Secretary Connally, as you know, is very knowledgeable in the field of energy.
President Nixon was referring this month to former Treasury Secretary John Bowden Connally's expertise in oil. He might just as well have been talking about Connally's protean physical and mental energies. Since leaving his Administration post last May, Connally has not slowed down. He has served as the top adviser outside the Government on the Administration's new energy policy, has added to his own fortune through his Houston law practice—and has prepared for a switch to the Republican Party. His announcement is expected any day. As Connally told TIME last week: "You fellows have all been speculating, and so I guess I'll have to say something about it."
From his base in Houston, Connally has cast a larger shadow within Nixon's Oval Office than Spiro Agnew. The President sees in him an attractive successor, a man who could hold the gains forged for the party among Southerners and conservative blue-collar workers. Nixon apparently figures that if a mediocre man comes after him he will be denied his proper place in history. He considers Connally to be a like-minded man—tough and bold. Most of Nixon's advisers tell him to be moderate in dealing with potential adversaries. Not Connally. Recalls one White House staffer: "Connally would say, 'Kick 'em in the ass!' The President would like that because that's what he wanted to do all along."
Right now Connally is giving much of his advice to private citizens and companies. He has joined the boards of six companies, including Pan American World Airways and Texas Instruments. A senior partner of Houston's largest law firm, Vinson, Elkins, Searls, Connally & Smith, he has brought in clients much as Nixon in the mid-1960s brought clients to Manhattan's Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander.
At times Connally's business dealings and political life seem indistinguishable. In December he visited Saudi Arabia with Armand Hammer, chairman of Occidental Petroleum. High officials of the oil companies operating in that country were fearful that Connally's closeness to Nixon could help Occidental undermine their strong position there. Meanwhile, rumors circulated that Connally was on a secret peace mission. Nixon closed the door on that speculation by saying that Connally was "traveling in his private capacity as an attorney," then opened it slightly by adding, "but he has, at my request, undertaken some informal discussions with leaders in various parts of the world."
Rich. Privately, Connally has made major investments in real estate. He has a piece of a $68 million Dallas shopping center as well as a partnership in a subdivision outside Fort Worth and another partnership in a $5,000,000 cattle-grazing venture in Jamaica. He has built a $100,000 "cottage" in the hills above Montego Bay, which fellow Texans jokingly refer to as "the winter White House."