[47], Baker serves on the Honorary Council of Advisers for the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce. His father was a partner of Houston law firm Baker Botts. The former secretary of state, they write, insisted the story was distorted at best. Baker is the namesake of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.[2]. Anybody with a spa or residential pool needs to make sure they have them checked out to prevent these types of accidents from happening.". Baker became chairman of Bush's Senate campaign in Harris County, Texas. In 1973 and 1974, Baker returned to full time practice of law at Andrews & Kurth. James Baker III, who served as chief of staff to former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. . 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 . 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. [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]. [36] In June 2004, he resigned from this position, frustrated over the lack of progress in reaching a complete settlement acceptable to both the government of Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front. [4] His grandfather was attorney and banker Captain James A. Baker, and his great-grandfather was jurist and politician Judge James A. Baker. by Peter Dreier. Also in 1993, the Enron Corporation hired Baker as a consultant within a month of his departure from the White House, and Enron said that Baker would have an opportunity to invest in any projects he developed. [26], Baker soon decided that Aaron David Miller and Daniel Kurtzer would be his principal aides in Middle Eastern policies. Providing actionable policy analysis and recommendations that aim to expand the economy through private enterprise. From 1981 to 1985, he served as White House chief of staff to President Reagan. 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. [19], When Ukraine became independent, Baker sought to ensure that Ukraine would give up its nuclear weapons. (1957) from The University of Texas at Austin and began to practice law in Texas. His positions on Israel would be considered anti-Israeli, perhaps even heretic, in todays GOP and the former secretary of state knows it. James Baker's son, Robert III, was the ancestor of the Hancock Co. Bakers. In 1973, Baker and Susan Garrett Winston, a divorcee and a close friend of Mary Stuart, were married. Baker was the Republican co-chair along with Democratic Representative Lee H. Hamilton, to advise Congress on Iraq. When we were talking with him about this, he thought the two-state solution was still the right goal, and that there had to be compromise on both sides to reach a workable and enduring resolution of the issue.. Family (1) Trivia (10) U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1985-1988 in the second Ronald Reagan administration. It was a political comment, Baker said, not an anti-Semitic comment, not a slur.. Baker III worked as White House chief of staff and secretary of the treasury under President Ronald Reagan, and as secretary of state and White House chief of staff under President George H.W. The book also shows how much the Republican Partys approach to Israel has changed over recent decades. 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. Mr. Baker served as Chairman until his death on Aug. 2, 1941. In March 1997, Baker became the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara. 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'". Baker also advised George W. Bush on Iraq. [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. Thats a testament not only to the great effort Baker invested in the Middle East peace process, but also to the central role Israel has played, and continues to play, in domestic U.S. politics: For every story in the book about shuttle diplomacy between Jerusalem and Arab capitals, theres a matching story about political fights surrounding Israel on Capitol Hill and inside the White House. They have one child. 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: . Addressing a broad range of policy issues that affect scientists and their research. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Facebook gives people the power. The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III, by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, is published by Doubleday, priced $35. "The whole thing is just a nightmare. James Addison Baker III, 61st Secretary of State Rise to Prominence Born in Texas on April 28, 1930, Baker attended prep school in Pennsylvania, and went on to graduate from Princeton University in 1952. Bakers reflections on those years of revolution, war and peace The Politics of Diplomacy was published in 1995. [26], After this landmark event, he did not work to further improve Arab-Israeli relations. By now, its probably the most famous quote attributed to the 90-year-old elder statesman. 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. 1990, statement of James A. Baker III. When Bush was elected, he only received 29% of Jewish voters' support, and his reelection was thought to be imminent, so there was little pressure on the administration to make bold moves in diplomatic relations with Israel. [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. He served until May 1976, ran Ford's 1976 presidential campaign, and unsuccessfully sought election as the Attorney General of Texas. 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. 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. Bush. Former Secretary of State James Baker III gives a eulogy during the funeral for former President George H.W. 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. Reagan appointed Baker as his White House Chief of Staff, and Baker remained in that position until 1985, when he became the Secretary of the Treasury. [10] Winston had two sons and a daughter with her former husband. Baker and his boss, the 41st president, were two of the most influential figures in GOP politics from the 1970s onward. Reagan rejected the Phillips-Wright request, but in 1985, he named Baker as United States Secretary of the Treasury, in a job-swap with then Secretary Donald T. Regan, a former Merrill Lynch officer who became Chief of Staff. 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. 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). "The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III," by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. His memoir, Work Hard, Studyand Keep Out of Politics!, was published in 2006. 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 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. [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. James A. Baker. [33] During his time at Enron, Baker tried to warn against the company's involvement with the Dabhol Power Station in India. One morning in March [of 1991], Baker woke up to see a screaming headline on the cover of the New York Post: BAKERS 4-LETTER INSULT: Secretary of State Rips Jews in Meeting at White House., The sensational headline led readers to a column by Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York who had become a tabloid columnist. Proud grandfather and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III dared graduates of his alma mater, The Hill School, on Saturday to be revolutionaries. As a result, we missed the multiple Nobel Prize . James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-Chair for the World Justice Project. 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. The son of a prosperous Houston attorney, Baker graduated from Princeton University in 1952 and then spent two years in the U.S. Marine Corps. James Addison Baker III, born 28 Apr 1930 Date 1989 Type Photograph Medium Color photograph on paper Dimensions Sheet: 35.6 27.9cm (14 11") Credit Line National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply Copyright William Coupon Object number NPG.90.TC16 Collection Description For 12 years, from 1980 to 1992, James A. Baker III operated as one of the most powerful non-elected officials in Washington, serving first as President Ronald Reagan's chief of staff and later . 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. BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times The Washington Post Fortune BloombergFrom two of America's most revered political journalists comes the definitive biography of legendary White House chief of staff and secretary of state James A. Baker III: the man who ran Washington when Washington ran the world.For a quarter-century, from the end of Watergate to the aftermath of the Cold . 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 . Newhouse, John. Baker III and the late Bush enjoyed a close 60-year friendship forged on the tennis courts. Israel, a country Baker visited countless times during his four years as President George H.W. 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. Bushs successful campaign for the presidential election of 1988 and thereupon was appointed secretary of state. In 1973 and 1974, in the wake of the Nixon Administration's implosion over Watergate, Baker returned to full-time law practice at Andrews & Kurth.[9][10]. James Baker has been featured repeatedly in the Russian investigations launched by the Justice Department. "It was cleaned and inspected the day before the party.". Baker married his first wife Mary Stuart McHenry in 1953. In 2000, Baker served as chief legal adviser for George W. Bush during the 2000 presidential election campaign and oversaw the Florida recount. The 23-year-old son of James A. Baker 3d, the White House chief of staff, has surrendered to the county authorities on a felony warrant charging him with delivering marijuana. 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. Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved, the fight in Congress over the loan guarantees. 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. Baker, however, was happy with the reception, The tension between the two governments became a full-blown crisis a year later in 1990 when, as described in the book, a deputy foreign minister named Benjamin Netanyahu openly assailed the United States for being too gullible in its dealings with the Palestinians., Netanyahu, then in his early 40s and a rising star in Likud, said in remarks to the media: It is astonishing that a superpower like the United States, which was supposed to be the symbol of political fairness and international honesty, is building its policy on a foundation of distortion and lies.. 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. Baker III worked as White House chief of staff and secretary of the treasury under President Ronald Reagan, and as secretary of state and White House chief of of staff under President George. My wife Lori and I flew to California to attend the memorial service for Secretary George Shultz '42 at Stanford University on October 7. Major gifts provide the funds necessary for the Baker Institute to explore new areas of study and research, and expand current programs. [41], 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 presidential election. [13] He served in that capacity until 1985. Ray Covey, HP staff / Houston Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 2 James Baker Oral History at Houston Oral History Project, November 20, 2007. John C. Baker. 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. Reagan rebuked Phillips and Wright for having waged a "campaign of sabotage" against Baker. In this August 11, 1990 file photo, President George H. W. Bush is pictured with his advisers on the Middle East crisis, including Secretary of State James Baker III, right. Indeed, Baker's family was so well off that his doting. James Baker was the latest in a long line of James Bakers. The Israeli government decided to expand the population further into Palestinian territories. Baker's record of public service began in 1975 as under secretary of commerce to President Gerald Ford. A representative for the elder Baker at his law firm said family members were unreachable as they made funeral preparations yesterday evening in Virginia. In 1985, Baker received the U.S. He left The Post in December 2020. 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. 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 . [27] Baker proved willing to confront Israeli officials on statements they made contrary to American interests.