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'{{about|the politician|other uses|James Baker (disambiguation)|and|James Addison Baker (disambiguation)}} {{use mdy dates|date=January 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = James Baker |image = James A. Baker III, U.S. Secretary of State (2380044355).jpg |office = 10th and 16th [[White House Chief of Staff]] |president = [[George H. W. Bush]] |term_start = August 24, 1992 |term_end = January 20, 1993 |predecessor = [[Samuel K. Skinner]] |successor = [[Mack McLarty]] |president1 = [[Ronald Reagan]] |term_start1 = January 20, 1981 |term_end1 = February 3, 1985 |predecessor1 = [[Jack Watson (Presidential adviser)|Jack Watson]] |successor1 = [[Donald Regan]] |office2 = 61st [[United States Secretary of State]] |president2 = George H. W. Bush |term_start2 = January 25, 1989 |term_end2 = August 23, 1992 |deputy2 = [[Lawrence Eagleburger]] |predecessor2 = [[George P. Shultz]] |successor2 = [[Lawrence Eagleburger]] |office3 = 67th [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] |president3 = Ronald Reagan |term_start3 = February 4, 1985 |term_end3 = August 17, 1988 |predecessor3 = Donald Regan |successor3 = [[Nicholas F. Brady]] |deputy3 = [[Richard G. Darman]]<br />[[M. Peter McPherson]] |office4 = [[United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce|United States Under Secretary of Commerce]] |president4 = [[Gerald Ford]] |term_start4 = August 2, 1975 |term_end4 = May 7, 1976 |predecessor4 = John Tabor |successor4 = Edward Vetter |birth_name = James Addison Baker III |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1930|4|28}} |birth_place = [[Houston]], [[Texas]], U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (before 1970)<br>[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (1970–present) |spouse = {{marriage|Mary Stuart McHenry|1953|1970|end=d}}<br>{{marriage|Susan Garrett|1973}} |education = [[Princeton University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[University of Texas at Austin]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]]) |signature = James Addison Baker, III Signature.svg |allegiance = {{flagu|United States|1912}} |branch = {{Marines|United States}} |serviceyears = 1952–1954 (Active)<br>1954–1958 ([[United States Marine Corps Reserve|Reserve]]) |rank = {{Dodseal|USMCO3|25}} [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]] }} '''James Addison Baker III'''{{NoteTag|He is actually the fourth-generation successive James Addison Baker in his family, despite using the "III" [[generational suffix]]. {{crossref|See [[James A. Baker (born 1821)|Judge James A. Baker]], [[James A. Baker (born 1857)|Captain James A. Baker]] and [[James A. Baker Jr.]]}}}} (born April 28, 1930)<ref name="Historian">{{cite web |title=Biographies of the Secretaries of State: James Addison Baker III |url = https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/baker-james-addison |publisher=U.S. Department of State, [[Office of the Historian]] |accessdate=November 17, 2015 }}</ref> is an American attorney and political figure. He served as [[White House Chief of Staff]] and [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] under President [[Ronald Reagan]], and as [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] and White House Chief of Staff under President [[George H. W. Bush]]. Born in [[Houston]], Baker attended [[The Hill School]] and [[Princeton University]] before serving in the [[United States Marine Corps]]. After graduating from the [[University of Texas School of Law]], he pursued a legal career. He became a close friend of George H. W. Bush and worked for Bush's unsuccessful 1970 campaign for the [[United States Senate]]. After the campaign, he served in various positions for President [[Richard Nixon]]. In 1975, he was appointed Undersecretary of Commerce for [[Gerald Ford]]. He served until May 1976, ran Ford's 1976 presidential campaign, and unsuccessfully sought election as the [[Attorney General of Texas]]. Baker ran Bush's unsuccessful campaign for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination, but made a favorable impression on the Republican nominee, Ronald Reagan. 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. As Treasury Secretary, he arranged the [[Plaza Accord]] and the [[Baker Plan (debt relief)|Baker Plan]]. He resigned as Treasury Secretary to manage Bush's successful [[United States presidential election, 1988|1988 campaign]] for president. After the election, Bush appointed Baker to the position of Secretary of State. As Secretary of State, he helped oversee [[Foreign policy of the United States|U.S. foreign policy]] during the end of the [[Cold War]] and [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], as well as during the [[Gulf War]]. After the Gulf War, Baker served another stint as White House Chief of Staff from 1992 to 1993. Baker remained active in business and public affairs after Bush's defeat in the 1992 presidential election. He served as a [[United Nations]] envoy to [[Western Sahara]] and as a consultant to [[Enron]]. During the [[2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|Florida recount]] following the [[United States presidential election, 2000|2000 Presidential election]], he managed [[George W. Bush]]'s legal team in the state. He served as the co-chairman of the [[Iraq Study Group]], which Congress formed to study [[Iraq]] and the [[Iraq War]]. He serves on the [[World Justice Project]] and the [[Climate Leadership Council]]. Baker is the namesake of the [[James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy]] at [[Rice University]].<ref name=jbipp>{{cite web |url=http://bakerinstitute.org/about/about_bipp.cfm |title=About the Baker Institute |publisher=[[James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy]]|accessdate=September 5, 2011}}</ref> ==Early life and education== James Addison Baker was born in [[Houston]] at 1216 Bissonnet,<ref name=CofH-P4HDD>[http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/forms/procdesg.pdf City of Houston: Procedures for Historic District Designation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601175031/http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/forms/procdesg.pdf |date=June 1, 2010 }}. City of Houston. (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document). Retrieved: July 11, 2008</ref> the son of [[James A. Baker, Jr.]] (1892–1973) and Ethel Bonner (née Means) Baker (August 6, 1894 – April 26, 1991). His father was a partner of Houston law firm [[Baker Botts]]. Baker has a sister, Bonner Baker Moffitt.<ref>"Mother of Secretary of State Baker dies here at 96". ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. April 26, 1991. Retrieved: July 11, 2008</ref> His grandfather was attorney and banker [[James A. Baker (born 1857)|Captain James A. Baker]], and his great-grandfather was jurist and politician [[James A. Baker (born 1821)|Judge James A. Baker]]. Baker attended [[The Hill School]], a boarding school in [[Pottstown, Pennsylvania|Pottstown]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He graduated from [[Princeton University]] in 1952 with an [[A.B.]] in history ''cum laude''. He was a member of [[Phi Delta Theta]]. Baker was a member of the [[United States Marine Corps]] from 1952 to 1954, attaining the rank of [[First Lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]] as a naval gunfire officer serving in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] aboard the [[USS Monrovia (APA-31)|USS ''Monrovia'']]. He remained in the [[United States Marine Corps Reserve|Marine Corps Reserve]] until 1958, and rose to the rank of [[Captain (United States O-3)|captain]]. He earned a [[bachelor of laws]] (1957) from the [[University of Texas School of Law]] and began to practice law in Texas.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_NYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=James+Baker+university+texas+llb&source=bl&ots=7GVoxCnZZU&sig=qNxtapxAFDlb6N0aUxXM7GwJ39o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjx157fn4_ZAhVjmuAKHXIzDnYQ6AEIXDAJ#v=onepage&q=James%20Baker%20university%20texas%20llb&f=false The Alcalde: UT Austin Alumni Magazine (September – October 1991)]</ref> From 1957 to 1969, and then from 1973 to 1975, he practiced law at [[Andrews Kurth|Andrews & Kurth]]. ==Early political career== Baker's first wife, the former Mary Stuart McHenry, was active in the [[United States Republican Party|Republican Party]], working on the [[United States Congress|Congressional]] campaigns of [[George H. W. Bush]]. Originally, Baker had been a [[United States Democratic Party|Democrat]] but too busy trying to succeed in a competitive law firm to worry about politics, and considered himself [[apolitical]]. His wife's influence led Baker to politics and the Republican Party. He was a regular [[tennis]] partner of [[George H. W. Bush]] at the [[Houston Country Club]] in the late 1950s. When Bush Sr. decided to vacate his [[United States House of Representatives|Congressional]] seat and run for the [[U.S. Senate]] in 1970, he supported Baker's decision to run for the Congressional seat he was vacating. However, Baker changed his mind about running for Congress when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer; she died in February 1970. Bush Sr. then encouraged Baker to become active in politics to help deal with the grief of his wife's death, something that Bush Sr. himself had done when his daughter, Pauline Robinson (1949–1953), died of [[leukemia]]. Baker became chairman of Bush's Senate campaign in [[Harris County, Texas|Harris County]], Texas. Though Bush lost to [[Lloyd Bentsen]] in the election, Baker continued in politics, becoming the Finance Chairman of the Texas Republican Party in 1971. The following year, he was selected as Gulf Coast Regional Chairman for the [[Richard Nixon]] [[Richard Nixon presidential campaign, 1968|presidential campaign]]. In 1973 and 1974, in the wake of the Nixon Administration's [[Watergate scandal|implosion]], Baker returned to full-time law practice at Andrews & Kurth.<ref name=NewhouseJ-TNY-1990-05-07>Newhouse, John. "Profiles: The Tactician". ''[[The New Yorker]]''. May 7, 1990. pp.50–82. Retrieved July 11, 2008</ref><ref name="Baker Papers Bio">{{cite web|url=https://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/MC197/#description|title=Collection Creator Biography|work=James A. Baker III Papers; 1957-2011|author=Public Policy Papers, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library|accessdate=May 11, 2017}}</ref> Baker's time away from politics was very brief, however. In August 1975, he was appointed Undersecretary of Commerce by President [[Gerald Ford]], succeeding John K. Tabor.<ref>{{cite news |agency=United Press International |date=July 23, 1975 |title=Pittsburgh Businessman Ford Treasury Nominee |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/40424569/ |work=The Leader-Times |location=Kittanning, PA |url-access=subscription |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |page=1}}</ref> He served until May 1976, and was succeeded by Edward O. Vetter.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 24, 1976 |title=President Ford Wednesday Nominated Edward O. Vetter of Dallas, Tex., to be undersecretary of commerce |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/86832589/ |work=Santa Ana Register |location=Santa Ana, CA |url-access=subscription |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |page=4}}</ref> Baker resigned to serve as campaign manager of Ford's unsuccessful [[United States presidential election, 1976|1976 election campaign]]. In 1978, with [[George H. W. Bush]] as his campaign manager, Baker ran unsuccessfully for [[Texas Attorney General|Attorney General of Texas]], losing to future [[Texas governor]] [[Mark White]]. ==Reagan administration== [[File:The Troika 1981.jpg|right|thumb|"[[Troika (triumvirate)|The Troika]]" (from left to right) Chief of Staff James Baker, Counselor to the President [[Ed Meese]], [[Deputy White House Chief of Staff|Deputy Chief of Staff]] [[Michael Deaver]] at the White House, December 2, 1981]] 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 [[Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1976|1976]] and of George Bush in [[Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1980|1980]] opposing Reagan.<ref>James A. Baker III, ''Work Hard, Study... and Keep Out of Politics!'' (New York, 2006), 122.</ref> He served in that capacity until 1985. Baker is considered to have had a high degree of influence over the first Reagan administration, particularly in domestic policy. In 1982, conservative activists [[Howard Phillips (politics)|Howard Phillips]], founder of [[the Conservative Caucus]], and [[Clymer Wright]] of Houston joined in an unsuccessful effort to convince Reagan to dismiss Baker as Chief of Staff. They claimed that Baker, a former Democrat and a Bush political intimate, was undermining conservative initiatives in the administration. 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. Reagan rebuked Phillips and Wright for having waged a "campaign of sabotage" against Baker.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/05/us/briefing-186924.html|title=Phil Gailey and Warren Weaver, Jr., "Briefing"|work=[[The New York Times]], June 5, 1982|accessdate=January 27, 2011|date=June 5, 1982}}</ref> Baker managed Reagan's [[United States presidential election, 1984|1984 re-election campaign]] in which Reagan polled a record 525 electoral votes total (of a possible 538), and received 58.8% of the popular vote to [[Walter Mondale]]'s 40.6%.<ref>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1984&off=0&f=1 1984 National Results] U.S. Election Atlas</ref> While serving as Treasury Secretary, Baker organized the [[Plaza Accord]] of September 1985 and the [[Baker Plan (debt relief)|Baker Plan]] to target international debt. He had [[Richard Darman]] of [[Massachusetts]] as his Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. Darman continued in the next administration as the Director of the [[Office of Management and Budget]]. In 1985, Baker received the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually by [[Jefferson Awards for Public Service|Jefferson Awards]].<ref name="jeffersonawards">{{cite web |url=http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national |title=National Winners &#124; public service awards &#124; Jefferson Awards.org|publisher=jeffersonawards.org|accessdate=January 25, 2014}}</ref> 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. He also played a role in the development of the Silver Eagle and the Gold Eagle, which both were released in 1986. Baker also served on Reagan's [[United States National Security Council|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. ==Bush Administration== {{See also|George H.W. Bush#Foreign policy}} [[President of the United States|President]] [[George H.W. Bush]] appointed Baker [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] in 1989. Baker served in this role through 1992.<ref>[http://www.nndb.com/people/331/000023262/ NNDB profile.]</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.nndb.com/gov/238/000043109/ NNDB, "White House Chief of Staff" list.]</ref> 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...."<ref>Lawrence Freedman and Efraim Karsh, ''The Gulf conflict: diplomacy and war in the new world order'' (New Jersey, 1993), 257.</ref> Baker later acknowledged that the intent of this statement was to threaten a retaliatory [[nuclear warfare|nuclear strike]] on Iraq,<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plague/interviews/baker.html Plague war: Interviews: James Baker]. ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]''. [[PBS]]. 1995</ref> and the Iraqis received his message.<ref>2000. [https://books.google.com/books?id=s99RxDhaw9AC&pg=PA69 "Sadam's Toxic Arsenal"]. ''Planning the Unthinkable''. {{ISBN|0801437768}}</ref> Baker helped to construct the 34-nation alliance that fought alongside the United States in the Gulf War.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/program/james-baker/ James Baker: The Man Who Made Washington Work]. [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]. 2015</ref> He was awarded the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] in 1991. === Policies on Palestine === [[File:James Baker 1991 DA-ST-92-09582.jpg|thumb|Baker arriving in Kuwait, 1991]] Before the 1988 election, he and a team of some [[Middle East]]<nowiki/>ern policies experts created a report detailing the Palestine-Israel interactions. His team included [[Dennis Ross]] and many others who were soon appointed to the new Bush Administration. Baker blocked the recognition of Palestine by threatening to cut funding to agencies in the [[United Nations]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303657404576357721571060778|work=The Wall Street Journal|first=John|last=Bolton|title=How to Block the Palestine Statehood Ploy | date=June 3, 2011|url-access=subscription }}</ref> As far back as 1988, the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) issued a "declaration of statehood" and changed the name of its observer delegation to the United Nations from the PLO to Palestine. 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." In May 1989, he gave a speech at the annual conference of the [[American Israel Public Affairs Committee]]. 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". Israeli officials and public were very offended due to the tone of his speech, though his speech called for little more than his predecessors.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Christison|first=Kathleen|date=Autumn 1994|title=Splitting the Difference: The Palestinian-Israeli Policy of James Baker|journal=Journal of Palestine Studies|volume=24|issue=1|pages=39–50|jstor=2537981|doi=10.2307/2537981}}</ref> Baker soon decided that [[Aaron David Miller]] and [[Daniel Kurtzer]] would be his principal aids in Middle Eastern policies. All three have been reported as leaning toward the policies of the [[Israeli Labor Party]].<ref name=":0" /> Baker was notable for making little and slow efforts towards improving the state of Israeli-Palestinian relations. When Bush was elected, he only received 29% of [[Jewish American|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. During his first eight months under the Bush administration, there were five meetings with the PLO, which is far less than his predecessors. All serious issues that Palestine sought to discuss, such as elections and representation in the Israeli government, were delegated to [[Egypt]] for decisions to be made.<ref name=":0" /> More tensions rose in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with a massive influx of [[History of the Jews in the Soviet Union|Jewish people from the Soviet Union]] moved to Israel. The Israeli government decided to expand the population further into Palestinian territories. Amidst the growing support of [[Saddam Hussein]] in Palestine, due to his opposing of 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.<ref name=":0" /> Baker became the first American statesman to negotiate directly and officially with Palestinians in the [[Madrid Conference of 1991]], which was the first comprehensive peace conference that involved every party involved in the [[Arab-israeli conflict|Arab-Israeli conflict]] and the conference was designed to address all outstanding issues.<ref name=":0" /> After this landmark event, he did not work to further improve Arab-Israeli relations. The administration forced Israel to halt the development of the 6,000 planned housing units, but the 11,000 housing units already under construction were permitted to be completed and inhabited with no penalty.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" /> ==Post-Cabinet career== ===1993–2000=== {{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?68174-1/politics-diplomacy ''Booknotes'' interview with Baker on ''The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War and Peace, 1989-1992'', December 3, 1995], [[C-SPAN]]}} In 1993 Baker became the honorary chair of the [[James Baker Institute|James A. Baker III Institute of Public Policy]] at [[Rice University]] in Houston, Texas. 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.<ref name="NY Times">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/23/business/company-news-baker-and-mosbacher-are-hired-by-enron.html|title=Baker and Mosbacher Are Hired by Enron|publisher=NYTimes.com|accessdate=March 25, 2015}}</ref> In 1995, Baker published his [[memoirs]] of service as Secretary of State in a book entitled ''The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War and Peace, 1989–1992'' ({{ISBN|0-399-14087-5}}). In March 1997, Baker became the Personal Envoy of the [[UN Secretary-General]] for [[Western Sahara]].<ref>"U.N. ENVOY: Asking Baker to resolve dispute is good choice". ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. March 20, 1997</ref> 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]].<ref>[[United States Institute of Peace]] 1. Juli 2006: [https://www.usip.org/publications/2006/07/united-nations-and-western-sahara-never-ending-affair ''The United Nations and Western Sahara: A Never-ending Affair'']</ref> He left behind the [[baker plan|Baker II plan]], accepted as a suitable basis of negotiations by the Polisario and unanimously endorsed by the [[Security Council]], but rejected by Morocco.<ref>{{cite news|title=Baker resigns as UN mediator after seven years|url=http://www.irinnews.org/news/2004/06/14/baker-resigns-un-mediator-after-seven-years|accessdate=September 26, 2017|work=[[IRIN]]|date=June 14, 2004|location=Dakar|language=en}}</ref> In addition to the numerous recognitions received by Baker, he was presented with the prestigious [[Woodrow Wilson Awards|Woodrow Wilson Award]] for public service on September 13, 2000 in Washington, D.C.. === 2000 presidential election and recount === In 2000, Baker served as chief legal adviser for [[George W. Bush]] during the [[2000 U.S. presidential election|2000 presidential election]] campaign and oversaw the [[Florida recount]]. The 2008 film ''[[Recount (film)|Recount]]'' covers the days following the controversial election. During the making of the film Baker was interviewed. Baker was portrayed in the film by British actor [[Tom Wilkinson]]. === Roles during the Bush administration and Iraq War === On September 11, 2001, Baker watched television coverage of the [[September 11 attacks|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 [[Bin Laden family|family]] were among those attending the annual conference for the [[Carlyle Group]]. Baker is Senior Counselor for the Carlyle Group, and the bin Ladens are among its major investors.<ref name="nndb">{{cite web|url=http://www.nndb.com/people/331/000023262/|title=James Baker|publisher=nndb.com|accessdate=January 25, 2014}}</ref>{{dubious|date=June 2015}} ''[[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 United States Presidential election|2004 election]]. However, another G. H. W. Bush Administration veteran, [[Robert Gates]], was appointed instead, and only after the 2006 elections. Baker was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 2008.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B |url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|accessdate=April 14, 2011}}</ref> In December 2003, President [[George W. Bush]] appointed Baker as his special envoy to ask various foreign creditor nations to forgive or restructure $100&nbsp;billion in international debts owed by the Iraq government which had been incurred during the tenure of Saddam Hussein.<ref name=cnnking>King, John. [http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/05/sprj.nilaw.baker.appointment/ “Bush appoints Baker envoy on Iraqi debt”], "CNN.com", December 3, 2003, retrieved August 11, 2009.</ref> On March 15, 2006, [[United States Congress|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 [[United States|America]]'s policy on Iraq. Baker was the Republican Co-Chairman along with Democratic Congressman [[Lee H. Hamilton]], to advise Congress on [[Iraq]].<ref name=PaleyA-WP-2006-10-9>Paley, Amit R. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/08/AR2006100800267.html "U.S. and Iraqi Forces Clash With Sadr Militia in South"]. ''[[Washington Post]]''. October 9, 2006</ref> Baker also advised George W. Bush on [[Iraq]].<ref>[http://www.insightmag.com/Media/MediaManager/Baker.htm "Baker surfaces as key adviser to Bush on Iraq"]. ''Insight Magazine''. September 12, 2006</ref> 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.<ref name=SangerD-NYT-2006-10-09>Sanger, David E. "G.O.P.'s Baker Hints Iraq Plan Needs Change". ''[[New York Times]]''. October 9, 2006</ref> 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'". ===Other advisory positions=== [[File:Representative Engel, Former Secretaries Baker, Rice, Former NSC Adviser Scowcroft Disembark From U.S. Air Force Jet Upon Arrival in Riyadh.jpg|thumb|upright|Baker arriving in [[Riyadh]], [[Saudi Arabia]], 2015]] Baker serves on the Honorary Council of Advisers for the [[U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce]].<ref>[http://www.usacc.org/contents.php?cid=2 Honorary Council of Advisers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215092757/http://www.usacc.org/contents.php?cid=2 |date=December 15, 2007 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.usacc.org/ U.S. Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce]</ref> James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-Chair for the [[World Justice Project]]. 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. Baker is a leader of the [[Climate Leadership Council]], along with [[Henry Paulson]] and [[George P. Shultz]].<ref>{{cite news |author=John Schwartz |title='A Conservative Climate Solution': Republican Group Calls for Carbon Tax |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/science/a-conservative-climate-solution-republican-group-calls-for-carbon-tax.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 7, 2017 |access-date=April 17, 2017 |quote=The group, led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, with former Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Henry M. Paulson Jr., a former secretary of the Treasury, says that taxing carbon pollution produced by burning fossil fuels is "a conservative climate solution" based on free-market principles.}}</ref> In 2017, this group of "Republican elder statesmen" proposed that conservatives embrace a [[fee and dividend]] form of [[carbon tax]] (in which all revenue generated by the tax is rebated to the populace in the form of lump-sum dividends), as a policy to deal with [[Global warming|anthropogenic climate change]]. The group also included [[Martin S. Feldstein]] and [[N. Gregory Mankiw]].<ref>https://www.clcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/TheConservativeCaseforCarbonDividends.pdf</ref> Baker began service on the Rice University Board of Trustees in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ricewrc/00129/rice-00129.html|title=Guide to the Baker Family papers, 1853-1971 MS 040|series=Texas Archival Resources Online|access-date= August 18, 2018}}</ref> ==Personal life== Baker met his first wife, the former Mary Stuart McHenry, of [[Dayton, Ohio]] while on [[spring break]] in [[Bermuda]] with the [[Princeton Rugby|Princeton University rugby team]]. They married in 1953. Together they had four sons. Mary Stuart Baker (Mary Stuart was her full first name) died of breast cancer in February 1970. In 1973, Baker and Susan Garrett Winston, a divorcee and a close friend of Mary Stuart, were married.<ref name="Baker Papers Bio"/> Winston had two sons and a daughter with her late husband. She and Baker welcomed their daughter Mary Bonner Baker born in 1977. 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-pump entrapment in an in-ground spa.<ref>Dumas, Bob. [http://www.poolspanews.com/2003/102/102entrapment.html "Troubled Waters"] ''Pool & Spa News''. October 2003</ref> To promote greater safety in pools and spas, Nancy Baker gave testimony to the [[Consumer Product Safety Commission]],<ref>Chow, Shern-Min. [http://www.vac-alert.com/News/articles/StoryArchiveF/archive6.html "Former Secretary of state pushes for hot tub safety standards"]. Vac-Alert. June 29, 2007</ref> and James Baker helped form an advocacy group,<ref>Press Releases: [http://www.usa.safekids.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=22070&folder_id=300 "Former Secretary of State James Baker speaks in support of legislation intended to prevent accidental drowning"]. Safe Kids Worldwide. May 2, 2006</ref> which led to the [[Virginia Graeme Baker Pool And Spa Safety Act]] (15 USC 8001).<ref>[http://www.cpsc.gov/pssa.pdf "Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529202550/http://www.cpsc.gov/pssa.pdf |date=May 29, 2008 }}. Consumer Product Safety Commission. [http://www.vac-alert.com/documents/cpsc_staff_interpretations_tradefinal.pdf at Vac-Alert] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910004219/http://www.vac-alert.com/documents/cpsc_staff_interpretations_tradefinal.pdf |date=September 10, 2008 }}. (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document)</ref> ==Honors== *[[File:JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR.svg|55px|ribbon bar]] Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Rising Sun]] (2015) == Notes == {{NoteFoot}} == References == {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== ===Works by=== * 1995: ''The Politics of Diplomacy''. with Thomas M. DeFrank. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. {{ISBN|9780399140877}}. * 2006: ''"Work Hard, Study... And Keep Out of Politics!": Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life''. with Steve Fiffer. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. {{ISBN|9780399153778}}. ===Works about=== * Bryce, Robert, (2004). ''Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America's Superstate''. New York: [[Perseus Books Group]]. {{ISBN|9781586481889}}. ==External links== {{Wikiquote}} * [http://archives.library.rice.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/193440 Baker, James III](Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA) * [http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/tm70mv18x James Addison Baker Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University] * [http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/70795772c James A. Baker III Oral History Collection at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203745/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2006/11/27/news/16726.shtml Profile in the Daily Princetonian] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080528213810/http://www.bakerbotts.com/lawyers/detail.aspx?id=a1789334-3f27-48d5-b844-211455e4beff Biography on Baker Botts LLP website] * [http://www.bakerinstitute.org Baker Institute for Public Policy] * {{C-SPAN|James Baker}} * [http://digital.houstonlibrary.org/cdm/ref/collection/oralhistory/id/38 James Baker Oral History at Houston Oral History Project, November 20, 2007.] {{-}} {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=[[Jack Watson (Presidential adviser)|Jack Watson]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[White House Chief of Staff]]|years=1981–1985}} {{s-aft|after=[[Donald Regan|Don Regan]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Donald Regan|Don Regan]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[United States Secretary of the Treasury]]|years=1985–1988}} {{s-aft|after=[[Nicholas F. Brady|Nicholas Brady]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[George P. Shultz|George Shultz]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[United States Secretary of State]]|years=1989–1992}} {{s-aft|after=[[Lawrence Eagleburger]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Samuel K. Skinner|Samuel Skinner]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[White House Chief of Staff]]|years=1992–1993}} {{s-aft|after=[[Mack McLarty]]}} {{s-end}} {{ISG}} {{USSecTreas}} {{USSecState}} {{WHCOS}} {{Reagan cabinet}} {{GHW Bush cabinet}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, James}} [[Category:1930 births]] [[Category:20th-century American politicians]] [[Category:American campaign managers]] [[Category:American Episcopalians]] [[Category:American memoirists]] [[Category:Carlyle Group people]] [[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] [[Category:George H. W. Bush administration cabinet members]] [[Category:George W. 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