An 'Aw-Shucks' Banker for Jimmy

Like everyone else, Presidents prefer to surround themselves with people they like and trust and whose ideas closely parallel their own. This week Jimmy Carter is expected to name to one of the top economic posts in his Administration an imposing (6 ft. 4 in., 235 Ibs.), voluble, roughhewn Georgia banker named Thomas Bertram Lance, 45, who not only is a close friend but whose no-nonsense ways and conservative fiscal views match Carter's own. The most likely bet for the slot he will fill: director of the Office of Management and Budget, a job that would seem to coincide with his special talents.

A wealthy man (estimated worth: $3.1 million) and president of the Atlanta-based National Bank of Georgia, the state's fifth largest, Lance is fond of assuming the guise of an "aw-shucks" country banker. But, says one of Carter's top aides, "Bert is smart, he's tough, he's a good manager and he understands politics--and those are the things Jimmy wants at OMB."

Son of a former president of Young Harris College, a small Methodist school in Georgia, Lance keeps a Bible in his office, as does Carter. Lance had to drop out of the University of Georgia in his senior year and never did get a college degree. He admits to not being steeped in the intricacies of macroeconomics or international finance. "I belong to the 'people school' of economics," he told TIME. Right after the election he also said, "It's awfully important that [Carter] show people early on that he can deal with the economy in a positive manner. The confidence factor is the biggest thing."

Business Support. In 1951 Lance began working as a $90-a-month teller in the Calhoun First National Bank, married the granddaughter of the president, and took over the top job in 1963. Three years later Lance drummed up business support for the unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign of an ambitious political newcomer named Jimmy Carter. When Carter was elected Governor in 1970, he made Lance head of the state's highway department.

Impressed with the way Lance built roads and reduced the payroll, Carter gave him a major role in his campaign to restructure the entire state government. In the process, Lance developed a reputation for standing up to his boss. Angered by Carter's chronic failure to show gratitude to his staffers, Lance once told the Governor, "I've worked miracles for you, and you never say Thank you.' "

In 1974 Carter wanted a Georgia progressive to succeed him as Governor, rather than a primitive like Lester Maddox. Lance was his choice. But despite the expenditure of $1 million on the campaign, he lost the primary to Maddox and George Busbee, the eventual winner. The next year Lance became the president of the National Bank of Georgia, after joining with two Atlanta businessmen to buy the controlling interest for $7.4 million. During the presidential campaign, Lance worked quietly and effectively to soothe business leaders who did not know what to make of a man who called himself a populist.

Loan Problem? If, as expected, Carter does choose Lance to run the OMB or fill a Cabinet post such as Treasury or Transportation, the appointment will have to be confirmed by the Senate. Hoping to head off trouble on the Hill, Carter let it be known last week that his family peanut business owed $4.5 million to Lance's bank. Carter and his advisers do not feel that the loans pose any conflict-of-interest problems, arguing that such transactions are perfectly routine. The President-elect has already promised that on taking office he will give up any interest in the family business, and this week he plans to decide the kind of divestiture requirements he will impose on the people he chooses to run his Administration.

Lance is a workaholic with his own down-to-earth view of human nature. One favorite saying: "Folks are serious about three things--their religion, their family and, most of all, their money." The father of four sons, Lance lives with his family in a Gatsby-like mansion in Atlanta that was once on the market for $700,000. He got it for less than half that sum. If he can manage OMB or a federal department with similar shrewdness. Jimmy Carter's country banker should do very well indeed in Washington.

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