- George B. Hartzog, Jr.
thumb|200 px|right|George B. Hartzog, Jr. Director of the U.S. National Park Service from 1964-1972. Associate Director 1963-1964.George B. Hartzog, Jr., joined the NPS as an attorney in 1946. He moved to field assignments at Great Smoky Mountains and Rocky Mountains national parks, and then made his name advancing the Gateway Arch project as superintendent of Jefferson National Expansion Memorial from 1959 to 1962. After briefly leaving the service he returned as associate director in 1963 with the promise of succeeding Conrad Wirth in January 1964. A dynamic, politically astute manager, Hartzog welcomed some 70 new areas to the national park system during his nine-year tenure as director and greatly enlarged the service's role in urban recreation, historic preservation, interpretation, and environmental education. Closely identified with the expansionist policies of the Johnson-Udall administration, Hartzog was less appreciated by its successor and was dismissed in late 1972.Remembered for his cream-colored Stetson, endless supply of elongated Cigars and double-sized briefcase, Hartzog’s irresistible energy and unorthodox bureaucratic style were captured in a New Yorker profile by John McPhee. Hartzog was a ranger at Great Smokey Mountains National Park and superintendent of Jefferson National Expansion Memorial National Historic Site, St. Louis, where he spearheaded the project for Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch. As Director, he served as
Steward Udall ’s right arm in achieving a remarkably productive legislative program that included 62 new parks, the Historic Preservation Act of 1966, and the Bible amendment to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act that led to establishment of the Alaska parks. Hartzog was dismissed in December of 1972, and he now practices law in Washington, D.C. [65th Anniversary, National Park Service, August 25, 1981;] [http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/hisnps/NPSHistory/direct.htm]Further Reading
*George B. Hartzog, Jr., Battling for the National Parks (Mt. Kisco, NY: Moyer Bell, 1988)
ee Also
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National Park Service
*Conrad L. Wirth - 6th Director
*Ronald H. Walker - 8th DirectorFootnotes
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