George B. Hartzog Jr.
George B. Hartzog Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 7th Director of the National Park Service | |
| In office January 9, 1964 – December 31, 1972 | |
| President | Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Conrad L. Wirth |
| Succeeded by | Ronald H. Walker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 17, 1920 Smoaks, South Carolina[1] |
| Died | June 27, 2008 (aged 88) Washington, D.C. |
| Spouse |
Helen Hartzog (m. 1947) |
| Occupation | Lawyer, conservationist |
George Benjamin Hartzog Jr. (March 17, 1920 – June 27, 2008) was an American attorney and Director of the National Park Service.
Early life and career
Admitted to the bar in South Carolina in 1942, he became an attorney for the General Land Office (now the Bureau of Land Management) in the Department of the Interior in 1945, and six months later transferred to the National Park Service.
He moved to field assignments at
In 1969, NPS faced budget cuts. Harzog pioneered what became known as the Washington Monument syndrome political tactic and closed all national parks two days a week. As public outcry grew, Congress restored the funding.
Dismissal by Richard Nixon and later life
Florida banker Charles "Bebe" Rebozo, a close friend of Richard Nixon, encouraged the president to fire Hartzog in retaliation for receiving "a ticket from a park ranger in Biscayne National Park for [Rebozo] tying his boat illegally to an NPS administrative dock there."[3] Nixon fired Hartzog in December 1972, despite attempts by Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton to talk the president out of his decision.[4]
Nixon opted to replace Hartzog with the White House head of travel arrangement Ron Walker, an "unqualified appointment" who openly admitted "that he did not know the difference between the National Park Service and the Boy Scouts."[3] Former National Park Service director Jonathan B. Jarvis has credited Rebozo with indirectly bringing about the overly-politicized era of the Parks program administration, wherein NPS directors are expected to resign with the election of each new president.[3] Rebozo's influence on Nixon's firing of Hartzog has also been noted in Dr. Gil Lusk's 2019 book National Parks: Our Living National Treasures and A Conservative Environmentalist: The Life and Career of Frank Masland Jr.[5] [6]
Following his dismissal, Hartzog practiced law in Washington, D.C.[7]
Death
George B. Hartzog died on June 27, 2008.[8] Upon his death, National Park Service historian Robert Utley called Hartzog "the greatest director in the history of the service" and "an empire builder."[8]
References
- ^ Hartzog, Jr., George B. Battling for the National Parks. New York: Mt. Kisco, 1988.
- ^ Hohmann, Heidi (June 21, 2016). "Solving the "Recreation Problem": The Development of the National Recreation Area". National Park Service. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
- ^ OCLC 1268123272.
- ^ Hevesi, Dennis (18 Jul 2008). "George Hartzog: National Park Service chief". Ventura County Star. p. 46. Retrieved 27 Jun 2024.
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- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
- ^ a b Schudel, Matt. (July 6, 2008.) "Obituaries: George B. Hartzog Jr., 88; Expanded Nation's Park System. The Washington Post. Retrieved on June 14, 2010.
Further reading
- [1]
- McPhee, John/Pieces Of The Frame/Ranger
External links
- George B. Hartzog Jr. Papers at Clemson University Special Collections Library
