Baker, James A., III 1930- (James Addison Baker, III)

PERSONAL:

Born April 28, 1930, in Houston, TX; son of James Addison II (an attorney) and Bonner Baker; married Mary McHenry, 1953 (died, 1970); married Susan Garrett Winston, 1973; children: (first marriage) four sons; (second marriage) three stepchildren, Mary Bonner. Education: Princeton University, B.A., 1952; University of Texas, LL.B. (with honors), 1957. Politics: Republican. Hobbies and other interests: Hunting.

ADDRESSES:

Office—James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Baker Hall, Ste. 120, Houston, TX 77005.

CAREER:

Admitted to the State Bar of Texas, 1957; also member of the American Bar Association and Houston Bar Association; Andrews, Kurth, Campbell & Jones (law firm), Houston, TX, lawyer, 1957-81; undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC, 1975-76; deputy chair for delegate operations on Gerald Ford's election campaign, became National Chairman of the President Ford Committee, 1976; unsuccessfully ran for the office of attorney general of Texas, 1978; campaign chair for George H.W. Bush, 1979-80; senior adviser to the Reagan-Bush presidential campaign, 1980; White House Chief of Staff, Washington, DC, 1981-85; secretary of the U.S. Department of Treasury, 1985-88; secretary of the U.S. Department of State, 1989-92; Rice University, Houston, TX, professor, 1993—, honorary chair of James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. Personal envoy for United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to the Western Sahara, 1997. Senior counselor to the Carlyle Group. Member of boards of Rice University, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Military service: United States Marine Corps, 1952-54; became lieutenant.

MEMBER:

American Judicature Society; Phi Delta Phi.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Distinguished alumnus, University of Texas, 1986; Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1991; Peace Award, National Association of Arab Americans, 1993; Woodrow Wilson Award, Princeton University; Jefferson Award, American Institute for Public Service; John F. Kennedy School of Government Award, Harvard University; Hans J. Morgenthau Award; George F. Kennan Award; Alexander Hamilton Award and distinguished service award, both from U.S. Department of State. Numerous honorary degrees.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

(With Thomas M. DeFrank) The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War, and Peace, 1989-1992, Putnam (New York, NY), 1995.

(With Steve Fiffer) Work Hard, Study—and Keep Out of Politics! Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life, Putnam (New York, NY), 2006.

Also author of foreword to Energy in the Caspian Region: Present and Future, edited by Yelena Kalyuzhnova and others, Palgrave (New York, NY), 2002; and Corwin W. Johnson: An Oral History Interview, by Sheree Scarborough, Jamail Center for Legal Research at the University of Texas at Austin, 2003.

SIDELIGHTS:

James A. Baker III has been a highly influential member of the Republican Party. He served as U.S. secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, and White House chief of staff at various times during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush; he was also instrumental in guiding Bush through his successful presidential campaign. Born into a wealthy Texas family, Baker had little interest in politics during his early years. He followed his father into law, and worked as a corporate attorney. It was during the 1950s that he became close friends with George H.W. Bush, who was then a U.S. representative from Texas. Baker managed Bush's campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1970, and although Bush did not win that election, Baker's career in politics began to blossom. He worked on the reelection campaign of Richard Nixon, was appointed undersecretary of commerce under Gerald R. Ford, and worked on the presidential election of George H.W. Bush in 1980. He is credited with steering Bush to the vice-presidential nomination once it became clear that he would not be a contender for the nation's highest office that year. When Ronald Reagan took office, Baker became the White House chief of staff. He was one of Reagan's most trusted advisers and continued to be a key player when George H.W. Bush took over the office. Baker is known as a quiet yet tough-minded individual, one who is not afraid to use his power but who does not rush into his decisions.

Baker's tenure as secretary of state came during one of the most momentous periods of world history from 1989 to 1992. The long-standing animosity between the United States and the Soviet Union was crumbling, with the physical barrier between East and West—the Berlin Wall—being torn down, American troops being withdrawn from Europe, and the democratization of many Eastern European countries that had long been under Communist rule. Baker visited more than ninety countries during his time as secretary of state. Then, during the first Persian Gulf war, Baker was instrumental in gaining support from a coalition of nations in the effort against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. In 1995 he published his reflections on the tumultuous years he served, The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War, and Peace, 1989-1992.

Baker's influence continued into the twenty-first century. During the second Persian Gulf conflict, under the presidency of George W. Bush, Baker was appointed as the president's personal envoy to Iraq, with the task of helping the country deal with its financial problems. In 2006 he served as the Republican cochair of the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan organization formed to advise President Bush about possible options for dealing with the war in Iraq. The report urged a quick withdrawal of American troops from the region, a greater reliance the use of Iraqi forces, and the use of more diplomatic solutions to the conflicts in the Middle East.

Also in 2006, Baker published a memoir that was more wide-ranging than The Politics of Diplomacy. Work Hard, Study—and Keep Out of Politics! Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life, written with Steve Fiffer, recalls in its title the words of advice Baker's grandfather once gave to him. The narrative covers most of the memorable events of Baker's life and career, and it offers commentary on the high points and brushes with scandal associated with Baker and the presidents he served. "It's a fairly lively read, and an interesting counterpoint to the current administration's woes," commented Carl P. Leubsdorf in the Dallas Morning News. The reviewer further noted the candor of the memoir, reporting that "the former secretary of state does nothing to disabuse the notion that, while loyally serving four presidents, he always looked out for himself." Leigh Mihlrad, reviewing the autobiography for Library Journal, suggested that it "will interest political junkies on both sides of the aisle."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, November 26, 2006, Stephen J. Hedges, "Baker, A Lifelong Fixer, Tackles the Problem of a Lifetime: Iraq."

Dallas Morning News, October 4, 2006, Carl P. Leubsdorf, review of Work Hard, Study—and Keep Out of Politics! Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life,

Houston Chronicle, October 18, 2006, Anne Belli, interview with James Baker; October 23, 2006, Fritz Lanham, review of Work Hard, Study—and Keep Out of Politics!

Library Journal, October 1, 2006, Leigh Mihlrad, review of Work Hard, Study—and Keep Out of Politics!, p. 85.

Middle East Quarterly, June, 2000, Daniel Pipes, "The Israeli-Syrian Dialogue: A One-Way Ticket to Peace?," p. 80.

Nation, November 1, 2004, Naomi Klein, "The Double Life of James Baker," p. 13.

New Yorker, May 7, 1990, John Newhouse, "The Tactician," pp. 50-82.

New York Times Magazine, May 6, 1990, Maureen Dowd and Thomas L. Friedman, "The Fabulous Bush and Baker Boys," pp. 34-36, 58, 62-64, 67.

Publishers Weekly, September 4, 2006, review of Work Hard, Study—and Keep Out of Politics!

Texas Monthly, October, 2006, Evan Smith, interview with James Baker, p. 70.

Time, October 9, 2006, Michael Duffy, interview with James Baker, p. 8.