Miller Played Role in L.A. Olympics

F. Don Miller, the longtime executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee who died this week at 75, had more to do with the precise arrangements for bringing the 1984 Olympics to Los Angeles than the local organizers.

When other channels seemed blocked in the protracted 1978-79 dispute between Los Angeles and the International Olympic Committee over absolving the municipal government of liability for any debts run up by the Games, Miller and IOC Executive Director Monique Berlioux hammered out the details of agreement and successfully presented them to their respective sides.

Los Angeles essentially got its way. The city accepted no liability, which later became a moot point when, under the leadership of Peter V. Ueberroth and Paul Ziffren, the privately managed Games realized a profit of $222.7 million.

But Miller, who characteristically took little credit, was the man on the American side who put together the contract, and was, incidentally, able to secure a share of the eventual profits for the USOC.

Soft-spoken but forceful, Miller usually stayed behind the scenes. But for 11 years, 1973-84, he was the real power at the USOC, more than its presidents.

During that period, the USOC withstood two devastating Olympic boycotts, and even managed to build itself into a more proficient, more open and diverse organization.

After leaving his executive directorship, as head of a foundation founded with $90 million from the L.A. Games, he had a vital role in the USOC’s financial endowment.

The main secrets of his power:

--He occupied a headquarters at Colorado Springs, Colo., that was geographically separated from a scattered membership, and he controlled almost all the communications that went in and out of that headquarters.

--He cultivated a well-deserved reputation for being a skilled, tenacious administrator, and he served presidents who were often loath to intervene strongly themselves.

As an administrator, Miller was unquestionably loyal to USOC employees.

When, during the Carter Administration’s push for USOC acquiescence to its boycott of the Moscow Games, White House aides pressured certain big Olympic contributors to withhold funds from the group, Miller resisted suggestions that he furlough committee employees.

“He flew to Washington and secured a pledge from the Administration to match with government funds for a time fresh corporate contributions,” recalled USOC spokesman Mike Moran. “It allowed us to go on without furloughs.”

Miller, who in his youth was an NCAA welterweight boxing champion, joined the USOC after a 27-year career in the Army that concluded with being chief of all Army sports programs.

As an infantry company commander in World War II in Europe, he was decorated with the Silver Star, two Bronze stars and two Purple Hearts. He also fought in the Korean War.