President Bush appointed John Nau Chairman of ACHP in 2001, and he served a second four-year term. Nau graduated from the University of Virgina with a B.A. in History in 1968. He began working across the Midwest in various positions at Coca-Cola distributors. After that, he moved over to the beer business, starting with a job with Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis. He went on to purchase, with three partners, an Anheuser-Busch distributorship in Florida. In 1987 they sold it, using the money to buy 49 per cent of Southwest Distributing. By 1989 they had bought all the shares, and re-named it Silver Eagle Distributors of Houston. In 1990 Nau became the President and CEO of Silver Eagle, and he has continued in those positions ever since. In 1997 Nau and his wife became sole owners. Silver Eagle is currently the largest distributor of Anheuser-Busch products in the United States. In 1993 Nau was appointed to the Texas Historical Commission by Governor Ann Richards, and reappointed in 1999 by Governor George W. Bush. Since 1995 Nau has served as chairman of the commission. He is also on the board of directors of the Civil War Preservation Trust and he has been a Professor of the American Civil War at his alma mater.

 

Since 1993, Nau has contributed more than $300,000 to the campaigns of a wide range of Republican candidates and to the Republican Party in general. He has contributed to the presidential campaigns of Bob Dole, George W. Bush, Rudy Giuliani, and Mitt Romney.