Picking a Winner

"If they wanted a loser they got the wrong man. I'm a winner. "

So said Robert Strauss shortly after he was chosen to be Democratic national chairman four years ago. He seemed to be taking on an impossible task. The fractured and fractious party had just gone down to a disastrous defeat with Candidate George McGovern, who carried only one state (Massachusetts) and the District of Columbia. Through a combination of shrewd politicking and good-humored bullying--"He is the only person I know who can call you a son of a bitch and leave you laughing!" says an admirer--Strauss succeeded brilliantly in reconciling the party's warring wings into a reasonably coherent organization.

The party that Strauss rebuilt helped carry Jimmy Carter into the White House. Last week Strauss received his reward. Impressed by his effectiveness and flair, Carter wrestled down his earlier resentment over Strauss's preference for other candidates and recruited him for a job in which his personal drive may serve the entire nation. At 7:45 one morning, the President summoned Strauss to the Oval Office and offered him the post of Special Representative for Trade Negotiations. Strauss mulled it over for about 30 hours and then he said yes.

He accepted because the appointment makes Strauss, 58, the minister of U.S. trade and the President's chief adviser on international economic affairs, an extraordinarily powerful position that will carry Cabinet rank. The basic job was originally created by Congress in 1962 as part of President Kennedy's Trade Expansion Act. Until now, the men who have held the position, including former Secretary of State Christian Herter and Frederick Dent, have kept rather low profiles. By contrast, Strauss can be counted on to use the full power and prerogatives of his rank.

Crowded Lineup. Some other Cabinet-level officers may be tempted to whisper under their breath about Strauss. His nomination brings another powerful figure into the new Administration's increasingly crowded economic policy lineup. The man who appears to be getting crowded most is Treasury Secretary Michael Blumenthal, the German-born Bendix Corp. president, who seemed to have been recruited by Carter for his drive and expertise in foreign commerce; he had been an effective international trade negotiator in the Kennedy Administration. Even before Strauss's nomination, Blumenthal's clout in the new Administration had appeared to be limited by the presence of two other heavyweights in economic policy: Charles Schultze, Carter's chief economic adviser, and Bert Lance, his Budget Director and trusted crony from Georgia.

Strauss had not campaigned for the job. In fact, after he resigned his party post in January, he planned to return to his highly lucrative private law practice; his firm has offices in Dallas and Washington. Strauss, who is already wealthy, liked to crack that he "looked forward to getting rich--a poor Jewish kid from West Texas learns to survive." Strauss made his fortune in law, banking and television stations. Though not an avid swimmer, Strauss built a large pool at his luxurious Dallas home so that he could look out and, as he puts it, say to himself: "Strauss, you are a rich sumbitch."

As trade chief, Strauss will not have much time for pool gazing. Perhaps his biggest problem will be the Tokyo Round of multilateral trade talks. They are the seventh in the postwar series of negotiations aimed at further reducing discriminatory tariff's. But the Tokyo talks have so far foundered on increasing protectionism throughout much of the world and bitter rivalries that pit the European community against Japan. Strauss's mission will be to get the Tokyo Round moving again, but without unduly upsetting U.S. manufacturers who fear foreign competition. Strauss will also have to cope with two politically explosive issues: negotiations with the developing countries over the price of commodities, and the sale of U.S. farm products, including the grain deals with Moscow.

Strauss is unfazed by the complexity of his new assignment. "I have negotiated with Bella Abzug and the Black Caucus," he laughs. "This ought to be a cinch."

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