Baker, James A. III: Files, 1981-1985

Biography

James Baker was born in Houston, Texas, in 1930, the son and grandson of prominent Houston attorneys. He attended the Hill School, a college preparatory boarding school in Pennsylvania which his father had attended. He continued to follow his father’s path by enrolling at Princeton University. After graduating from Princeton in 1952, Baker served two years as a lieutenant in the Marine Corps, then enrolled at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. He received his law degree in 1957, and was hired by the Houston law firm of Andrews and Kurth.

Baker’s first wife, who had been active with the Republican Party in Texas, died of cancer in February 1970. A grieving Baker accepted an offer from a close friend, Congressman George Bush, to help with Bush’s campaign for the US Senate that year. Although Baker had been a lifelong Democrat, he joined the Republican Party and served as Harris County campaign chairman for the Bush organization. After Bush lost the election in November 1970, Baker remained active in politics. He served as State Finance Chairman for the Republican Party of Texas in 1971, and Gulf Coast Regional Chairman for the Nixon Presidential campaign of 1972.

In mid-1975, Baker resigned from Andrews and Kurth to accept President’s Ford offer to serve as Undersecretary of Commerce. It has long been assumed that Bush, who was then serving as US Ambassador to China, had a role in getting this position for Baker. Baker resigned after nine months as Undersecretary, to work in President Ford’s 1976 reelection campaign. Baker helped Ford fend off Ronald Reagan’s challenge for the Republican Presidential nomination, then became national chairman of Ford’s general election campaign organization. In 1978 Baker made his own try at elective office, but lost in his bid to become Attorney General of Texas. The following year Bush, who had decided to run for President, made Baker the head of his campaign for the 1980 Republican Presidential nomination. Despite Baker’s record of supporting Ronald Reagan’s Republican opponents, Reagan recognized Baker’s managerial and political skills. He made Baker a senior adviser in his own Presidential campaign after winning the 1980 Republican Presidential nomination, and named him to be his White House Chief of Staff shortly after winning election as President.

In the Reagan White House, Baker, Edwin Meese III, and Michael K. Deaver formed a senior staff triumvirate which came to be called “the Troika.” Baker’s responsibilities included broad supervision of management and policy execution, with ultimate oversight over the White House offices of Legislative Affairs, Presidential Personnel, Communications (including press and media relations), Counsel, Political Affairs, Intergovernmental Affairs, and Public Liaison. He also maintained contact with Vice President Bush’s office. His assistant Richard Darman controlled the President’s schedule, as well as the paper flow in and out of the White House. Baker became known for his cautious and thorough approach to his job, and for his skill in devising solutions that could be sold within the executive branch, to Congress, and to the public. He helped convince Reagan to focus on tax reductions and increased defense spending early on, rather than spend political capital on social and cultural issues. Although Baker was not organizationally involved in policy formulation to the extent that Meese was, and despite some conservatives’ misgivings about him, his influence grew throughout President Reagan’s first term. He played a leading role in Reagan’s successful 1984 re-election.

Baker left the White House for the Treasury Department in February 1985, switching positions with Treasury Secretary Donald Regan. He resigned as Treasury Secretary in August 1988 so that he could manage Bush’s successful 1988 Presidential campaign. After Bush became President, Baker served as Secretary of State (1989-1992), then as White House Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor (1992-1993). He took the latter position so he could assist Bush’s faltering bid for reelection, but was unable to prevent Bush’s loss to Bill Clinton. In late 2000 Baker was a prominent spokesman for the George W. Bush campaign during the post-election controversy over the Florida vote count. In 2006 he co-chaired the Iraq Study group (aka the Baker-Hamilton Commission), a bipartisan group of people with long-term Government experience formed by Congress to submit recommendations on US policy in Iraq.

This collection consists only of files from Baker’s time as Ronald Reagan’s Chief of Staff. It is organized into five series, the first of which contains three subseries.

Compared to others on the White House staff, Baker wrote relatively few memos. Also, many documents created or utilized by Baker while he was Reagan’s Chief of Staff are filed in other White House collections. In particular, researchers should check the collections of Baker’s assistants James Cicconi, Richard Darman, Frank Hodsoll, and Margaret Tutwiler for additional material documenting his work as Chief of Staff.