W. W. Keeler: Difference between revisions

In 1948 he was selected as vice chairman of the tribe's executive committee. President Truman appointed Keeler as Chief in 1949. He would remain in that position until 1975, having been reappointed by Presidents [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]], [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]], [[Lyndon Johnson|Johnson]], and [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]].<ref>Gridley, p.114.</ref> During a period from 1945-1972 he also served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands and was instrumental in getting the 1836 Treaty of Bowles Village brought before the [[Indian Claims Commission]]. He resigned that post in 1972.<ref name="Keeler Papers">W.W. Keeler Papers, TCAB Files, Cherokee National Historical Society, Tahlequah, Oklahoma</ref> Under President Johnson’s Administration, Keeler was appointed as a member of the National Advisory Committee for the [[War on Poverty]] Program and was put on the President’s Committee on Economic Opportunity.<ref name="Keeler Papers"/> Alaskan Governor [[Walter Hickel]] appointed Keeler chairman of a task force to find ways to improve utilization of native labor.<ref name="Keeler Papers"/> Also under President Johnson, the [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]], [[Stewart Udall]], appointed Keeler to head a group to with the focus of reorganizing the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]].<ref name="Keeler Papers"/> Although these appointments are most likely attributed to his success as a businessman as well as his [[racial passing|white appearance]], they should not diminish his success and accomplishments in the Cherokee nation.{{POV-statement|date=April 2018}}