Cliff Buck

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.

Amateur Athletic Union Be was elected president of the Amateur Athletic Union in 1964. He took office at a time where the AAU was fighting with the National Collegiate Athletic Association for control of amateur track. 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. The two sides appeared before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce and agreed to end the controversy through binding arbitration. Buck was reelected in 1965 and could not run again in 1966 due to term limits.

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.

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.

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.

Buck did not run for reelection in 1973 and was succeeded by Philip O. Krumm.