Howard Baker

Howard Baker
Official portrait, 2001
26th United States Ambassador to Japan
In office July 5, 2001 – February 17, 2005
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Tom Foley
Succeeded by	Tom Schieffer
12th White House Chief of Staff
In office February 27, 1987 – July 3, 1988
President	Ronald Reagan
Deputy	Kenneth Duberstein
Preceded by	Donald Regan
Succeeded by	Kenneth Duberstein
Senate Majority Leader
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1985
Whip	Ted Stevens
Preceded by	Robert Byrd
Succeeded by	Bob Dole
Senate Minority Leader
In office March 5, 1980 – January 3, 1981
Whip	Ted Stevens
Preceded by	Ted Stevens (acting)
Succeeded by	Robert Byrd
In office January 3, 1977 – November 1, 1979
Whip	Ted Stevens
Preceded by	Hugh Scott
Succeeded by	Ted Stevens (acting)
Leader of the Senate Republican Conference
In office January 3, 1977 – November 1, 1979
Deputy	Ted Stevens
Preceded by	Hugh Scott
Succeeded by	Ted Stevens
In office March 5, 1980 – January 3, 1985
Deputy	Ted Stevens
Preceded by	Ted Stevens
Succeeded by	Bob Dole
United States Senator from Tennessee
In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1985
Preceded by	Ross Bass
Succeeded by	Al Gore
Personal details
Born	Howard Henry Baker Jr. (1925-11-15)November 15, 1925 Huntsville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	June 26, 2014(2014-06-26) (aged 88) Huntsville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Danice Joy Dirksen ​ ​ (m. 1951; died 1993)​ Nancy Kassebaum ​ (m. 1996)​
Children	2
Parents	Howard Baker Sr. (father) Dora Ladd (mother)
Education	Tulane University University of the South University of Tennessee (LLB)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1943–1946
Battles/wars	World War II
Howard Baker's voice Baker explains the benefits of televising Senate proceedings at a Senate Rules Committee hearing Recorded April 8, 1981

Watergate scandal
The Watergate complex in 2006
Events
List Presidency of Richard Nixon Timeline Nixon White House tapes Operation Sandwedge Operation Gemstone 1972 presidential election "Saturday Night Massacre" Impeachment process against Richard Nixon United States v. Nixon Resignation speech Inauguration of Gerald Ford
People
Watergate burglars Bernard Barker Virgilio Gonzalez Eugenio Martínez James W. McCord Jr. Frank Sturgis
Groups Master list of Nixon's political opponents Nixon's Enemies List Watergate Babies Watergate Seven White House Plumbers
CRP Committee for the Re-Election of the President Fred LaRue Jeb Stuart Magruder Robert Mardian John N. Mitchell Kenneth Parkinson Hugh W. Sloan Jr. Maurice Stans
White House Richard Nixon Alexander Butterfield Charles Colson John Dean John Ehrlichman Gerald Ford H. R. Haldeman E. Howard Hunt Egil Krogh G. Gordon Liddy Gordon C. Strachan Rose Mary Woods
Judiciary Archibald Cox Leon Jaworski John Sirica
Journalists Carl Bernstein Bob Woodward Barry Sussman Harry M. Rosenfeld Howard Simons Ben Bradlee Katharine Graham Lesley Stahl The Washington Post
Intelligence community Mark Felt ("Deep Throat") L. Patrick Gray Richard Helms James R. Schlesinger
Congress Howard Baker Sam Ervin Peter W. Rodino U.S. Senate Watergate Committee Impeachment process
Related Frank Wills (security guard) James F. Neal (prosecutor) All the President's Men (book, film) The Final Days (book, film) Blind Ambition (miniseries) Dick (1999 film) Mark Felt: The Man who Brought Down the White House (2017 film) Watergate (2019 board game) Slow Burn (2020 series) Gaslit (2022 series) White House Plumbers (2023 miniseries)
v t e

Howard Henry Baker Jr. (November 15, 1925 – June 26, 2014) was an American politician, diplomat and photographer who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985. During his tenure, he rose to the rank of Senate Minority Leader and then Senate Majority Leader. A member of the Republican Party, Baker was the first Republican to be elected to the U.S. Senate in Tennessee since the Reconstruction era.

Known in Washington, D.C., as the "Great Conciliator", Baker was often regarded as one of the most successful senators in terms of brokering compromises, enacting legislation, and maintaining civility. For example, he had a lead role in the fashioning and passing of the Clean Air Act of 1970 with Democratic senator Edmund Muskie.^[1] A moderate conservative, he was also respected by his Democratic colleagues.^[2]

Baker sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1980 but dropped out after the first set of primaries. From 1987 to 1988, he served as White House Chief of Staff for President Ronald Reagan. From 2001 to 2005, he was the United States Ambassador to Japan.