Bo Callaway

{{short description|American businessman and politician (1927–2014)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Bo Callaway

|image = File:Howard Callaway in 1974 (cropped).jpg

|caption = Callaway in 1974

|office = 11th United States Secretary of the Army

|president = Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford

|term_start = May 15, 1973

|term_end = July 3, 1975

|predecessor = Robert F. Froehlke

|successor = Norman R. Augustine (acting)
Martin R. Hoffmann

|state1 = Georgia

|district1 = {{ushr|GA|3|3rd}}

|term_start1 = January 3, 1965

|term_end1 = January 3, 1967

|predecessor1 = Tic Forrester

|successor1 = Jack Brinkley

|birth_name = Howard Hollis Callaway{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/us/howard-h-callaway-strategist-who-helped-gop-rise-in-south-dies-at-86.html|title=Howard H. Callaway, Strategist Who Helped G.O.P. Rise in South, Dies at 86|first=William|last=Yardley|work=The New York Times|date=March 23, 2014|access-date=October 16, 2022}}

|birth_date = {{birth date|1927|4|2}}

|birth_place = LaGrange, Georgia, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|2014|3|15|1927|4|2}}

|death_place = Columbus, Georgia, U.S.

|party = Democratic (Before 1964)
Republican (1964–2014)

|spouse = {{marriage|Beth Walton|1949|2009|end=her death}}

|children = 5

|relatives = Fuller Earle Callaway (grandfather)
Terry Considine (son-in-law)

|education = Georgia Tech
United States Military Academy (BS)

|allegiance = United States

|branch = United States Army

|serviceyears = 1949–1952

|rank = Lieutenant

|battles = Korean War

}}

Howard Hollis "Bo" Callaway (April 2, 1927{{Cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/C/CALLAWAY,-Howard-Hollis-(Bo)-(C000055)/|title=CALLAWAY, Howard Hollis (Bo)|work=United States House of Representatives|access-date=October 16, 2022}} – March 15, 2014) was an American businessman and politician.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/29999655/|title=Callaway of Georgia: A GOP Governor?|work=The Amarillo Globe-Times|location=Amarillo, Texas|date=September 1, 1966|access-date=October 16, 2022|page=35|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/847079440/|title=Belated Vindication for Bo Callaway|work=The Macon Telegraph|location=Macon, Georgia|date=June 26, 1977|access-date=October 16, 2022|page=37|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}} He served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for the 3rd district of Georgia. He also served as the 11th United States Secretary of the Army.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ledger-enquirer.com:80/2014/03/15/3006193/carter-recalls-intense-rivalry.html|title=Carter recalls intense rivalry and eventual friendship with Callaway|work=Ledger-Enquirer|first=Tony|last=Adams|date=March 15, 2014|access-date=October 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331051232/http://www.ledger-enquirer.com:80/2014/03/15/3006193/carter-recalls-intense-rivalry.html|archive-date=March 31, 2014|url-status=live|via=Wayback Machine}}

Life and career

File:Howard Callaway.png

Callaway was born in LaGrange, Georgia, the son of Virginia Hollis and Cason Callaway, and the grandson of Fuller Earle Callaway. Callaway attended Episcopal High School, graduating in 1944. Callaway then attended Georgia Tech and the United States Military Academy, where he earned a degree in military engineering in 1949. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War. He was discharged in 1953 and returned to Georgia to help his parents develop and run Callaway Gardens. He was named executive director there on June 10, 1953.{{cite web |title=Callaway Resort & Gardens history |url=https://www.zippia.com/callaway-resort-gardens-careers-17864/history/ |website=zippia.com |publisher=Zippia, Inc. |access-date=31 January 2025}}

In 1964, he was elected as a Republican to represent Georgia's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, succeeding Tic Forrester. Callaway was the first Republican to represent Georgia in Congress since Reconstruction, riding a Republican wave in the Deep South resulting from the appeal of Barry Goldwater to conservative Southerners.{{Cite news |date=1964-11-04 |title=SOUTH REVERSES VOTING PATTERNS; Goldwater Makes Inroads, but More Electoral Votes Go to the President |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/11/04/archives/south-reverses-voting-patterns-goldwater-makes-inroads-but-more.html |access-date=2023-03-02 |issn=0362-4331}}

Rather than run for re-election, Callaway ran as the Republican candidate in the 1966 Georgia gubernatorial election. The election was exceptionally close due to a split within the state Democratic Party between supporters of segregationist Lester Maddox and liberal former governor Ellis Arnall; after Maddox won the Democratic nomination, Arnall continued his campaign as a write-in candidate. Ultimately, Callaway won a plurality but not a majority of votes cast, which under Georgia law meant that the election was thrown to the Georgia General Assembly. After a series of lawsuits reaching the United States Supreme Court, the authority of the legislature was ultimately upheld, and Maddox was elected governor by the heavily Democratic legislature.{{Cite news |date=1967-01-11 |title=Quickly Sworn In Behind Shut Doors |pages=1 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104243788/quickly-sworn-in-behind-shut-doors/ |access-date=2023-03-02}}

Callaway was succeeded in Congress by Jack Brinkley.

=Later career=

File:Howard Callaway.jpg

Callaway resided in Colorado in the 1970s. In 1973, he was appointed by Richard Nixon to serve as the 11th United States Secretary of the Army. He served under Nixon and Gerald Ford and was succeeded by Norman R. Augustine in 1975. As Army Secretary, Callaway entered into a prominent national controversy when he first reduced the sentence of and later paroled Lieutenant William Calley for his role in the My Lai massacre.{{cite news |last1=Baxter |first1=R. R. |title=The My Lai Massacre And Its Cover‐up |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/08/01/archives/the-my-lai-massacre-and-its-coverup-a-crime-against-humanity-an.html |work=The New York Times |date=August 1, 1976}}{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Tony |title=Bo Callaway dies at age 86 |url=https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/article29324335.html |work=Columbus Ledger-Enquirer |date=July 29, 2015}}

Callaway served as Ford's campaign manager,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/312021318/|title=Bo Callaway Relieved as Ford Manager|work=Lincoln Journal Star|location=Lincoln, Nebraska|date=March 13, 1976|access-date=October 16, 2022|page=1|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}} but resigned following accusations that he had used undue political influence to ensure the expansion of a ski resort; he was replaced by Rogers Morton.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/31/archives/callaway-quits-post.html|title=Callaway Quits Post|first=James|last=Naughton|work=The New York Times|date=March 31, 1976|access-date=October 16, 2022}}

Callaway ran for the Republican nomination in the 1980 United States Senate election in Colorado. He was supported by Senator William L. Armstrong, but ultimately lost the nomination to Mary Estill Buchanan.{{Cite web |last=Strogoff |first=Jody Hope |title=Bo Callaway was a winner despite having lost Senate bid |url=https://www.coloradopolitics.com/news/bo-callaway-was-a-winner-despite-having-lost-senate-bid/article_eb099f50-81b5-5fb0-9325-90eb8c3e692a.html |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=Colorado Politics |date=March 21, 2014 |language=en}} After that, he served as the chairperson of the Colorado Republican Party until 1987.

Callaway died on March 15, 2014 from complications of intracerebral hemorrhage in Columbus, Georgia, at the age of 86.