James A. Baker III interview for Frontline. Peter Baker added that much of that change can be attributed to the growing influence of evangelicals within the Republican Party. Baker served as the 67th secretary of the treasury from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. A 2008 film Recount covers the days following the controversial election. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-Chair for the World Justice Project. The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III was published Tuesday after a seven-year journey, during which the authors New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker (no relation to James Baker) and New Yorker senior columnist Susan Glasser conducted more than 200 interviews. Baker met his first wife, the former Mary Stuart McHenry, of Dayton, Ohio, while on spring break in Bermuda with the Princeton University rugby team. Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life Hardcover - October 5, 2006 by James Baker III (Author) 87 ratings Kindle $14.99 Read with Our Free App Hardcover $24.42 65 Used from $1.45 8 New from $19.90 2 Collectible from $29.96 Paperback [4] His grandfather was attorney and banker Captain James A. Baker, and his great-grandfather was jurist and politician Judge James A. Baker. Rising from a comfortable beginning, James A. Baker, III took his The White House and State Department quickly denied that Baker had said it, but William Safire, the New York Times columnist, followed with a piece saying that Baker had actually said something like it on two different occasions. Baker is the son of former Secretary of State, James Baker. Corrections? Secretary of State James Baker warned publicly, I will recommend to the President that the United States make no further contributions, voluntary or assessed, to any international organization which makes any changes in the PLO's status as an observer organization.". Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.[17]. Baker adroitly managed George H.W. [22] In 1973, Baker and Susan Garrett Winston, a divorcee and a close friend of Mary Stuart, were married. He served as the co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, which Congress formed in 2006 to study Iraq and the ongoing Iraq War. Baker's first wife, the former Mary Stuart McHenry, was active in the Republican Party, working on the Congressional campaigns of George H. W. Bush. [45] On October 9, 2006, the Washington Post quoted co-chairman Baker as saying "our commission believes that there are alternatives between the stated alternatives, the ones that are out there in the political debate, of 'stay the course' and 'cut and run'". The book also shows how much the Republican Partys approach to Israel has changed over recent decades. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan and the 61st U.S. Secretary of State before returning as the 16th White House Chief of Staff under President George H. W. Bush. Texas on the Potomac: James "Jim" Addison Baker, III. James Addison Baker, III born on: 28 April 1930 at 07:31 (= 07:31 AM ) Place: Houston, Texas, 29n46, 95w22 : Timezone: CST h6w (is standard time) Data source: BC/BR in hand: Rodden Rating AA: . Virginia Graham Baker of McLean was playing with other children in a friend's whirlpool on Alps Drive during a graduation party Saturday when she accidentally got caught in the pool's drain. Before the 1988 election, he and a team of some Middle Eastern policies experts created a report detailing the Palestine-Israel interactions. [28], However, Baker has been criticized for spending much of his tenure in a state of inaction regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which arguably led to further infringements on Palestinian rights and the growing radicalism of Arabs and Israelis. [47], Baker serves on the Honorary Council of Advisers for the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce. What are James Bakers views on the future of international collaboration? Pursuing research and open debate to develop pragmatic drug policies based on common sense and driven by human rights interests. Major gifts provide the funds necessary for the Baker Institute to explore new areas of study and research, and expand current programs. After graduating from Princeton, he served in the U. George Walker Bush, George Bush Gaddis Smith REPUBLICAN George Herbert Walker Bush took the oath of office as the forty-first president of the United States on 20 Januar Dick Cheney, Cheney, Dick Lincoln, Nebraska . In March 1997, Baker became the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara. [54] Mary Stuart Baker (Mary Stuart was her full first name) died of breast cancer in February 1970. Neither Koch nor Safire named a source, but the former mayor later acknowledged in a book that Kemp was the one who tipped him off., Peter Baker and Susan Glasser interviewed both Kemp and James Baker about the episode. They have six sons and two daughters. The book also includes a detailed account of Bakers famous testimony before Congress on peace negotiations between Israel and the Arab world, during which he said the United States cant want an agreement more than the two sides themselves. In 1985, Baker received the U.S. His grandfather was attorney and banker Captain James A. Baker, and his great-grandfather was jurist and . On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He graduated cum laude with an A.B. On March 15, 2006, Congress announced the formation of the Iraq Study Group, a high-level panel of prominent former officials charged by members of Congress with taking a fresh look at America's policy on Iraq. Baker served in this role through 1992. After leaving government service, Baker became a partner in a law firm and served as a diplomatic envoy for United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan for the Western Sahara. My wife Lori and I flew to California to attend the memorial service for Secretary George Shultz '42 at Stanford University on October 7. [26], After this landmark event, he did not work to further improve Arab-Israeli relations. [31] However, despite having run two winning campaigns for Ronald Reagan and one for Bush, Baker was unsuccessful in the second campaign for Bush, who lost to Clinton by 370 electoral votes to 168.[32]. They have six sons and two daughters, and 18 . Reagan rejected the Phillips-Wright request. In an essay that James Baker wrote in 2018 for the Encyclopdia Britannica Anniversary Edition: 250 Years of Excellence, he argued that international collaboration is essential for humankind to solve such problems as climate change and weapons proliferation: All of these challenges are global in nature, and, as a result, each will require global solutions. Koch wrote that during a recent White House meeting Baker had responded to criticism of his tough approach to Israel by saying, Fuck em. He was a fifth generation. He served as a United Nations envoy to Western Sahara and as a consultant to Enron. Fax: 713-348-5993. Well, AIPAC wont like that, someone said. [46] During a 2016 memorial service for Nancy Reagan, he commented to former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney that he believed there were parallels between the rise of Trump and the rise of Reagan. [18] Privately, Bush ignored Baker's assurances and later pushed for NATO's eastwards expansion. "Mother of Secretary of State Baker dies here at 96". Who is James Baker? Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. [12] Baker resigned to serve as campaign manager of Ford's unsuccessful 1976 election campaign. In 1973, Baker and Susan Garrett Winston, a close friend of Mary Stuart's, were married. James A. Baker III Monument 400 Texas St. Houston, TX 77002 Find Parking The City of Houston named a small portion of Sesquicentennial Park Baker Common that includes a statue of James A. Baker III, as well as plaques commemorating the families contributions to the city. The former secretary of state, they write, insisted the story was distorted at best. [26], Baker was notable for making little and slow efforts towards improving the state of Israeli-Palestinian relations. In order to understand what's going on in Ukraine from Vladimir Putin's point of view, you have to go back to 1990 when the Soviet Union was collapsing. Baker blocked the creation of Palestine by threatening to cut funding to agencies in the United Nations: As far back as 1988, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) issued a "declaration of statehood and changed the name of its observer delegation to the United Nations from the PLO to Palestine. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. By Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. In 1978, Baker ran unsuccessfully to become Attorney General of Texas, losing to future Governor Mark White. James D. Baker Jr., 68, of Toledo, passed away Thursday, February 28, 2013, at Heartland of Waterville. In 1991 Baker was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Learn more about the Baker Institutes membership forum, which supports the mission of the institute and offers members exclusive access to experts and events. The couple met while on in Bermuda for spring break. "The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III," by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. Its a quote that has haunted former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker for almost three decades. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. The elder Baker was treasury secretary and chief of staff under President Ronald Reagan and secretary of state under former President George Bush. Baker also led presidential campaigns for Presidents Gerald Ford, Reagan and Bush over the course of five consecutive presidential elections . Baker served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush. Starting in the 19th century, his clan helped build the city of Houston. The authors write that in his speech Baker wanted to call for a reasonable middle ground on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. On January 9, 1991, during the Geneva Peace Conference with Tariq Aziz in Geneva, Baker declared that "If there is any user of (chemical or biological weapons), our objectives won't just be the liberation of Kuwait, but the elimination of the current Iraqi regime." Baker later acknowledged that the intent of this statement was to threaten a retaliatory nuclear strike on Iraq, and the Iraqis received his message. "Bob Dole was a true American patriot who represented the very best of our country. He has been married to Susan Garrett Winston since 1973. Get email notification for articles from Amir Tibon. Sep 24th 2020. Through the internships on campus and beyond, Rice students can explore careers in public policy, or simply become better informed about important issues of the day. He was previously married to Mary Stuart McHenry. Baker managed Reagan's 1984 re-election campaign in which Reagan polled a record 525 electoral votes total (of 538 possible), and received 58.8 percent of the popular vote to Walter Mondale's 40.6 percent. In this November 21, 1990 file photo, Secretary of State James Baker is seen whispering to National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft during a press conference by President George H. W. Bush. "G.O.P. A Republican Party campaign leader, James Addison Baker, III (born 1930) helped elect as president both Ronald Reagan and George Bush. The Iraq Study Group examined a number of ideas, including one that would create a new power-sharing arrangement in Iraq that would give more autonomy to regional factions. His memoir, Work Hard, Studyand Keep Out of Politics!, was published in 2006. It concluded with his service as White House chief of staff and senior counselor to President Bush from August 1992 to January 1993. Heather Paul, executive director of the National Safe Kids Coalition, said the accident should make people aware of the dangers posed by whirlpools and other home recreational pools. Bush asked him to run Bushs political campaign for the U.S. Senate. Baker also served on Reagan's National Security Council, and remained Treasury Secretary until 1988, during which time he also served as campaign chairman for George H. W. Bush's successful presidential bid. [6], From 1957 to 1975, he practiced law at Andrews & Kurth after the anti-nepotism policy of his family firm, Baker Botts, prevented him from receiving a job there.[7][8]. Afterwards, he earned a J.D. He is the honorary chairman of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and serves on the board of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Baker and his son are partners in the law firm of Baker Botts, which has offices in Washington and in the elder Baker's home town of Houston. When George Herbert Walker Bush decided to vacate his congressional seat and run for the U.S. Senate in 1970, he supported Baker's decision to run for the congressional seat he was vacating. Hall. In 1978, with George H. W. Bush as his campaign manager, Baker ran unsuccessfully for Attorney General of Texas, losing to future Texas governor Mark White. James A. Baker III is an American government official, political manager, and lawyer who occupied important posts in theRepublicanpresidential administrations of the 1980s and early 90s, including that of U.S. secretary of state (198992). Baker was the Republican co-chair along with Democratic Representative Lee H. Hamilton, to advise Congress on Iraq. in history from Princeton University in 1952 after completing a 188-page senior thesis, titled "Two Sides of the Conflict: Bevin vs. Bevan", under the supervision of Walter P. As he remembered it, the presidents team was discussing a controversial policy in the Oval Office. Join Facebook to connect with James Baker III and others you may know. Delegate hunter, campaign manager, White House chief of staff, treasury secretary, and secretary of state, James Addison Baker III played a leading role in some of the most critical junctures in modern American history. The World Justice Project works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the Rule of Law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity. Learn more about the Baker Institute's leadership and get contact information for the administrative staff. Secretary Bakers position used to be fairly standard among Republicans, but the party, led especially by President Trump, has moved away from him to the point where loyalty to Israel is seen as a litmus test.. According to the new biography, its far from certain those words were actually ever used by Baker. James Baker, in full James Addison Baker III, (born April 28, 1930, Houston, Texas, U.S.), American government official, political manager, and lawyer who occupied important posts in the Republican presidential administrations of the 1980s and early 90s, including that of U.S. secretary of state (198992). Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Mr. Baker served as Chairman until his death on Aug. 2, 1941. James Addison Baker, III, was born April 28, 1930, into a wealthy Houston, Texas, family. He became a close friend of George H. W. Bush and worked for Bush's unsuccessful 1970 campaign for the United States Senate. Bush and Baker saw the comment as a commitment from Shamir not to expand settlements, whereas the Israeli premier meant the exact opposite: that he would continue to build in the occupied territories, because such building shouldnt pose a problem in his view. Peter Baker told Haaretz that the secretary of state tried to explain at the time that he didnt actually say Fuck the Jews, but it got little traction and at some point he decided it was just better to move on. War. ", In May 1989, he gave a speech at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. In 2005, he was co-chair, with former President Jimmy Carter, of the Federal Commission on Election Reform. He served as the nation's 61st secretary of state from January 1989 through August 1992 under President George H.W. Baker was the Republican co-chairman along with Democratic Congressman Lee H. Hamilton, to advise Congress on Iraq. Secretary Baker himself is actually a pretty religious person, but hes not a favorite of the evangelical wing of the party, which has long viewed him with suspicion, Peter Baker added. Bakers reflections on those years of revolution, war and peace The Politics of Diplomacy was published in 1995. He serves on the World Justice Project and the Climate Leadership Council. Darman continued in the next administration as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. According to his wife, Baker was "so anxious to get out of [his job]" that he gave some consideration to the prospect of becoming Commissioner of Baseball, but he ultimately did not pursue that. President George H. W. Bush appointed Baker Secretary of State in 1989. [27], During his first eight months under the Bush administration, there were five meetings with the PLO, which is far less than his predecessors. Thomas James Baker, Jr. was born to Thomas James Baker Sr. and Frankie Pauline Anderson on July 12, 1926 and passed peacefully from this life on June 9th, 2020. His wife, Susan, listens at right. Haaretz.com, the online English edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, gives you breaking news, analyses and opinions about Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. His wife's influence led Baker to politics and the Republican Party. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The group also included Martin S. Feldstein and N. Gregory Mankiw. His father was a partner of Houston law firm Baker Botts. During his tenure at the State Department, Baker traveled to 90 foreign countries as the United States confronted the unprecedented challenges and opportunities of the postCold War era. Alternate titles: James Addison Baker III. A representative for the elder Baker at his law firm said family members were unreachable as they made funeral preparations yesterday evening in Virginia. Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East, McNair Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth, Baker Briefing: A Diplomats Perspective on Russia, Addressing Climate Change in the Developing World: A Conversation with Rajiv Shah, Charting Paths Forward on Immigration Reform, The Strategic case for U.S. To promote greater safety in pools and spas, Nancy Baker gave testimony to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and James Baker helped form an advocacy group, which led to the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool And Spa Safety Act (15 USC 8001). Baker helped to construct the 34-nation alliance that fought alongside the United States in the Gulf War. The Israeli government decided to expand the population further into Palestinian territories. After calming down a bit, he settled for declaring Netanyahu persona non grata, barring him from even entering the doors of the State Department. Despite pleas from his Middle East adviser, Dennis Ross, Baker refused to change the decision. On June 15, 2002, Virginia Graeme Baker, the 7-year-old granddaughter of Baker, daughter of Nancy and James Baker IV, was the victim of suction-pump entrapment in an in-ground spa. Baker blocked the recognition of Palestine by threatening to cut funding to agencies in the United Nations. The administration forced Israel to halt the development of the 6,000 planned housing units, but the 11,000 housing units already under construction were permitted to be completed and inhabited with no penalty. Baker served in the United States Marine Corps (19521954), attaining the rank of First Lieutenant and later rising to Captain in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. Also, his son William Winston, though not as yet called up, was in the Army Special Forces. From 1957 to 1969, and then from 1973 to 1975 he practiced law at the law firm of Andrews & Kurth. In 1993 Baker became the founding chair of the James A. Baker III Institute of Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Israeli leaders initially thought that Baker had a poor grasp of Middle Eastern issues a perception exacerbated by his use of the term "Greater Israel" and viewed Israel as a "problem for the United States" according to Moshe Arens. 6100 Main Street Geni requires JavaScript! From 9 A.M. to 11:45 A.M. alone, the White House comment line received more than 400 calls about Baker, two-thirds of them positive, the rest negative.. In 1982, conservative activists Howard Phillips, founder of The Conservative Caucus and Clymer Wright of Houston joined in an unsuccessful effort to convince Reagan to dismiss Baker as Chief of Staff. Baker remained active in business and public affairs after Bush's defeat in the 1992 presidential election. In August 1975, he was appointed Under Secretary of Commerce by President Gerald Ford, succeeding John K. James Baker III, who served as chief of staff to former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. John C. Baker. Bush at St. Martin's Episcopal Church,. . James Addison Baker III, n le 28 avril 1930 Houston (Texas), est un avocat, , diplomate et homme politique amricain, membre du Parti rpublicain, ancien secrtaire au Trsor de Ronald Reagan entre 1985 et 1988 et ancien secrtaire d'tat de George H. W. Bush de 1989 1993. The following year, he was selected as Gulf Coast Regional Chairman for the Richard Nixon presidential campaign. Work Hard, Study.and Keep Out of Politics! Bush. Baker's time away from politics was very brief, however. Durham's indictment alleges that Sussmann told then-FBI General Counsel James Baker in September 2016 that he was not doing work "for any client" when he requested and held a meeting in which he . [18] In the Bush administration, Baker was a proponent of the notion that the USSR should be kept territorially intact, arguing that it would be destabilizing to have the USSR's nuclear arsenal in multiple new states. After Reagan won the election, he appointed Baker White House chief of staff, a post that Baker filled until he was made secretary of the Treasury in 1985. Former President George H.W. A lawyer by training, he practiced law in Houston with the firm of Andrews & Kurth for more than twenty years. Virginia was the daughter of James A. Baker IV, who is the son of the former cabinet secretary. Jim Baker's War. He was a regular tennis partner with Bush at the Houston Country Club in the late 1950s. In 2000, Baker served as chief legal adviser for George W. Bush during the 2000 presidential election campaign and oversaw the Florida recount. The tall Texan with the impassive stare ranks as the only person to have served as White House chief of staff,. [19], On January 9, 1991, during the Geneva Peace Conference with Tariq Aziz in Geneva, Baker declared that "If there is any user of (chemical or biological weapons), our objectives won't just be the liberation of Kuwait, but the elimination of the current Iraqi regime."[20] Baker later acknowledged that the intent of this statement was to threaten a retaliatory nuclear strike on Iraq,[21] and the Iraqis received his message. Baker became chairman of Bush's Senate campaign in Harris County. No replacement has yet been named. James Baker III was born on April 28, 1930 in Houston, Texas, USA. He resigned his post as secretary of state in 1992 in order to serve as White House chief of staff while simultaneously directing Bushs unsuccessful reelection campaign. Analyzing the influence of the transnational circulation of people, technologies, commodities and ideas in China. Son of James A. Baker, Jr. and Ethel Bonner Baker. Baker III and the late Bush enjoyed a close 60-year friendship forged on the tennis courts. James A. Baker Iii, Baker, James Addison, 3d James Addison Baker, 3d, 1930-, U.S. political leader, b. Houston, Tex. The event, sponsored by the James Baker . During the disputed presidential election of 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore, Baker played a leading role for the Bush campaign combating legal challenges filed by Gores campaign. [10] Winston had two sons and a daughter with her former husband. Doubleday; 720 pages; $35. His positions on Israel would be considered anti-Israeli, perhaps even heretic, in todays GOP and the former secretary of state knows it. Reach out to the Palestinians as neighbors who deserve political rights. Bakers use of the term Greater Israel and his insistence on criticizing both sides of the conflict, not just the Palestinians, was received negatively by AIPACs leadership. (1957) from The University of Texas at Austin and began to practice law in Texas. DALLAS (CN) - A politically connected D.C.-based private equity firm, founded by former Secretary of State James Baker's son, defrauded a company of $5 million by pitching it a $300 million defense sector investment fund whose only "assets" are loan the defendants "squandered," Dallas-based Tice . Israel, a country Baker visited countless times during his four years as President George H.W. Newhouse, John. [18] He later revealed that he had agreed to do so because James Baker promised that NATO troops would not be posted to eastern Germany and that the military alliance would not expand into Eastern Europe. Baker is the namesake of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.[2]. [29] In August, following the Democratic Convention, with Bush trailing Clinton in the polls by 24 points,[30] Bush announced that Baker would return to the White House as Chief of Staff and as head of the re-election campaign. Baker also called on Shamir to forswear annexation. At one level it narrowly focuses both on verbal commitments made by the US secretary of state James Baker under President George HW Bush and the terms of a treaty signed on 12 September 1990 . Honorary Chair, Baker Institute for Public Policy, A bronze bust of former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III that will be part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of American Diplomacy was recently unveiled in Washington, D.C. During the Reagan administration, Baker also served on the Economic Policy Council, where he played an instrumental role in achieving the passage of the administration's tax and budget reform package in 1981. James Baker III was born on April 28, 1930 in Houston, Texas, USA. Baker served as Fords campaign manager that year and went on to direct Bushs campaign for the presidential nomination in the Republican primaries of 1980. Bush Changed the Face of the Middle East. "Profiles: The Tactician". His father was a partner of Houston law firm Baker Botts. His friends . James Baker, in full James Addison Baker III, (born April 28, 1930, Houston, Texas, U.S.), American government official, political manager, and lawyer who occupied important posts in the Republican presidential administrations of the 1980s and early '90s, including that of U.S. secretary of state (1989-92). Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life by III, James Baker and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com. Former secretary of state James Baker considered voting for Joe Biden in November but will instead keep backing Donald Trump, a new biography reveals, in the process outlining a key reason for. Bush administration. In this telling, the target of his ire was an interest group, not Jews as a whole. They claimed that Baker, a former Democrat and a Bush political intimate, was undermining conservative initiatives in the administration.