The Honorable James A. Baker, III - Biography

James A. Baker, III, has served in senior government positions under three United States presidents.  He served as the nation's 61st secretary of state from 1989 through 1992 under President George H.W. Bush.  While at the State Department, Baker traveled to 90 foreign countries as the United States confronted the unprecedented challenges and opportunities of the post–Cold War era.  Baker’s reflections on those years of revolution, war and peace — “The Politics of Diplomacy” — was published in 1995.

Baker served as the 67th secretary of the treasury and chairman of the President’s Economic Policy Council from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan.  From 1981 to 1985, he served as White House chief of staff to President Reagan.  Baker's public service began in 1975 as under secretary of commerce to President Gerald Ford. It concluded with his service as White House chief of staff and senior counselor to President Bush from August 1992 to January 1993.  Additionally, Baker has led presidential campaigns for Presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush over the course of five consecutive presidential elections from 1976 to 1992.

A native Houstonian, Baker graduated from Princeton University in 1952. After two years of active duty as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, he entered The University of Texas School of Law at Austin.  He received his J.D. with honors in 1957 and practiced law with the Houston firm of Andrews and Kurth from 1957 to 1975.

Baker’s memoir — “Work Hard, Study . . . and Keep Out of Politics! Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life” — was published in October 2006.

Baker received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991, as well as many other awards for distinguished public service, including Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson Award, the American Institute for Public Service's Jefferson Award, Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government Award, The Hans J. Morgenthau Award, The George F. Kennan Award, the Department of the Treasury's Alexander Hamilton Award, the Department of State's Distinguished Service Award, and numerous honorary academic degrees.

Baker, currently a senior partner in the law firm of Baker Botts, is the honorary chairman of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and serves on the board of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  From 1997 to 2004, Baker served as the personal envoy of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to seek a political solution to the conflict over Western Sahara.  In 2003, Baker was appointed special presidential envoy for President George W. Bush on the issue of Iraqi debt. In 2005, he was co-chair, with former President Jimmy Carter, of the Federal Commission on Election Reform. In 2006, Baker and former U.S. Congressman Lee H. Hamilton served as the co-chairs of the Iraq Study Group, a bi-partisan blue-ribbon panel that examined a forward-looking approach to Iraq.

Baker was born in Houston, Texas, in 1930. He and his wife, the former Susan Garrett, currently reside in Houston and have eight children and 17 grandchildren.