Ford Wields a Broom

Barely a month in office, President Ford acted last week to reshape his Administration with shifts in diplomatic and domestic personnel. Like Harry Truman, who quickly replaced the Roosevelt team with his own appointees, Ford is determined to put his own stamp on the structure left by his predecessor.

Moving at his customary whirlwind pace, Ford also tackled two other troublesome issues. In preparation for the "economic summit" at month's end, he brought 28 noted economists together for the first of eleven minisummits (see ECONOMY & BUSINESS). Later, at the Continental Congress ceremony in Philadelphia, the President predicted that the nation would defeat "the tyranny of double-digit inflation" before the Bicentennial climax in July 1976. As if to set the stage for his pardon of Richard Nixon, Ford also announced that on the ticklish issue of amnesty for Viet Nam War deserters and draft evaders, he plans to create a clemency review board to set policy on a case-by-case basis.

Last week's appointments indicate that Ford wants to move out many of the people who were close to Nixon in his last months. Ford's selection of Republican National Committee Chairman George Bush as chief of the U.S. mission in Peking, and Presidential Economic Counsellor Kenneth Rush as ambassador to Paris, served this purpose while filling important diplomatic posts with men of stature. Ford also intends to dispatch Peter M. Flanigan, another Nixon stalwart, as Ambassador to Spain.

No Grand Design. The President's selections so far hardly constitute a grand diplomatic design, but they should help improve U.S. foreign relations. In Western Europe, particularly, too many American ambassadors won their posts with hefty campaign contributions.

In Peking, George Bush, 50, will replace the retiring David K.E. Bruce. Bush, a self-made oil millionaire and two-term Congressman from Texas, was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1970 through 1972. Ironically, he led the losing fight to keep China out of the U.N. Despite this, Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger hope the Chinese will be flattered by the appointment of a man close to the President.

Rush, a lawyer-businessman-diplomat, was U.S. Ambassador to West Germany from 1969 to 1972. He did an excellent job as the U.S. negotiator for the four-power Berlin agreement that guaranteed free access to the city. Rush is close to French Foreign Minister Jean Sauvagnargues, who as ambassador to Bonn was France's representative at the Berlin talks. A longtime Nixon friend, Rush went to the White House last May as an adviser on economic policy. He will replace John N. Irwin II in Paris.

"Mr. Fixit." The President has offered the high post of Ambassador to Britain to Senator J. William Fulbright, 69, the Foreign Relations Committee chairman who was defeated in the Arkansas primary. He would be a considerable improvement over Ambassador Walter Annenberg, a millionaire Nixon friend. But Fulbright's wife is ill and he will postpone a decision until after he returns next week from China.

Announcement of Ford's appointment of Peter Flanigan to Spain was withheld pending Madrid's approval. Flanigan, 51, a millionaire former investment banker and a Roman Catholic, became known as a "Mr. Fixit" for big business during five years in the White House. Some Senators will balk.

On the home front, Ford recommended that, to replace G.O.P. Chairman Bush, the Republican National Committee should elevate the cochairman, Mary Louise Smith, 59. She would be the first woman ever to head the committee. Mrs. Smith rose from precinct committeewoman in Iowa, and urges that more women get decision-making powers in party councils.

In the White House, Ford will keep two of Nixon's Counsellors and increase their powers. Anne Armstrong, in addition to her work on women's issues, the Bicentennial and youth and minority programs, will also serve on the Council on Wage and Price Stability. Dean Burch, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, will maintain liaison with the regulatory agencies, the Republican National Committee and G.O.P. congressional campaign committees.

Ford's most delicate problem is what to do with White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig. His grueling months as Nixon's incorruptible aide have earned

Haig sympathy and gratitude in Washington. But he is finding it hard to work effectively with the new White House team and longs to return to the Army. The Administration floated a report last week that Ford would send him to Brussels as Supreme Commander of both NATO and U.S. forces in Europe. Because of his ties to Nixon, the report that Haig would replace General Andrew Goodpaster touched off mild protests in Congress and some European capitals. But Kissinger thinks that Haig would be ideal, and the appointment needs no congressional approval. Ford is expected to act in a few months to ease Haig gracefully out of the White House and recall him to active duty.

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