{{Short description|American sports administrator (1906–1988)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox person | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Clifford Howard Buck | birth_date = {{birth date|1901|04|22}} | birth_place = Rushville, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1989|02|07|1901|04|22}} | death_place = Carbondale, California<ref>{{cite news |title=Cliff Buck, Olympic Official, 88 |work=The New York Times |date=February 11, 1989}}</ref> | occupation = {{ubl|President of the United States Olympic Committee (1970–1973)}} | years_active = | alma_mater = {{ubl|Iowa Wesleyan University}} | spouse = {{marriage|Isabel McFerran|1923|1947|end=div}} | children = 2 | other_names = | networth = }} '''Clifford Howard Buck''' (April 22, 1901 – February 7, 1989) was an American sports administrator who was president of the Amateur Athletic Union from 1965 to 1967 and the United States Olympic Committee from 1970 to 1973.
==Early life== Buck was born on April 22, 1901 in Rushville, Illinois to Nathaniel C. and Blanche (Pollock) Buck.<ref name="Who Was Who" /> He attended Iowa Wesleyan University, where he played basketball and football.<ref name="New York Times" /> He pursued postgraduate education at the University of Iowa and the University of Michigan. In 1923, he married Isabel McFerran. They had two children and divorced in 1945.<ref name="Who Was Who" />
From 1925 to 1927, Buck was the athletic director, physical education teacher, and head football and basketball coach Salida High School in Salida, Colorado. He then worked for Wilson Sporting Goods where he was manager of their Rocky Mountain sales division from 1930 to 1940. After a six-year stint as manager of the company's Texas sales division, he returned to his previous position, where he remained until his retirement in 1963.<ref name="Who Was Who">{{cite book |title=Who was who in America - Volume 9 |date=1989 |publisher=Marquis-Who's Who |page=54 |url=https://archive.org/details/whowaswhoinameri09marq/page/54/mode/2up?q |access-date=13 December 2024}}</ref>
==Amateur Athletic Union== Be was elected president of the Amateur Athletic Union in 1964.<ref>{{cite news |title=AAU Elects Cliff Buck |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JTlWAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA14&dq |access-date=13 December 2024 |work=The Spokesman-Review |date=December 7, 1964}}</ref> He took office at a time where the AAU was fighting with the National Collegiate Athletic Association for control of amateur track.<ref>{{cite news |title=New AAU Head Out To End Track 'War' |work=The Boston Globe |date=January 19, 1965}}</ref> Buck attempted resolve the dispute by offering the NCAA three seats on the committee overseeing the national AAU track and field championships, which the NCAA declined.<ref>{{cite news |title=NCAA Rejects AAU Recent Peace Offer |work=The Call |date=June 25, 1965}}</ref> The two sides appeared before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce and agreed to end the controversy through binding arbitration.<ref>{{cite news |title=A.A.U. and N.C.A.A. Will Accept Arbitration of Track Dispute |work=The New York Times |date=August 26, 1965}}</ref> Buck was reelected in 1965 and could not run again in 1966 due to term limits.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Missildine |first1=Harry |title=Twice Over Lightly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6DdWAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA9&dq |access-date=13 December 2024 |work=The Spokesman-Review |date=October 27, 1966}}</ref>
==United States Olympic Committee== In 1970, Buck, backed by the AAU, sought the presidency of the United States Olympic Committee. He was opposed Robert Kane, who was supported by the NCAA, and Julian Roosevelt, who represented sporting organizations that were independent of both groups. None of the candidates received a majority after three ballots, which led to the lowest vote-getter (Kane) being dropped. On the fourth ballot, Buck defeated Roosevelt 30 votes to 19 with 6 abstentions.<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news |last1=Cady |first1=Steve |title=Buck, New Olympic Group Head, Hopes to End Amateurs' Feud |work=The New York Times |date=February 16, 1970}}</ref>
A resident of Denver, Buck pushed for the city to host the 1976 Winter Olympics. Denver was selected by the International Olympic Committee, but Colorado voters rejected partially funding the games in a referendum, marking the first time a city awarded an Olympics rejected them.<ref>{{cite news |title=Winter Games Headed For Salt Lake |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEwyAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA10&dq |access-date=13 December 2024 |work=Beaver County Times |date=January 5, 1973}}</ref>
Following the controversial 1972 Olympic men's basketball final, Buck recommended that the United States withdraw from Olympic basketball and submitted a 20-page appeal seeking to overturn the result of the game.<ref>{{cite news |title=Buck to Seek U.S. Pullout From Olympic Basketball |work=The New York Times |date=September 20, 1972}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=U. S. Five Loses in 3 Languages |work=The New York Times |date=February 9, 1973}}</ref>
Buck did not run for reelection in 1973 and was succeeded by Philip O. Krumm.<ref>{{cite news |title=Man In The News |work=The Telegraph |date=November 20, 1972 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5wrAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA19&dq |access-date=13 December 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Presidents of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buck, Cliff}} Category:1901 births Category:1989 deaths Category:High school basketball coaches in Colorado Category:High school football coaches in Colorado Category:Iowa Wesleyan Tigers football players Category:Iowa Wesleyan Tigers men's basketball players Category:People from Rushville, Illinois Category:Presidents of the United States Olympic Committee Category:20th-century American people Category:Sportspeople from Denver Category:Sportspeople from Illinois