Adviser to the President

Journalist Donovan:providing insight and counsel

When Hedley Donovan retired as editor-in-chief of Time Inc. publications at the end of May, he opened up what he called his "portfolio of interests"--a file fat enough to occupy any energetic man full time. He planned to teach a course at Harvard on the press and politics, write a book about his 40-year career as a journalist, consult two or three days a week on various Time Inc. projects, serve on the boards of the Washington Star, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., and the Ford Foundation, among others.

Donovan was relaxing in his swimming pool at New York City's suburban Sands Point when a telephone call from Jimmy Carter caused him to amend his portfolio. Donovan's new post: Senior Adviser at the White House, charged with providing "substantive advice on the full range of matters before the President."

Presidential aides in Washington said that Carter had been repeatedly told at Camp David that he needed someone of stature at the White House who had close contacts in top intellectual, political, diplomatic and financial circles. Donovan, who has known Carter since he was Governor of Georgia, was suggested for such a role by Sol Linowitz, chief U.S. negotiator of the Panama Canal treaties (and a member of Time Inc.'s board). After a long talk with Carter at the White House, several calls from other Administration officials, and two days of personal deliberation, Donovan decided to accept.

Donovan and the President agreed on three primary points: Donovan would report directly to the President (among White House staffers, only National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski and Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan now have that access); he would take no part in Carter's re-election campaign; and he would not be an image shaper for the President. Donovan said he had been "very impressed by the sincerity with which the President described his need and the country's need for the job. It was difficult to resist such an appeal put on the grounds of public service."

The precise scope of Donovan's duties remains to be worked out between him and the President. "The chemistry is really good between them," says a senior presidential aide. "Jimmy wanted someone who could give him honest, solid judgments in the whole decision-making process." Donovan's somewhat wry view: "The President wants to be able to talk about almost anything freely with somebody who has some gray hair."

The two have not yet even decided whether Donovan will be paid a regular salary (the legal limit would be $57,500) or serve on a dollar-a-year basis. Donovan will live in Washington and ask for a leave of absence from the corporate boards on which he serves. But first he will take a two-week vacation, traveling by barge through France.

A tall (6 ft. 1 in.), handsome man who speaks slowly in a deep voice, Donovan applied so even an editorial hand at Time Inc. that his former editors had to ask him last week just what his party politics were. His reply: "Independent with conservative leanings." In the last election he voted for Carter.

Adept at posing the unconventional question that gets to the crux of an issue, Donovan is equally intrigued by and perceptive about events at home and abroad. In recent speeches he has expressed his pride in America's past and, despite present problems, his optimism about the future. "One secret of America's strength is that two strains--rebelliousness and willingness to accept orders--run strongly through our national life," he says. "From the tension between these tendencies I think part of the American dynamism is created." He has contended that "our failure to achieve civilized race relations is America's most serious social weakness"; he has described the "decline of American productivity" as one of the most debilitating economic problems; and he has stressed that U.S.-Soviet relations remain "quite literally, a life-and-death matter."

A native Minnesotan, Donovan was graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Minnesota and went on to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. He was lured away from his plans to teach history by the better starting pay of a $25-a-week reporting job on the Washington Post. (Said the Post in an editorial last week: "Mr. Donovan... is a man of such enormous professional talent and personal distinction that whatever he does for the Carter presidency is bound to be a plus.") Donovan covered the State Department, Capitol Hill and the White House before serving as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He began his 34-year career at Time as a writer for FORTUNE, and, at 38, he became its managing editor. TIME Co-Founder Henry Luce selected him as his top deputy in 1959, and Donovan succeeded Luce as editor-in-chief when Luce gave up the position in 1964. In recent years he has interviewed virtually every major head of state.

Donovan expresses himself with conviction and candor. His sound, unruffled judgment as an editor under deadline pressure has been one of his great strengths. It is a quality sure to be valued in the White House. Donovan believes that his achievements will depend primarily on how he and the President get along.

When asked how long he expected to serve, Donovan replied: "At some point in the fall, we will pause and see how it is working. This will give each of us a chance to see if it's effective."

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