Donald C. Alexander

United States Government Official. He served as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service from 1973 to 1977, and is chiefly remembered for fighting the administration of President Richard Nixon, which had used the IRS to harass its detractors and political opponents. A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, he served in the United States Army during World War II and received a Bronze Star and a Silver Star. He was a prominent tax lawyer when President Nixon appointed him IRS Commissioner. He soon disbanded the IRS's Special Service Staff after learning it had ordered politically motivated tax audits of thousands of left-wing groups and individuals. Ignoring threats of dismissal, he also audited President Nixon himself and determined that the President owed more than $400,000 in back taxes and penalties. These findings were leaked to the public and were contributing factors in President Nixon's 1974 resignation. Alexander received the United States Department of the Treasury's Alexander Hamilton Award in 1975. Before leaving the IRS he revamped its criminal investigation department and succeeded in getting Congress to strengthen taxpayer confidentiality laws. He went on to hold several important positions in Washington, among them as director of the United States Chamber of Commerce (1987 to 1989) and as a member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission (1993 to 1996). He remained active in private legal practice until shortly before his death, of complications from cancer.