WASHINGTON, D.C. (ABP) -- Todd Bassett, former head of the Salvation Army, has been named executive director of the National Association of Evangelicals. Bassett will replace Ted Haggard, who resigned from the position after a Colorado man alleged Haggard paid him for sex and drugs. Haggard later admitted to some of the charges.

A four-year member of NAE's executive committee, Bassett was recognized in NonProfit Times as one of the top five CEOs of 2005. He earned much praise that year for the work his $2 billion organization did to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. The Army also received notoriety in 2004 after a $1.5 billion bequest from Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald's restaurant founder Ray Kroc.

In his new role, Bassett will lead the NAE's administrative, financial and communication groups. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Richard Cizik, NAE vice president for governmental affairs, praised Bassett's experience.

"I've watched first-hand his handling of a national crisis -- the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it wreaked -- and can say that the credit the Salvation Army received for its splendid response can in part be given to his leadership," he said in a statement. “Moreover, Todd has a special burden for the poor, and he'll be able to lend his commitment and experience to this aspect of our governmental affairs work."

Bassett was commissioned to the Alexandria, Va.-based Salvation Army in 1965. He and his wife, Carole, have worked in youth ministry, in officer training, and at the Army's international headquarters in London. He became national commander of the Salvation Army in 2002 and left the post in 2006.

As head of the NAE, Haggard was one of the nation's most influential evangelicals. He held the director's post for three years. A 2005 article in Harper's magazine called the Denver where he was pastor, New Life Church, "America's most powerful megachurch." Time named him one of "the 25 most influential evangelicals in America."

Haggard was accused of paying a Denver man for sex and methamphetamines for three years before the man came forward to a local television station in November 2006.

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