'I Think I Can Help Jerry Ford'

When Howard Hollis ("Bo") Callaway was picked as Gerald Ford's campaign manager last June, he told his wife Beth: "I hope you can remember all of the nice things they said about me as Secretary of the Army because that's the last praise you'll hear." True enough. From almost his first day, he has been under attack from some quarter of the Republican Party.

In July liberals and moderates were enraged by Callaway's clumsy attempt to win Southern support for Ford by suggesting that Vice President Nelson Rockefeller was the President's "No. 1 problem" in the South and should perhaps be replaced by a younger man. More recently, in a meeting on Capitol Hill, conservative Republicans hissed and booed Callaway for suggesting that they should back Ford "because he's the only President we've got." Lately, Callaway has been under fire from Ford supporters who complain that he is running an inept campaign. Responds Callaway: "The only opinion I have to worry about is the President's, and so far he has not expressed any criticism." Indeed, Ford, sounding like the owner of a slumping baseball team in defense of a hapless manager, has expressed "confidence" in Callaway.

Boyish-looking, fast-talking Callaway, 48, is no stranger to controversy. Member of a Georgia textile family whose fortune has been estimated at $40 million, he holds a commission from West Point, served three years in Korea and is a former regent of the University of Georgia. He was originally a states' rights Democrat. But he bolted the party to support Barry Goldwater in 1964, and was elected to Congress as a Republican. In the House he fought against the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Medicare and most other Great Society programs.

In 1966 he ran for Governor and lost to Democrat Lester Maddox. Two years later, as chairman of Richard Nixon's campaign in the South, Callaway suggested that George Wallace join forces with Nixon, implying that their views were similar. The mistake so angered Nixon strategists that Callaway was barred from any Administration job until 1973, when he became Army Secretary and distinguished himself by successfully organizing the volunteer army.

Callaway was chosen to head Ford's election committee principally because of his impeccable credentials as a Southern conservative: Ford believed that Callaway could counter the Reagan threat from the right. But critics grumble that he has spent too much time traveling around the country to court conservatives instead of managing the overall campaign, that he lacks experience in presidential politics and has no organizing ability. Two weeks ago, Lee Nunn, a longtime Republican operative, quit as the campaign's director of organization and angrily accused Callaway of incompetence. Finance Chairman David Packard complains that fund raising is lagging and implies that one cause has been interference from Callaway. Says Packard: "Bo tried to tell me who to hire and who not to hire, but that's straightened out now."

Callaway dismisses the complaints as idle carping. He concedes that he has been frugal in spending the committee's money, but says that is only because federal law now limits primary expenditures to $10 million. Says he: "Wait till you read The Making of the President --1976. That will show we've done it right."

Nonetheless, perhaps in response to the criticism, there have been changes lately at Ford headquarters. For one thing, Stuart Spencer, an experienced Los Angeles political consultant, was hired to succeed Nunn. Still, Callaway has no deputy manager and seems to be having trouble finding one.

The real power is wielded by White House Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld, who not only acts as Ford's liaison with his campaign committee but also calls many of the day-by-day shots. Thus at least some of the criticism of Callaway should probably be directed elsewhere. In any case, Callaway professes to be untroubled. Says he: "I doubt if you've ever met anybody who is less concerned about losing his job. I'm here only because I think I can help Jerry Ford, and I'm just as comfortable as I can be."

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