[1][2][3] While in office, Nugent was dedicated to developing the paper industry in the region,[4] lead a campaign to test all 125,000 residents of the county for tuberculosis and syphilis in order to treat and eradicate the diseases,[5][6] presided over a state visit by Winston Churchill,[7] conducted a major cleanup of the city[8][9] after criticism from Lady Nancy Astor that Savannah was "like a beautiful woman with a dirty face"[10][11] (she later apologized),[12] and secured the establishment of a Savannah branch for Georgia State University (to serve freshman and sophomores).
[17] From 1949 to 1955, he again served as chairman of the City Council during the administration of mayor Olin F. Fulmer[2] and helped to facilitate the exchange of Savannah-owned Hunter Field for the Chatham Air Force Base.
[18] In 1949, he was appointed by Governor Herman Talmadge to the 3-member Georgia Ports Authority[19] and was soon after named vice-chairman.
[20] In 1950, Nugent helped to secure a $4,500,000 loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for Port of Savannah expansion.
[22][23] Nugent was a former president of the Hibernian Society,[24] the Chamber of Commerce, the Southern Baker's Association, and the Chatham County Board of Education.