Howard Baker | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2001 | |
| 26thUnited States Ambassador to Japan | |
| In office July 5, 2001 – February 17, 2005 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Tom Foley |
| Succeeded by | Tom Schieffer |
| 12thWhite House Chief of Staff | |
| In office February 27, 1987 – July 3, 1988 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Deputy | Kenneth Duberstein |
| Preceded by | Donald Regan |
| Succeeded by | Kenneth Duberstein |
| Senate Majority Leader | |
| In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1985 | |
| Whip | Ted Stevens |
| Preceded by | Robert Byrd |
| Succeeded by | Bob Dole |
| Senate Minority Leader | |
| In office March 5, 1980 – January 3, 1981 | |
| Whip | Ted Stevens |
| Preceded by | Ted Stevens (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Robert Byrd |
| In office January 3, 1977 – November 1, 1979 | |
| Whip | Ted Stevens |
| Preceded by | Hugh Scott |
| Succeeded by | Ted Stevens (acting) |
| Leader of the Senate Republican Conference | |
| In office January 3, 1977 – November 1, 1979 | |
| Deputy | Ted Stevens |
| Preceded by | Hugh Scott |
| Succeeded by | Ted Stevens |
| In office March 5, 1980 – January 3, 1985 | |
| Deputy | Ted Stevens |
| Preceded by | Ted Stevens |
| Succeeded by | Bob Dole |
| United States Senator fromTennessee | |
| In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1985 | |
| Preceded by | Ross Bass |
| Succeeded by | Al Gore |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Howard Henry Baker Jr. (1925-11-15)November 15, 1925 Huntsville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | June 26, 2014(2014-06-26) (aged 88) Huntsville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents |
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| Education | Tulane University University of the South University of Tennessee (LLB) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1943–1946 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Baker explains the benefits of televising Senate proceedings at aSenate Rules Committee hearing Recorded April 8, 1981 | |
| Watergate scandal |
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 TheWatergate complex in 2006 |
| Events |
| People |
Intelligence community |
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Howard Henry Baker Jr. (November 15, 1925 – June 26, 2014) was an American politician, diplomat and photographer who served as aUnited States Senator fromTennessee from 1967 to 1985. During his tenure, he rose to the rank of Senate Minority Leader and thenSenate Majority Leader. A member of theRepublican Party, Baker was the first Republican to be elected to the U.S. Senate in Tennessee since theReconstruction era.
Known inWashington, D.C., as the "Great Conciliator", Baker was often regarded as one of the most successful senators in terms of brokering compromises, enacting legislation, and maintainingcivility. For example, he had a lead role in the fashioning and passing of theClean Air Act of 1970 with Democratic senatorEdmund Muskie.[1] A moderate conservative, he was also respected by hisDemocratic colleagues.[2]
Baker sought theRepublican presidential nomination in 1980 but dropped out after the first set of primaries. From 1987 to 1988, he served asWhite House Chief of Staff for PresidentRonald Reagan. From 2001 to 2005, he was theUnited States Ambassador to Japan.
Baker was born on November 15, 1925, inHuntsville, Tennessee, to Dora Ladd Baker andHoward Baker Sr.[3] His father served as a Republican member of theUS House of Representatives from 1951 to 1964, representing Tennessee's Second District.[4] Baker attendedThe McCallie School inChattanooga,[5] and after graduating, he attendedTulane University inNew Orleans.[5] Baker was an alumnus of the Alpha Sigma Chapter of thePi Kappa Phifraternity.[6] DuringWorld War II, he trained at a U.S. Navy facility on the campus of theUniversity of the South inSewanee, Tennessee,[4] in theV-12 Navy College Training Program. He served as a lieutenant in theUnited States Navy[4] and graduated from theUniversity of Tennessee College of Law in 1949.[5] That year, he was admitted to the Tennessee bar and began his law practice.[7]
Baker began his political careerin 1964, when he lost to the liberal DemocratRoss Bass in a U.S. Senate election to fill the unexpired term of the late SenatorEstes Kefauver. However, Baker only lost by 4.7% points, the closest that a Republican had come to being popularly elected to the Senate from Tennessee.[citation needed]
In the1966 United States Senate election in Tennessee, Bass lost the Democratic primary to theGovernor of Tennessee,Frank G. Clement, and Baker handily won his Republican primary race against Kenneth Roberts, 112,617 (75.7%) to 36,043 (24.2%).[8] Baker won the general election, capitalizing on Clement's failure to energize the Democratic base, especiallyorganized labor. He won by a somewhat larger-than-expected margin of 56% to Clement's 44%.[9] Baker thus became the first Republican U.S. senator from Tennessee since theReconstruction era and the first Republican to be popularly elected to the Senate from Tennessee. Baker voted in favor of theCivil Rights Act of 1968 and thenomination ofThurgood Marshall to theSupreme Court of the United States.[10][11]
Baker was re-elected in1972 and again in1978 and served from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1985. In 1969, he was already a candidate for the Minority Leadership position that opened up with the death of his father-in-law,Everett Dirksen, but Baker was defeated 24–19 byHugh Scott.[12] At the beginning of the next Congress, in 1971, Baker ran again, losing again to Scott, 24–20.[13]
When Scott retired, Baker was elected as leader of the Senate Republicans in 1977 by his Republican colleagues, defeatingRobert Griffin, 19–18.[14] Baker led the Senate GOP for the last eight years of his tenure, serving two terms asSenate Minority Leader from 1977 to 1981, and two terms asSenate Majority Leader from 1981 to 1985, a role he transitioned to after the Republicans gained the majority in the Senate in the1980 elections.
Baker did not seek further re-election and concluded his Senate career in 1985. He was succeeded byDemocratic Representative and futureVice PresidentAl Gore.
PresidentRichard Nixon asked Baker in 1971 to fill one of the two empty seats on theSupreme Court of the United States.[15] When Baker took too long to decide whether he wanted the appointment, Nixon changed his mind and nominatedWilliam Rehnquist instead.[16]
In 1973 and 1974, Baker was the influential ranking minority member of theUnited States Senate Watergate Committee, chaired by SenatorSam Ervin, which investigated theWatergate scandal. Baker famously asked aloud, "What did the President know and when did he know it?"[17] The question is sometimes attributed to being given to him by his counsel and formercampaign manager, future U.S. SenatorFred Thompson.[18]
John Dean, formerWhite House Counsel to Nixon, revealed to Senate Watergate chief counselSamuel Dash that Baker had "secret dealings" with the White House during the congressional investigation. Although Baker, as a US senator, would be a juror in any future impeachment trial, Baker was recorded, on February 22, 1973, promising Nixon, "I'm your friend. I'm going to see that your interests are protected."[17]
Watergate reporterBob Woodward wrote that then "both the majority Democrats and minority Republicans agreed to share all information." Ultimately, one such document shared by Nixon lawyerJ. Fred Buzhardt inadvertently suggested the presence of Nixon's secret taping system.[19]
Baker was frequently mentioned by insiders as a possible nominee forVice President of the United States on a ticket headed byincumbent PresidentGerald Ford in 1976. According to many sources, Baker was a frontrunner until he disclosed that his wife, Joy, was a recovered alcoholic.[20] Ford, whose own wife,Betty, was an alcoholic (albeit undisclosed at the time), choseKansas U.S. SenatorBob Dole.[21]
Baker ran for U.S. president in1980, dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination after losing theIowa caucuses toGeorge H. W. Bush and theNew Hampshire presidential primary toRonald Reagan even though aGallup poll had him in second place in the presidential race at 18%, behind Reagan at 41% as late as November 1979.[22] Baker's support of the 1978Panama Canal Treaties was overwhelmingly unpopular, especially among Republicans,[2][23] and it was a factor in Reagan's choosing Bush instead as his running mate.[2]Ted Stevens served as Acting Minority Leader during Baker'sprimary campaign.[24]
In 1984, Baker received thePresidential Medal of Freedom.[25]
In October 1983, Baker voted in favor of thebill establishingMartin Luther King Jr. Day as afederal holiday.[26]
As a testament to Baker's skill as a negotiator and an honest and amiable broker, Reagan tapped him to serve asWhite House Chief of Staff during part of Reagan's second term (1987–1988). Many saw that as a move by Reagan to mend relations with the Senate, which had deteriorated somewhat under the previous chief of staff,Donald Regan.[27] In accepting the appointment, Baker chose to skip another bid for theWhite House in1988.[28]
PresidentGeorge W. Bush nominated Baker to serve asU.S. ambassador to Japan in March 2001.[29] He was sworn in on June 26 and presented his credentials on July 5.[30] During Baker's tenure, Japan supported the US-ledIraq War and implemented an embargo on American beef due to aBSE outbreak. Baker announced his resignation in December 2004 after returning to the United States for open heart surgery in August.[31]
In 2003, the Howard. H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy was established at theUniversity of Tennessee to honor him. Vice PresidentDick Cheney gave a speech at the 2005 ground-breaking ceremony for the center's new building. Upon the building's completion in 2008, U.S. Supreme Court JusticeSandra Day O'Connor assisted in the facility's dedication.[23] In 2023, the Baker Center was transformed into theBaker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs, becoming the first school of public policy and public affairs at any public university in Tennessee.[32]
In March 2005, Baker was appointed as a senior advisor toCitigroup.[33]
In 2007, Baker joined fellow former Senate Majority LeadersBob Dole,Tom Daschle, andGeorge Mitchell to found theBipartisan Policy Center, a non-profit think tank that works to develop policies suitable for bipartisan support.[34] He was an advisory board member for thePartnership for a Secure America, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy. From 2005 to 2011, Baker was a member of the board of directors of theInternational Foundation for Electoral Systems, a nonprofit that provides international election support.[35]
From 2005 to his death, Baker served as senior counsel to thelaw firm of his father and his grandfather,Baker Donelson.[36]
Baker was an accomplished lifelong photographer. His photographs have often been exhibited and were published inNational Geographic,Life, and in the booksHoward Baker's Washington (1982),Big South Fork Country (1993), andScott's Gulf: The Bridgestone/Firestone Centennial Wilderness (2000). In 1993, he received the International Award of the American Society of Photographers, and in 1994, he was elected into the Hall of Fame of thePhoto Marketing Association.[37]
On June 26, 2014, Baker died at the age of 88 from complications of a stroke that he had suffered a week earlier. He was in his nativeHuntsville, Tennessee, with his wife, Nancy, by his side.[38]
Baker, aPresbyterian, was married twice. He married his first wife, Danice Joy Dirksen, who the daughter of former Senate Minority LeaderEverett Dirksen in 1951. Together, they had two children,a son and a daughter . After she died of cancer on April 24, 1993, Baker then married U.S. SenatorNancy Kassebaum, daughter ofKansas GovernorAlf Landon, on December 7, 1996.[43]
...the real heroes of Watergate were Republicans... he told the story of U.S. Sen. Howard Baker who was loyal to the White House at the beginning of the investigation. Baker promised Nixon, "I'm your friend. I'm going to see that your interests are protected." Later, though, he became famous for asking aloud, "What did the president know and when did he know it?"
When the Iran-Contra scandal and the Tower Commission Report were making life miserable for Ronald Reagan, former Sen. Howard H. Baker Jr., 61, came to the President's rescue. A loyal but moderate Republican, he agreed to return to government as Reagan's new chief of staff, replacing the controversial Donald Reagan.
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