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.". 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. A new biography of the former diplomat, written by two of the most accomplished reporters in present-day Washington, corrects the record about the infamous quote which was attributed to Baker at the height of his confrontations with Likud Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, in 1991. 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. Bush Changed the Face of the Middle East. In 1973 and 1974, Baker returned to full time practice of law at Andrews & Kurth. 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. He has been married to Susan Garrett Winston since 1973. 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. James A. Baker. Starting in the 19th century, his clan helped build the city of Houston. Baker remained active in business and public affairs after Bush's defeat in the 1992 presidential election. He also served as Chief of Staff and Secretary of the Treasury for Reagan and as Secretary of State for Bush. Baker helped to construct the 34-nation alliance that fought alongside the United States in the Gulf War. Baker III and the late Bush enjoyed a close 60-year friendship forged on the tennis courts. After graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, he pursued a legal career. What are James Bakers views on the future of international collaboration? The group also included Martin S. Feldstein and N. Gregory Mankiw. His father was a partner of Houston law firm Baker Botts.Baker has a sister, Bonner Baker Moffitt. They have six sons and two daughters, and 18 . He served until May 1976, ran Ford's 1976 presidential campaign, and unsuccessfully sought election as the Attorney General of Texas. Its ironic that James Bakers criticism of settlements, and his confrontations with Shamir and Netanyahu, led to accusations of hostility toward Jews, when in reality its evangelicals who have moved the Republican Party away from his positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 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. "Profiles: The Tactician". He is known for The American Ruling Class (2005), The Bush Years: Family, Duty, Power (2019) and Countdown to Zero (2010). Who is James Baker? The former secretary of state, they write, insisted the story was distorted at best. Phone: 713-348-4683 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. The first James Addison Baker arrived in Texas in 1852, a 31-year-old widower who came from Alabama at the urging of his late wife's family. [42] Bush would appoint another G. H. W. Bush Administration veteran, Robert Gates, instead, after the 2006 midterm elections. James Baker III looking through the Iraq Study Group report before delivering it to the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, December 7, 2006. Learn more about the Baker Institute's leadership and get contact information for the administrative staff. 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. In August 1975, he was appointed Under Secretary of Commerce by President Gerald Ford, succeeding John K. On September 11, 2001, Baker watched television coverage of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington DC, where Baker and representatives of Osama bin Laden's family were among those attending the annual conference for the Carlyle Group. In 1985, Baker received the U.S. 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. [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. Houston, TX 77005, Email: bipp@rice.edu 's Baker Hints Iraq Plan Needs Change". However, Baker changed his mind about running for Congress when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer; she died in February 1970. 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. 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. [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. Ron Sachs/CNP for NY Post After leaving the FBI, Twitter seemed eager to hire Baker. 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. [54] Mary Stuart Baker (Mary Stuart was her full first name) died of breast cancer in February 1970. 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. 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. 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. 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. Baker ran Bush's unsuccessful campaign for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination, but made a favorable impression on the Republican nominee, Ronald Reagan. In the Trump-led Republican Party of 2020, that position is shared by very few. Baker blocked the recognition of Palestine by threatening to cut funding to agencies in the United Nations. [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 helped to construct the 34-nation alliance that fought alongside the United States in the Gulf War. Doubleday; 720 pages; $35. The conference is covered extensively in the book, ending with a quote by James Baker telling his close aides he would like to move even further on the peace process after helping Bush win reelection. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. [26], After this landmark event, he did not work to further improve Arab-Israeli relations. James A. Baker III a t nomm par le prsident Bush, le 5 dcembre 2003, comme reprsentant spcial charg de rengocier la dette irakienne. 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 . Bibi Banks on Trump, but History Is Not on His Side, For Better or Worse, George H.W. He was a regular tennis partner of George H. W. Bush at the Houston Country Club in the late 1950s. [19] Bush and US defence secretary Dick Cheney were proponents for Soviet dissolution. They married in 1953. James A. Baker III. President George H. W. Bush appointed Baker Secretary of State in 1989. "G.O.P. Bakerwho served on George W. Bush's Homeland Security Councilis the son of James Baker, who for more than a decade was one of the most powerful people in Washington, serving from 1981 to. Connect to the World Family Tree to find out, James Addison BAKER, Ethel "Bonner" BAKER (born MEANS), Apr 28 1930 - Houston, Harris, Texas 77251, USA, James Addison Baker, Ethel Bonner Baker (born Means), Baker, Baker, Baker, Baker, 1940 - 1216 Bissonet, Houston, J P 1, Harris, Texas, USA, James Addison Baker, Bonner Baker (born Means), Mary Stuart McHenry, Susan Garrett Winston, James Addison Baker Jr., Ethel Bonner Jr. (born Means), 1216 Bissonnet, Houston, Harris, Texas, United States. Baker married his first wife Mary Stuart McHenry in 1953. Omissions? [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]. [18] Privately, Bush ignored Baker's assurances and later pushed for NATO's eastwards expansion. Geni requires JavaScript! Darman continued in the next administration as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Bakers grandson, was born in 1930 to the wealthy Baker family and attended Princeton University. [52], Baker began service on the Rice University board of trustees in 1993.[53]. Though Bush lost to Lloyd Bentsen in the election, Baker continued in politics, becoming the finance chairman of the Texas Republican Party in 1971. His grandfather was attorney and banker Captain James A. Baker, and his great-grandfather was jurist and . Jim Baker's War. As he remembered it, the presidents team was discussing a controversial policy in the Oval Office. 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. 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. 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. Baker attended The Hill School, a boarding school in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. James Addison Baker, III, was born April 28, 1930, into a wealthy Houston, Texas, family. History and family tradition tell of Robert III rescuing William Blount from the British who held him captive during . Since March 2006, Baker and former U.S. 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". [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'". Complete a form for event, media or other inquiries, and get directions and parking information for the Baker Institute. "The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III," by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. [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. 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. They claimed that Baker, a former Democrat and a Bush political intimate, was undermining conservative initiatives in the administration. . Around 1983 Baker became heavily dispirited and tired due to the weight of his job; he attempted to become National Security Advisor, a change to which Reagan initially agreed, but some of Reagan's other advisers dissuaded him from naming Baker to the position. 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. Baker became chairman of Bush's Senate campaign in Harris County, Texas. Newhouse, John. He married Mary McHenry in 1953 and they had four sons, James IV, Mike, John and Doug. Corrections? Baker was the Republican co-chair along with Democratic Representative Lee H. Hamilton, to advise Congress on Iraq. Anybody with a spa or residential pool needs to make sure they have them checked out to prevent these types of accidents from happening.". James Baker III, Self: The American Ruling Class. 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. "Unfortunately, it shouldn't take a death to make people more wary," Paul said. James A. Baker III '52: A Tribute to George Shultz '42 first appeared in the December 2021 issue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly. He also played a prominent role in the Florida recount for the current president. A family member found her, and it took two adults to dislodge her, authorities said. All of these confrontations with Israel and others that are mentioned in the book, such as the fight in Congress over the loan guarantees eventually took their toll on Bakers reputation. D URING THE confusion that followed the attempt on . 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. James Baker III, who served as chief of staff to former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. [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. Studying timely issues in global economic policy as well as developmental policy in foreign countries. She and Baker welcomed their daughter Mary Bonner Baker, born in 1977. James Addison Baker III[note 1] (born April 28, 1930)[1] is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. 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. John C. Baker. The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III. The book also shows how much the Republican Partys approach to Israel has changed over recent decades. 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. 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. Israeli officials and public were highly offended due to the tone of his speech, though his address called for little more than his predecessors. 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. 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. 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. The tall Texan with the impassive stare ranks as the only person to have served as White House chief of staff,. He graduated from Princeton University in 1952. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991. A drowning can happen in nearly a blink of the eye.". Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Baker served in this role through 1992. In addition to the university, Hermann Park, the land for the future Museum of Fine Arts were in proximity. Plan a gift that will ensure lasting, meaningful support for policy programs important to you. Reagan rebuked Phillips and Wright for having waged a "campaign of sabotage" against Baker. On the C-SPAN Networks: James A. Baker III has 241 videos in the C-SPAN Video Library; the first appearance was a 1976 Statement as a Manager for the Ford Presidential Campaign . They didnt vote for us., The word Jews didnt actually appear in the quote, but an editor at the Post inserted it in parentheses, presumably to help the readers understand who Baker was supposedly referring to. He resigned as Treasury Secretary to manage Bush's successful 1988 campaign for president. [19], When Ukraine became independent, Baker sought to ensure that Ukraine would give up its nuclear weapons. Until 2005 he was senior counsel to the Carlyle Group and is currently a senior partner at the law firm of Baker Botts. Bakers shuttle diplomacy, and his willingness to enter into heated political fights with Israels supporters in Washington, eventually led to the convening of the Madrid Conference in 1991 an important breakthrough in the peace process and one of the greatest foreign policy achievements of the George H.W. [4] His grandfather was attorney and banker Captain James A. Baker, and his great-grandfather was jurist and politician Judge James A. Baker. 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. Baker was the Republican co-chairman along with Democratic Congressman Lee H. Hamilton, to advise Congress on Iraq. Baker served as Undersecretary of Commerce under President Gerald Ford in 1975, and ran Ford's unsuccessful re-election campaign in 1976. He graduated cum laude with an A.B. In March 1997, Baker became the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara. [40] In December 2003, President George W. Bush appointed Baker as his special envoy to ask various foreign creditor nations to forgive or restructure $100billion in international debts owed by the Iraq government which had been incurred during the tenure of Saddam Hussein. Baker is already getting kudos as a skilled diplomat who engineered a . He also played a role in the development of the American Silver Eagle and American Gold Eagle coins, which both were released in 1986. As Secretary of State, he helped oversee U.S. foreign policy during the end of the Cold War and dissolution of the Soviet Union, as well as during the Gulf War. Indeed, Baker's family was so well off that his doting. In some cases, children who are trying to hold their breath underwater get pulled in and can't get out. Offering nonpartisan analysis of elections to better understand the changing dynamics of presidential campaigns. Baker voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, and said prior to the 2020 election that he would do so again. [26], More tensions rose in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with a massive influx of Jewish people from the Soviet Union moved to Israel. In 1993, Baker became the honorary chair of the James A. Baker III Institute of Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas. [27], During his first eight months under the Bush administration, there were five meetings with the PLO, which is far less than his predecessors. His father was a partner of Houston law firm Baker Botts. While serving as Treasury Secretary, Baker organized the Plaza Accord of September 1985 and the Baker Plan to target international debt. President Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal strategy received an unexpected endorsement Friday, Politico reports. 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. [47], Baker serves on the Honorary Council of Advisers for the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce.