only home for about three days at Christmas.”

Three days isn’t much time when moving across the ocean for the next three years.

“We do hope to go over and see him,” she said.”We know he’s got an important job, he’ll be good at it.”