Baker, Peter, and Glasser, Susan, The Man Who Ran Washington Doubleday, 2020, at pp. American lawyer and statesman (born 1930), This article is about the politician. Bush administration. The tall Texan with the impassive stare ranks as the only person to have served as White House chief of staff,. Though Bush lost the race, Baker became deeply involved in Republican Party politics thereafter. Afterwards, he earned a J.D. United States Under Secretary of Commerce, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Foreign policy of the George H. W. Bush administration, Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, Learn how and when to remove this template message, James A. Baker III Institute of Public Policy, Virginia Graeme Baker Pool And Spa Safety Act, "Biographies of the Secretaries of State: James Addison Baker III", City of Houston: Procedures for Historic District Designation, "James A. Baker III Papers, 1957-2011, bulk 1972/1992", "Pittsburgh Businessman Ford Treasury Nominee", "President Ford Wednesday Nominated Edward O. Vetter of Dallas, Tex., to be undersecretary of commerce", "James Baker: President Maker [documentary]", "Phil Gailey and Warren Weaver, Jr., "Briefing", "National Winners | public service awards | Jefferson Awards.org", "Russia, Ukraine and the doomed 30-year quest for a post-Soviet order", James Baker: The Man Who Made Washington Work, "How to Block the Palestine Statehood Ploy", "Splitting the Difference: The Palestinian-Israeli Policy of James Baker", "AFTER THE WAR: DIPLOMACY; Baker and Syrian Chief Call Time Ripe for Peace Effort", "Baker resigns as UN mediator after seven years", "Baker surfaces as key adviser to Bush on Iraq", "Bush appoints Baker envoy on Iraqi debt", "U.S. and Iraqi Forces Clash With Sadr Militia in South", "The Private Trump Angst of a Republican Icon", "The Conservative Case for Carbon Dividends", "Guide to the Baker Family papers, 1853-1971 MS 040", "Former Secretary of state pushes for hot tub safety standards", "Former Secretary of State James Baker speaks in support of legislation intended to prevent accidental drowning", "Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act", During lockdown, comics Rosebud Baker and Andy Haynes have gotten sick and engaged, plus hosted a surreal podcast, "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement", "Gen. Colin L. Powell Biography and Interview", James Addison Baker Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University, James A. Baker III Oral History Collection at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University. In March 1997, Baker became the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara. 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. He was previously married to Mary Stuart McHenry. In 1991 Baker was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 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 . 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. She passed away of breast cancer in February. [12] Baker resigned to serve as campaign manager of Ford's unsuccessful 1976 election campaign. They have one child. ", In May 1989, he gave a speech at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Baker helped to construct the 34-nation alliance that fought alongside the United States in the Gulf War. Together they had four sons, including James Addison Baker IV, a partner at Baker Botts. 492, 505. Bushs successful campaign for the presidential election of 1988 and thereupon was appointed secretary of state. Doubleday; 720 pages; $35. Writing about Mr. Baker years later,. While serving as Treasury Secretary, Baker organized the Plaza Accord of September 1985 and the Baker Plan to target international debt. James Baker est n le 28 avril 1930 Houston, au Texas. Israel, a country Baker visited countless times during his four years as President George H.W. The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III. James Addison Baker, III, was born April 28, 1930, into a wealthy Houston, Texas, family. Phone: 713-348-4683 [44] 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. But the report about his comments had such resonance because his policies were perceived to be skeptical of Israel.. Many of Baker's concerns proved correct, and the project became a key factor in the company's downfall. In 1975, he was appointed Under Secretary of Commerce for Gerald Ford. But their policy regarding Israel would have been completely rejected by todays Republican Party, which has moved to the right on issues like settlements, Palestinian statehood and Israeli control of East Jerusalem. [10] Winston had two sons and a daughter with her former husband. 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. Seventeen-year-old Mary Stuart. 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. [4] His grandfather was attorney and banker Captain James A. Baker, and his great-grandfather was jurist and politician Judge James A. Baker. The former secretary of state, they write, insisted the story was distorted at best. Providing actionable policy analysis and recommendations that aim to expand the economy through private enterprise. Staff writer Maria Glod contributed to this report. Bakers reflections on those years of revolution, war and peace The Politics of Diplomacy was published in 1995. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir came to visit the White House in April 1989, shortly after the new administration took office and whatever was said ended up driving an enduring wedge between the two sides. During that meeting, Shamir told Bush that settlements in the occupied West Bank shouldnt be a problem for the administrations plans to start peace talks between Israel and its neighbors. United States Secretaries of the Treasury, List of international trips made by secretaries of state of the United States, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Baker&oldid=1141376173, Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, George H. W. Bush administration cabinet members, United States Under Secretaries of Commerce, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Wikipedia neutral point of view disputes from November 2019, All Wikipedia neutral point of view disputes, Pages using Sister project links with wikidata namespace mismatch, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 19:21. 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. Baker is presently a senior partner in the law firm of Baker Botts. Baker Hall MS-40, Suite 120 [26], The 1992 election was complicated by the on-again-off-again candidacy of Ross Perot, who would end up taking 19% of the popular vote. Vise, David A.. "Former Secretary of State Baker Joins Carlyle Group". James Baker was the latest in a long line of James Bakers. 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: . Eventually, he softened it a bit, allowing Netanyahu to enter the building but barring him from visiting the top floors where high-ranking officials had their offices, limiting his access to low-level staffers only. 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. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991. 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. 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. 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 . On June 15, 2002, Virginia Graeme Baker, the seven-year-old granddaughter of Baker, daughter of Nancy and James Baker IV, was the victim of lethal suction entrapment in an in-ground spa. When youre serious about peace, call us., A day later, the authors note, Baker sent flowers to the White House operators to apologize for subjecting them to a flood of calls by giving out their phone number instead of his own. He called for Israel to "lay aside once and for all, the unrealistic vision of a greater Israel", cease the construction of Israeli settlements in West Bank and Gaza, forswear annexation of more territory, and to treat Palestinians "as neighbors who deserve political rights". (Read James Bakers Britannica essay on isolationism.). Nov. 29, 2021. I know he didnt mean it that way, Kemp said. He recalled that the discussion was indeed focused on the votes of the Jewish community, but that Baker didnt use the F word. His memoir, Work Hard, Studyand Keep Out of Politics!, was published in 2006. [26], Baker soon decided that Aaron David Miller and Daniel Kurtzer would be his principal aides in Middle Eastern policies. Baker has a sister, Bonner Baker Moffitt. Advancing data-based policies that promote health and well-being in the U.S. and around the world. He left behind the Baker II plan, accepted as a suitable basis of negotiations by the Polisario and unanimously endorsed by the Security Council, but rejected by Morocco. In 1978, Baker ran unsuccessfully to become Attorney General of Texas, losing to future Governor Mark White. Shultz. 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. 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. [citation needed], His son, James A. Baker III, is the political figure especially known from the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations. 15 of 23 16 of 23 James Baker III speaks to King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Thursday afternoon during an appearance at Rice University. 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. "Most deaths from hot tubs and spas are drowning deaths that aren't related to entanglements or getting trapped," said Mark Ross, a spokesman for the consumer agency, adding that voluntary safety controls have cut down the number of dangerous drains. In the latter post he helped the United States reach agreement with the Soviet Union on the reunification of East with West Germany in 1990. [39] When the U.S. occupation of Iraq began in 2003 he was one of the Bush administration's first choices to direct the Coalition Provisional Authority, but he was deemed too old. But the former secretary of state was portrayed for many years as anti-Israeli, in large part because of the infamous Fuck the Jews quote. He later gave informal advice to Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign and suggested the appointment of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. "No world leader has a bigger place in the history of the late 20th century than Mikhail Gorbachev, for the pivotal role he played in the peaceful end of the Cold War," wrote former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, in an op-ed. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. 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. Ron Sachs/CNP for NY Post After leaving the FBI, Twitter seemed eager to hire Baker. After two years of active duty as a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, he entered The University of Texas School of Law at Austin. He served as a United Nations envoy to Western Sahara and as a consultant to Enron. [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'". However, Baker changed his mind about running for Congress when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer; she died in February 1970. 1990, statement of James A. Baker III. Baker also led presidential campaigns for Presidents Gerald Ford, Reagan and Bush over the course of five consecutive presidential elections . (1957) from The University of Texas at Austin and began to practice law in Texas. Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker III (left) meet with reporters on the White House lawn on May 17, 1991, in Washington. Baker was born in Houston, Texas, in 1930. His wife's influence led Baker to politics and the Republican Party. 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. State of Denial, a book by investigative reporter Bob Woodward, says that White House Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, urged President Bush to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with Baker following the 2004 election. He is also the honorary chair of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Bush. In December 2003, President George W. Bush appointed Baker as his special envoy to ask various foreign creditor nations to forgive or restructure the approximately $100 billion in international debts owed by the Iraq government which had been incurred during the tenure of Saddam Hussein. In 1981, Baker was named White House Chief of Staff by President Ronald Reagan, in spite of the fact that Baker managed the presidential campaigns of Gerald Ford in 1976 and of George Bush in 1980 opposing Reagan. Baker was a member of the United States Marine Corps from 1952 to 1954, attaining the rank of first lieutenant as a naval gunfire officer serving in the Mediterranean Sea aboard the USSMonrovia. In 1970 Bakers longtime friend George H.W. He left The Post in December 2020. 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. [15], In 1985, Reagan named Baker as United States Secretary of the Treasury, in a job-swap with then-Secretary Donald Regan, a former Merrill Lynch officer who became chief of staff. The elder Baker was treasury secretary and chief of staff under President Ronald Reagan and secretary of state under former President George Bush. Amidst the growing support of Saddam Hussein in Palestine, due to his opposition toward Israel, and his invasion of Kuwait, and the beginning of the Gulf War, Baker decided that he would make some moves towards developing communications between Israel and Palestine. The Israeli government decided to expand the population further into Palestinian territories. [19] Soviet states forced action by holding referendums on independence. Born in Houston, Baker attended The Hill School and Princeton University before serving in the United States Marine Corps. Omissions? In the mid-2000s Baker was active on a number of government investigative committees; he served as cochair of both the Federal Commission on Election Reform (with former president Jimmy Carter) and the Iraq Study Group (with former U.S. congressman Lee Hamilton). 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. My wife Lori and I flew to California to attend the memorial service for Secretary George Shultz '42 at Stanford University on October 7. Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life was published in October 2006. Baker was the Republican co-chair along with Democratic Representative Lee H. Hamilton, to advise Congress on Iraq. In addition to the numerous recognitions received by Baker, he was presented with the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Award for public service on September 13, 2000 in Washington, D.C.. Baker served as chief legal adviser for George W. Bush during the 2000 election campaign and oversaw the Florida recount. Houston, TX 77005, Email: bipp@rice.edu [58] Another granddaughter is Rosebud Baker, a stand-up comedian.[59]. By Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. He also played a role in the development of the American Silver Eagle and American Gold Eagle coins, which both were released in 1986. A family member found her, and it took two adults to dislodge her, authorities said. He called on the Palestinians to renounce violence and recognize Israel, but also called on the Israeli leadership to lay aside, once and for all, the unrealistic vision of a Greater Israel.. No replacement has yet been named. Anybody with a spa or residential pool needs to make sure they have them checked out to prevent these types of accidents from happening.". He was named under secretary of commerce by Pres. In 2003, Baker was appointed special presidential envoy for President George W. Bush on the issue of Iraqi debt. 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. James A. Baker III served in senior government positions under three United States Presidents and was a central figure in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush in the 1980s and early 1990s. Clearly, constant adult supervision is the only solution to the dangers of having children around water, whether it's open water, pools or hot tubs. [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. He had Richard Darman of Massachusetts as his Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. As Treasury Secretary, he arranged the Plaza Accord and the Baker Plan. Former Chief of Staff under President Reagan, James Baker, III (b.1930) was appointed as the sixty-seventh Secretary of the Treasury on February 3, 1985, exchanging jobs with Secretary Donald Regan. Baker was a shrewd and highly effective political manager whose skills were a major factor in the Republicans retention of the presidency throughout the 1980s. 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. He served in that capacity until 1985. [10] From 1992 to 1993, he served as Bush's White House Chief of Staff, the same position that he had held from 1981 to 1985 during the first Reagan administration. Get email notification for articles from Amir Tibon. Baker was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991. Bush. In 1973, Baker and Susan Garrett Winston, a divorcee and a close friend of Mary Stuart, were married. Baker was portrayed in the film by British actor Tom Wilkinson. Contact him at bipp@rice.edu or (281) 348-4683. He settled in Huntsville, where he practiced law,. Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved, the fight in Congress over the loan guarantees. 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. The 7-year-old granddaughter of former secretary of state James A. Baker III died when she became trapped in a whirlpool and drowned in McLean, Fairfax County police said yesterday. Mr. Baker was present in a leading position when, in 1990, the negotiations with the Soviets on the reunification of my homeland primarily concerned the question of the future of the transatlantic alliance. [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. 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. The war in Iraq may be a disaster for George W. Bush, but for James Baker III it has become an opportunity to seal his reputation as a statesman rather than a political fixer, which is how he's spent much of his career. 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. James A. Baker, III, has served in senior government positions under three United States presidents. Bush then encouraged Baker to become active in politics to help deal with the grief, something Bush had done when his daughter, Pauline Robinson (19491953), died of leukemia. Bush at St. Martin's Episcopal Church,. A native Houstonian, Baker graduated from Princeton University in 1952. After the Gulf War, Baker served another stint as White House Chief of Staff from 1992 to 1993. Gerald Ford in 1975, and that same year he helped Ford secure the Republican Partys presidential nomination for the 1976 election. Who is James Baker? Baker, no relation, is the co-author of "The Man Who Ran Washington: the Life and Times of James Baker III." He wrote the book with his wife, "New Yorker" correspondent Susan Glasser.. 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. December 12, 2006. . 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. Ray Covey, HP staff / Houston Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 2 His father was a partner of Houston law firm Baker Botts.Baker has a sister, Bonner Baker Moffitt. [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. Bush, as well as Reagan's treasury secretary and Bush's secretary of state, told his biographers Susan Glasser and Peter Baker (no relation) during a virtual event Friday that he supports . James A. Baker Iii, Baker, James Addison, 3d James Addison Baker, 3d, 1930-, U.S. political leader, b. Houston, Tex. Every time he speaks his mind on anything related to Israel, someone usually a right-wing pundit who supports the Netanyahu government quickly pulls the words Fuck the Jews, they dont vote for us anyway out of the archives, labeling Baker as anti-Israel or, worse, antisemitic. [5] He was a member of Phi Delta Theta. Baker is the son of former Secretary of State, James Baker. A drowning can happen in nearly a blink of the eye.". Starting in the 19th century, his clan helped build the city of Houston. Robert was born in 1735 and fought at King's Mountain and is believed to be the brother of the famous Rev. Learn more about the Baker Institute's leadership and get contact information for the administrative staff. All three have been reported as leaning toward the policies of the Israeli Labor Party. Age: 79. His father was a partner of Houston law firm Baker Botts. Analyzing the influence of the transnational circulation of people, technologies, commodities and ideas in China. It concluded with his service as White House chief of staff and senior counselor to President Bush from August 1992 to January 1993. [47], Baker serves on the Honorary Council of Advisers for the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce. In this candid, revealing account, Baker uses his unique perspective to take us inside those events and the personalities involved in them: the collapse of Communism, the Berlin Wall, and the. He became a close friend of George H. W. Bush and worked for Bush's unsuccessful 1970 campaign for the United States Senate. Bush Changed the Face of the Middle East. He was a fifth generation. It was a political comment, Baker said, not an anti-Semitic comment, not a slur.. [13] He served in that capacity until 1985. The book also shows how much the Republican Partys approach to Israel has changed over recent decades. James Addison Baker Jr. (November 3, 1892 - May 21, 1973) was an American attorney, [1] banker, real estate developer, and United States Army officer from Houston, Texas. "The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III," by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. They have six sons and two daughters. In 1973, Baker and Susan Garrett Winston, a close friend of Mary Stuart's, were married. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-Chair for the World Justice Project. With Rudy Giuliani flailing through a series of failed election challenges for the Trump campaign, a superb new political biography provides fresh evidence of just how stark the contrast is between the head of Trump's legal team and George W. Bush's hyperprepared, efficient and savvy commander-in-chief for the 2000 election political and legal fight, James A. Baker III. [37] He left behind the Baker II plan, accepted as a suitable basis of negotiations by the Polisario and unanimously endorsed by the Security Council, but rejected by Morocco.[38]. Major gifts provide the funds necessary for the Baker Institute to explore new areas of study and research, and expand current programs. 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. 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.