Bo Callaway

Life and career

Callaway was born in LaGrange, Georgia, After graduating, he attended Georgia Tech and the United States Military Academy, earning his degree in military engineering in 1949. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War, which after his discharge in 1953, he returned to Georgia to help his parents develop and run Callaway Gardens.

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. He 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.

Rather than run for re-election, in 1966, Callaway ran as for governor of Georgia. The gubernatorial 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.

Callaway was succeeded in Congress by Jack Brinkley.

Later career

Callaway resided in Colorado in the 1970s. In 1973, he was appointed by President Richard Nixon to serve as the United States Secretary of the Army,

Callaway served as Ford's campaign manager, but resigned following accusations that he had used undue political influence to ensure the expansion of a ski resort;

In 1980, Callaway ran as for the Republican nomination in the United States Senate election in Colorado. He was supported by Senator William L. Armstrong, but ultimately lost the nomination to Mary Estill Buchanan. After that, he served as the chairperson of the Colorado Republican Party until 1987.

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