HOWARD HAUGERUD

1924 - 2020

HAUGERUD HOWARD E. HAUGERUD August 22, 1924 ~ January 23, 2019 Howard E. Haugerud was a retired American government official who served in presidentially appointed positions at the Department of Defense and the Department of State during the administrations of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. Howard later became the senior vice president of the Dana Holding Corporation, CEO of Controlled Environment Systems, Chairman and CEO of the National Tribune Corporation, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Stars and Stripes newspaper. Howard served for eight years on active duty during World War II and Korea as an aviation cadet, pilot and unit commander with tours of duty in the U.S., Europe and the Far East. After leaving the military, Howard joined the staff of the late Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota. In that position, he played a key role in drafting and gaining support for the first Wilderness Bill that established 9.1 million acres of federally protected areas that became the forerunner of our 623 million acre National Wilderness Preservation System. Howard joined the committee staffs of Senator Henry M. (Scoop) Jackson of Washington state and Senator John L. McCellan of Arkansas, working on national security and governmental reorganization matters. In 1958, Howard was the President of the United States Senate Staff Club. During this period, Howard also authored articles for national publications. His 1953 Harper's piece, The Unfortunate Taft Memorial, resulted in legislation being enacted to prohibit the building of future monuments to any senator or congressman on the Capitol grounds until they had been deceased a minimum of 50 years. In the more than half a century since that legislation became law, no legislator has been so honored. As Deputy Undersecretary of the Army for International Affairs, Howard had responsibility for all army overseas interests, including the Administration of the Panama Canal Zone, the Panama Canal Company, Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands. His domestic assignments also gave him responsibility to oversee the activities of U.S. Civil Defense and the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers. A few weeks prior to his death, President Kennedy asked Howard to accept the position of Inspector General of Foreign Assistance at the Department of State. After the president was assassinated, President Johnson decided not to move the sitting Inspector General, but supported congressional legislation elevating the position of Deputy Inspector General to that of the Inspector General, making the two leaders equal in rank. The Congress quickly passed the provision and Howard was one of the earliest nominations sent to the Senate by the new president. At the time of his appointment, Howard was the youngest person to have attained the rank of Assistant Secretary of State. During the years 1963 to 1969, Howard traveled to a great many of the 127 countries where the United States was sponsoring assistance programs. During this period, Howard's work was repeatedly praised on the floor of the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, with members of both bodies entering their remarks in the Congressional Record. In a 1966 New York Times op-ed article, legendary investigative reporter Felix Belair wrote that Mr. Haugerud "knows the ins and outs of commercial skullduggery like the back of his hand." When President Nixon took office in 1969, he asked Howard to remain in his administration. However, in September 1969, Howard resigned. He then became the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Executive Seminar. Its students were senior officers from those organizations who were preparing to assume overseas posts as well as those returning from such assignments on their way to domestic positions in their respective branches. Howard once said that during the six years he headed the organization, he could not recall a single instance where an invitation to lecture was not accepted. Howard resigned from government service at the age of 50 in 1974 in order to assume the position of vice president of government affairs for the Dana Holding Corporation of Toledo, Ohio. Later, Howard was appointed the chairman and CEO of Controlled Environment Systems, a high tech energy and lighting company located in Rockville, Maryland. In 1993, Howard purchased controlling interest in the National Tribune Corporations of Washington, D.C., which had published military and veterans newspapers since shortly after the Civil War. Howard became the Stars and Stripes publisher and editor-in-chief and served in these positions until he sold the publication to Iserved in 2000. During his career, Howard also served as the Vice President of the Army Aviation Association and President of the McClellan Memorial Foundation. Among the numerous awards Howard received during his lifetime, he received the following: Certificate of Merit, National Police Officers Association; Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service, Department of the Army, 1963; Certification of Merit for Saving a Life, American National Red Cross. Howard had four children from his previous marriage to Mary Elisabeth Stafford. Those children include: Mark Stafford Haugerud (predeceased), James Sherwin Haugerud, Howard Kent Haugerud, and Mary Lisa Haugerud Pilkenton. Howard was married for 33 years to the former Tomajean Akers of Washington, D.C. and Bal Harbour, Florida. They resided in Indian Wells, California at the time of his demise. Throughout their life together, they were always hand in hand. Date of Inurnment Service at Arlington National Cemetery was May 11, 2020.Date of Inurnment Service at Arlington National Cemetery was May 11, 2020.