166 78 87MB
English Pages 480 [512]
.
ELVEDERE TIBURQN LIBRARY
mm A. /I
3 1111 02283 9680
J
with
?m
STUDY.
.
KEEP
OUT of POLITICS!" Adventures and Lessons from an
Unexpected Public Life
Steve Fiffer
— $28.95
Canada $36.00
A revelatory memoir from one minds
political
The
of the great
of our time.
inside story of the battle for Florida
2000;
the
aborted
White House
job
switch that inadvertently opened the door
Iran-Contra
the
to
scandal;
White House
the
turmoil in the dark days following the Reagan assassination attempt;
why Gerald Ford
Ronald Reagan to be
his
and why Reagan did not pick Ford
Bush campaign's
deal
desire
more
.
.
in
offer
1992; and a great
in
.
White House Chief of Staff (twice), State,
1980; the
Dan Quayle
that
from the ticket
to resign
did not ask
running mate in 1976
Secretary of
of the Treasury, and campaign
Secretary
chairman or leader
for three different candidates in
five successive presidential
campaigns
have lived and breathed politics
as
—few people
deeply
as
James
Baker, and now, with candor, Texas-style storytelling,
and not
a few surprises, he takes us into
behind the scenes.
thirty-five years
None
of
father, "the
it
was planned. The advice of his grand-
hard, study
.
.
.
and keep out of
Texas
looked back.
—"Work
politics!"
then a personal tragedy changed the year-old
him
Captain," was drilled into
life
— but
of a forty-
Democrat lawyer, and he never
From campaign
sometimes got rough
horsetrading, which
("Politics ain't beanbag," says
Baker), to the inner councils of the
Reagan and
Bush administrations,
to the controversies of today,
Baker
and spellbinding narratives,
offers frank talk
along with personal appraisals of six presidents and a constellation of others. It
was a long, unexpected
journey from Houston, Texas, to Washington, D.C.
—and 0610
you'll
want
to travel
it
with him.
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http://www.archive.org/details/workhardstudykeeOObake
'WORK HARD, STUDY
AND
.
KEEP
.
.
OUT OF
POLITICS!
ALSO BY JAMES The Revolution,
War &
Politics of
A.
BAKER,
III
Diplomacy:
Peace, 1989-1992 (with
Thomas M. DeFrank)
"WORK HARD,
AND
STUDY...
KEEP
OUT
OF POLITICS!" ADVENTURES AND LESSONS FROM AN UNEXPECTED PUBLIC LIFE
JAMES
A.
BAKER, with
III STEVE FIFFER
G.
P.
PUTNAM'S SONS
New
York
— —
HIP G.
P.
PUTNAM'S SONS
Publishers Since 1838
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Published by the Penguin
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James Addison, hard, study
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.
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.
date.
and keep out of
life
/James
politics!":
A. Baker,
III
;
adventures and lessons from an
with Steve
Fiffer.
cm.
p.
Includes index.
ISBN-1 3: 978-0-399-15377-8 ISBN-10: 0-399-15377-2 1
.
3.
Baker,
— United
Biography. States
—
—Philosophy. James Addison, — Biography. Cabinet — United United United — and government— 1981-1989. and government— 1989James Addison, and United — — United
James Addison,
Statesmen
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E840.8.B315A3
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States
officers
4.
Politics
Philosophy.
date
Baker,
2.
States
Fiffer, Steve.
date
Baker,
States.
9.
II.
States
Politics
Title.
2006022305
2006
973.92092—dc22 [B]
Published 10
9
8
in the 7
6
United States of America 5
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3
2
1
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TO THOSE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
WHO
GAVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE
AN UNEXPECTED PUBLIC
LIFE
4
CONTENTS
PREFACE 1.
xi
"Number One, About
I
Don't
Politics"
Know Anything
1
2.
"Gobblers and Hens"
3.
"The Closest Presidential Election in
Your Lifetime"
27
You'll
50
You Off?"
4.
"Doesn't
5.
"I
6.
"President Reagan Doesn't Like Yes
Want
No,
Piss
It
to
Say
No"
7.
"Spared for
8.
"A Reformed Drunk"
9.
"Catching Javelins"
10.
11.
a
Go
Back
to Texas"
98
Men. When He Says
122
Purpose"
142
165
192
"Jimmy, You're Massaging "If That's
73
Talk to You Before You
We All
Ever See
Me"
2
1
What You Want, George, That's What We'll Do"
235
12.
"If You're
So Smart, Jimmy,
and You're Not?"
2
How Come
55
13.
"From 'Fencing Master'
14.
"The One Constant
15.
"I
16.
"Good Evening, Mr.
President-Elect"
17.
"Mr. President, This
Is
18.
Done This"
in Politics Is
78
Change"
309
36
the First
361
Time
407
Item One on Our Agenda Was the Dollar"
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 447
Not
3
2
391
"A Single Bluebell"
APPENDIX:
INDEX
to 'Foxtail'"
Don't Miss Washington"
I've
I'm Vice President
443
426
PREFACE
I
was in Washington, D.C., on January
20, 1953, the crisp,
sunny day that Dwight David Eisenhower was inaugurated tion's thirty-fourth president.
At the time,
was
I
a
our na-
as
twenty-two-year-old
second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, on leave from nearby Quantico, Virginia.
My
Dayton, Ohio, was in town for
fiancee,
a visit
Mary
before
I
Stuart
McHenry, of
shipped out.
the Marines' platoon leader officer program the
summer
I
had joined
after
my
ju-
nior year at Princeton, in part to keep from being drafted before
graduated.
The Korean War was
raging
when
I
signed up, and
I
I
fully
expected to be sent there.
down
Strolling ration,
very
much
the street
said,
Mary
in love,
dressed older gentleman.
arm
I
arm on the day before the inaugu-
in
Stuart and
was wearing
"thank you for your service.
I
have
lieutenant in Korea. I'm wondering, tickets to the inaugural
"Yes,
Mary
sir,"
I
said to
Stuart and
I
my a
I
were stopped by
a well-
uniform. "Lieutenant," he
son
who
is
a
Marine second
would you and your lady
like
two
parade tomorrow?"
our anonymous benefactor, "and thank you."
showed up early the next day
to claim
our seats
XII
PREFACE
*
and discovered they were on the
of Lafayette Park, directly across
lip
Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House and only
downstream from the presidential reviewing 750,000 people attended the inaugural
An
estimated
and except
Richard Nixon, and the dig-
and family members with them, we had some of the best
nitaries
seats
town.
As
floats
and marching bands streamed
35mm camera.
I
have the
still
by,
I
clicked away with
my
including one of President Eisen-
slides,
hower and John Foster Dulles, soon as
few yards
festivities that day,
for President Eisenhower, Vice President
in
stand.
a
sworn
to be
in as secretary
of
state,
they drove past, and another of a cowboy roping the president in the
reviewing standi Newspaper accounts said the parade lasted about four hours.
The
can't
I
remember
dignitaries (and
on only
a light
Mary
uniform
a great experience.
Stuart)
jacket.
Mary
we
if
stayed until the end, but all
I
doubt
wore heavy overcoats, but
Whatever the weather, however,
Stuart and
it.
I
had
it
was
had no idea what the months
I
ahead might bring, but that day we were happy and thankful.
Twenty-eight years office, this
later
another president-elect took the oath of
time on the terrace of the west front of the Capitol.
privileged to attend both the inauguration that followed. This time, stand, however;
chief of
staff,
sat in
I
I
didn't
it.
I
legislative
me my
years,
first fifty
unexpected After
as
my
presence
Houston law
firm. In
like that
fMore than
and
my
political realities.
presence at Ike's,
at this
and
active
I
about the economy
To
those
who knew
1981 inauguration was as
was
just as surprised.
duty with the Marines and three to a career in a
time away from the demands of the
major
office,
I
would happen today, of course. After the assassination of President lives
now enclosed by
half a century
are stored on the
his ideas
had dedicated myself
I
Kennedy and attempts on the ing stands are
ceremony and the parade
was to be Ronald Reagan's White House
my two-year tour of
years of law school,
'Nothing
my
was
across from the parade reviewing
sit
charged with helping turn
and defense into
I
later,
same shelf
at
of Presidents Ford and Reagan, White House review-
thick bulletproof glass.
my public service
and
Princeton's Seeley G.
political papers, as well as Dulles's,
Mudd
Manuscript Library.
— PREFACE was more interested
ment
a
than serving in a govern-
in serving a tennis ball
job or a political campaign.
What was
XIII
*
blew
finally
my
off
life
deep personal tragedy
friend invited
me
Afterward, a Republican
in early 1970.
my
to get involved in
losing bid for the U.S. Senate that
new and
more-or-less conventional course
its
same
first
year.
campaign
political I
threw myself into
exciting project, and if politics didn't exactly save
certainly helped preserve
my
in as president, that friend,
When
sanity.
came up
"Bake," he said, "who'da thunk
to
my
his
this
life, it
Ronald Reagan was sworn
George H. W. Bush, was sworn
president. Later that day, he
—
in as vice
me, smiling.
it?"
Who, indeed? Few have had two
the opportunity to serve six American presidents
in the military and,
decades
later,
three in senior government po-
sitions,
then one more on several special projects. In
Politics
of Diplomacy: Revolution,
how
about
tail
during
my
& Peace, 1989-1992,
four years as secretary of state under the
is
1
The
wrote in de-
the world changed, dramatically and fundamentally,
Bush. While revisiting
aim here
War
my first book,
some of those events
to tell the story of
my
in this
first
President
second book,
my
journey from Houston, Texas, to
Washington, D.C., then around the world, and to share memories of the political campaigns, the presidential administrations in which served, and the other offices
But
I
hope
to
do more.
I
ease
when
held.
I've
of a century, some in private
now
life,
some
in public service. I'm
life,
ideas.
more
I'm getting things done in the world of action than in
some
of what happened,
But what
what
it all
lessons (often the hard way) and
ideas about politics and public policy.
my
more than three-quarters
lived
ring the ashes of the past and writing about
learned
I
offer in this
I
I'll
While I'm
also share a
meant.
at
stir-
Still, I've
worked out some telling the story
of
few of these lessons and
book are not grand
theories; they are the
XIV
PREFACE
+
one man's hard-won experiences during
lessons from ied
long and var-
a
life.
Soon after Mary Stuart and
I
watched the inaugural parade of one
now my com-
of the great war leaders of the twentieth century,
mander
in chief,
I
shipped out from Quantico.
the Mediterranean, not Korea.
My
The Corps
me
sent
to
months of service with the Sixth
Fleet and the reinforced battalion of Marines that the United States
maintains in the Mediterranean, even to this day, were not unpleasant and, obviously, were considerably less dangerous than even a few days in Korea.
That bloody
conflict occupies a
consciousness between the glory of World
ment of Vietnam, and
is
Basic School insula.
I
—men
knew
I
—
of
my
in a loving
home
ing gone away from Princeton,
home under for
our national
and the disappoint-
something
sacrificed their lives
survived and they didn't, which
Houston
It's
II
in
I
never for-
classmates from Marine Corps
still
We have no say in choosing our parents. in
War
too often forgotten.
many
however, because
get,
hazy zone
I
on the Korean pen-
triggers a bit of guilt.
was fortunate to grow up
comfortable circumstances. Hav-
two years of prep school, then on
entered the Marines as an immature young man.
I
I
to
left
with more personal discipline and with a greater sense of purpose the products of military training, of facing
up
to
what
it
means
to pre-
pare for combat in time of war, and of losing young friends whose potential
seemed
so limitless.
As the old saying rine."
state
tesy
goes,
Early in 1989, after
I
"There
is
no such thing
was sworn in
as a
former
as the sixty-first secretary
of the United States, the commandant of the Corps paid call.
When
at the State
General Al Gray walked into
Department with
remind myself that
I
his four stars
was no longer
a
Ma-
my
a
of
cour-
seventh-floor office
on each shoulder,
I
had
to
second lieutenant who should
stand and salute.
We
had
a
very pleasant
visit.
"Mr. Secretary,
the general said as he prepared to depart.
He
I
left a
have
a gift for you,"
stack of small busi-
— PREFACE
XV
*
ness cards with a military camouflage background. In the center of
each card in large rine."
And under
While
letters was,
"James A. Baker,
very tiny
that, in
in that office,
I
letters,
III,
"and Secretary of State."
participated in the decision to dispatch
Marines and other servicemen and -women to
No
matter
how
just the cause,
Americans into combat, but met.
To
stand aside
it's
fight in the
a responsibility that, at times,
when America's core
In his inaugural address, President
By then
the Cold
a
must be
is
dangerous.
Eisenhower called
for peace,
When
President
twenty-eight years
War had become
send
interests are challenged, as
but promised that America would remain strong. his oath
Gulf War.
a sobering responsibility to
it is
the nation was tempted to do after Vietnam,
Reagan took
Ma-
United States
later,
he said the same thing.
seemingly permanent feature of
the second half of the twentieth century.
The
payoff for four decades of American leadership and resolve
came during the
fall
communism
of
my friend George
the presidency of
in Eastern
classical liberalism
economic freedom, self-government, and the
personal, religious, and
—
We saw
Europe and the Soviet Union.
With the end of the Cold War, the principles of
rule of law
H. W. Bush.
prevailed against totalitarian ideology. There were other
victories, as well, including the
renewed hopes
for
end of apartheid
peace in the Middle East.
the United States was (and
it
in
South Africa and
When those years ended,
remains) the world's sole surviving
superpower.
Our
geopolitical rival in the
Cold War was the expansionist and
nuclear-armed Soviet Union. Our adversaries today terrorist organizations
and nuclear ambitions
—
transnational
and smaller nations with authoritarian rulers
—present
truths remain, however.
As
it
different kinds of threats. Certain
has since World
War
II,
the source of
America's power rests in no small part on our ability to project strength responsibly around the world and our willingness to use that strength
when necessary
in
My full-time career in of President
Bill
Clinton
furtherance of our values and interests.
public service ended with the inauguration
in 1993. In the
previous thirteen years,
I
had
XVI
PREFACE
+
served as White House chief of retary of state, and
I
staff,
secretary of the treasury, and sec-
had led presidential election campaigns.
was time to do other things
—spend time
with
my
was
I
tired,
and
write
my diplomatic memoir; serve as senior partner for Baker Botts, my
it
family;
law firm, and as senior counselor for the Carlyle Group, a Washington-
based private equity firm; help establish the James A. Baker
III Insti-
do
tute for Public Policy as a first-rate think tank at Rice University;
some public speaking; submit the occasional op-ed piece on me; and hunt,
that interested
fish,
and play
In the years after 1993, however, several times. Kofi
Annan asked me to
I
topics
golf.
have been called off the bench
try to help resolve a lingering dis-
pute in Western Sahara, and candidate George W. Bush asked
me
to
help preserve his 2000 presidential election victory in Florida, then to serve as his envoy or representative on several special projects
and 2004,
a mission to
persuade countries to forgive
of the debt owed to them by
Iraq; a trip to the
of Georgia in 2004 to encourage
—
in
2003
a substantial share
former Soviet Republic
my old friend Eduard Shevardnadze to
support a free election; service in 2005 as cochairman with President
Jimmy
Carter of the Commission on Federal Election Reform; and a
call later that
year to chair the American delegation to Israel on the
tenth anniversary of the assassination of
minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin.
More
cochair of a bipartisan study group to
ment of the All but
friend, the
recently
make
a
I
former prime
agreed to serve as
forward-looking assess-
situation in Iraq.
one of those summonses came
seventieth birthday All were unsought.
affairs
after
had celebrated
I
None had
that earned a dollar a year before taxes.*
my own
my
a salary,
So why did
and the pleasures of private
life
I
my
except one
take time from
to accept these
com-
missions?
For several reasons,
*I
I
suppose. For one, the projects were interest-
lowever, federal law required that
count effort
in 2000.
my
law firm be paid for
its
work
in the Florida re-
PREFACE For another,
ing.
The
For the
service),
I
came my
takes
first
is
that
few years of
my
had largely
left
friendship with
tragedy, and I
thought that each one had
biggest reason, however,
bility.
us,
I
service.
This
adult
life
felt a
some
life to
my
military
others.
Then
service.
Each of
the world a better place. All
it
part of our time and talent to public
a small price, really, for the privilege
is
my
family's personal
and public
life in politics
make
sense of responsi-
(except for
George H. W. Bush,
my unexpected
the dedication of
simply
XVI
worthy purpose or goal.
the burdens of public
learned, has the capacity to is
I
a
*
of our great nation. As a young man,
I
had
sat
of being
on the
a citizen
sidelines;
now
I
understood the importance of joining the parade.
"We must be ever sacrifices
willing, individually
may be
his inaugural address
indispensable role," he said.
My hope
is
iation for the
that this
both one's very is
accept what-
first
book
years ago. Each citizen "plays an
person, no home, no
come
community can
"whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the heart of America."
will help the reader gain
some apprec-
importance of participation in public service and
corollary, politics,
citizens that
"No
fifty
this call," for
world must
to pass in the
as a nation, to
required of us," President Eisenhower said in
more than
be beyond the reach of
and
its
and also for the satisfaction that comes from giving
best.
For
it is
the promise of such participation by our
the best hope for our country's future.
ONE
"NUMBER ONE,
I
DON'T
ANYTHING ABOUT
The presidential election results
came
in, it
KNOW
POLITICS"
was the tightest in
was apparent that
a small
a century.
number of
As the
votes for
my
candidate or his opponent would swing the contest one way or the other.
When
I
finally
went
to
bed
at 3:00 a.m.,
I
was certain
I
would
never see another race for president decided by such a narrow margin. Boy, was
I
wrong.
The 1976
race between
Gerald Ford was votes in
Governor Jimmy Carter and President
close. If there
Ohio and 3,700
had been
in Hawaii,
a shift
of fewer than 5,600
Ford would have retained the pres-
idency, winning the electoral vote while losing the popular election.
But '76 now pales in comparison to the 2000 race between Vice President Al Gore and Governor George W. Bush. That one was decided by 537 votes in Florida and a 7-2 margin in the U.S. Supreme Court more than a month after the balloting. As most everyone knows, although
Gore won
the popular vote, Bush prevailed in the Electoral College.
In 1970, as a tle interest
that
I
tests,
forty-year-old Houston corporate lawyer
and no experience
in politics,
would be intimately involved
much
less both.
Nor could
I
I
who had
lit-
could never have imagined
in either
of these presidential con-
ever have dreamed that
1
would lead
1
IAMES
*
A.
BAKER.
Ill
successive presidential campaigns for three different candidates.
five
Ar the beginning of 1975,
By that
fall,
I
was
I
was
still
Washington, D.C., second
in
command
in
partment of Commerce. And by the summer of
chairman
for the
Ford-Dole
Who'da thunk
ticket.
my hometown.
practicing law in
'76,
at the
was campaign
I
it?
we had come back from
Before losing narrowly to Carter,
Many
digit deficit after the conventions.
De-
a
double-
observers believe that
if
Ford-Dole had been Ford-Reagan, we would have won. So why didn't Ford tap Reagan for the second spot and create
The
He had
a
dream
ticket?
actor-turned-politician from California was the obvious choice. a
huge core of supporters, and he was
Moreover, he had
just
turned out to be the
a great
campaigner.
missed getting the nomination himself
last
at
what
closely contested national convention in this
nation's history.
President Ford was not happy that Governor Reagan had
such
mounted
strong challenge against a sitting president. But other nomi-
a
nees have chosen runner-ups after bitter contests, particularly
if
those
runner-ups could improve the chances of victory in November. John
Kennedy picked Lyndon Johnson
that way.
F.
While the chemistry be-
tween Ford and Reagan was not good, that alone didn't impel Ford to bypass Reagan. Most accounts say there was another reason. Early during President Reagan's
House chief of
staff,
dent,"
we
I
said, as
he and
I
first
discussed
sat together
when
term, this.
I
was
his
White
"You know, Mr. Presi-
alone in the Oval Office one day,
"if
President Ford had asked you to run with him, he would have won,
and you might never have been president." "You're right," the president responded. "But if
he had asked,
I'd
have
felt
duty-bound
"President Ford didn't ask you,"
I
that,
have to
tell
you, Jim,
to run."
replied, "because
from your campaign that you would join him for the condition that he wouldn't offer
I
we
a unity
received
word
meeting only on
you the vice presidency. And besides
vou very publicly shut down the movement by your supporters
Kansas City to draft you for the vice presidential nomination."
in
"WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF "Look," President Reagan said, president, and
anyone
telling spot. If I
I
he had asked,
was shocked.
would have
I
How
duty-bound
felt
different history
—
walls today
Ford-Reagan
a
the
to say yes."
want Reagan
running mate, but the president might have asked
two presidential
me
might have been. Given the
intensity of their primary battle, Ford really didn't
Reagan would accept. And with
3
don't have any recollection of
I
message to President Ford not to offer
to pass a
*
did not want to be vice
"I really
But
said so at the time.
POLITICS!"
if
as his
he had thought
ticket in 1976,
think
I
might be missing from the White House
portraits
those of Jimmy Carter
.
.
and Ronald Reagan.
.
This conversation about the vice presidency occurred early in President Reagan's tenure and was revisited several times over the years. As
anyone who knew him well would without guile. lieve
a
if,
me
want
Why? Perhaps
they
this
knew he
didn't
he could not turn down
felt
Or perhaps
they simply reasoned that
(He
man would have been wasn't, of course,
though without having
My
to
roles
tell
Reagan
anyone
to pass
spot.
on that
his staff did that
to
that
former Nevada
be offered the second
on
its
be vice president, but
a direct offer
if a
must add here
believes candidate
want
from the president.
Ford-Reagan
ticket
had won,
too old to run for president in 1980 or 1984.
and ran successfully first
have no reason to be-
advisers,
would suggest
would have
their
still
I
Still, I
and
President Reagan told me, he didn't
message to the Ford camp, own.
he
that
clear in 1976 that he didn't
as
got.
front with me.
his close friends
senator Paul Laxalt, told
But
up
totally
few years ago one of
it
Ronald Reagan was completely
What you saw was what you
he wasn't being
made
attest,
in
both of those years,
al-
served as vice president.)
campaign chairman and White House
as presidential
chief of staff would not have sat very well with another James Addi-
son Baker,
my
grandfather.
Nor would my view
should consider public service. "Captain," he admonished
all
A
who
that
successful lawyer
all
Americans
known
as the
joined his firm to "work hard, study,
4
|AMES
+
A.
BAKER.
and keep out of
Ill
which he viewed
politics,"
undertaking that really good lawyers ing figure
who helped hub
ket and rail
somewhat unseemly
as a
left to others.
He
was an impos-
transform Houston from a regional cotton mar-
into a vibrant seaport
and the capital of the US.
industry. In the process, he turned a local law practice into a
oil
preemi-
nent Texas firm that would later expand worldwide.
With due respect
to the Captain, however, not
tics
turned out to be one of the best decisions
my
unplanned entry into public
sonal tragedy,
the former
I
found
New
I
in part
by per-
strong predilection and passion for what
a
years,
I
Hedrick Smith called "the
witnessed the exercise of more power
would have ever dreamed
I
ever made. Although
was occasioned
life
York Times correspondent
power game." Over the than
had
I
keeping out of poli-
(sometimes the hard way) to keep
possible, but a sense
was often reminded
of perspective about
it all.
No one was better at keeping me humble than my mother, Bonner Means Baker. On my visits to Houston in the late 1980s and early "Now,
nineties, she invariably asked:
darling, tell
me
exactly,
what
is it
you do?"
"Mom,
am
I
secretary of state."
"Of the United "Yes,
States of America?"
Mom."
"You don't mean
Then lived,
it!"
she would add, "Well, you know, dear,
he would never have
My
mother
let
lived to the
you go
if
your father had
to Washington."
handsome age of
ninety-six.
dad had tried to have children for thirteen years before so she doted
on
me
and
my
arrived
—me on
later.
talked baby talk until
I
my mother
younger
April 28, 1930, and I
cross-examination of
me
I
in
Bonner,
am
a
warm,
still
my
came
along,
when we
finally
I
Bonner some eighteen months
was three or four years
"Mamish." She was
not indifferent to fashion.
sister,
She and
spirited,
old,
and
I
called
and elegant woman,
not sure whether her affectionate
her twilight years
mind or her enduring sense of humor.
stemmed from
a failing
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF Mother was only Jr.,
met
when she and my
fifteen
high school dance in Houston.
at a
always said.
They were engaged
wanted to be
in a position to
for five
It
father,
was love
POLITICS!"
James
*
A. Baker,
she
at first sight,
and one-half
5
years.
My
dad
support his bride and, eventually, a fam-
but after he finished Princeton in 1915 and got his law degree at the
ily,
War
University of Texas in 1917, World
on August
4,
telling
me
intervened.
for the trenches of France.
that in his absence she comforted herself every
and ten thousand
joke, ian.
at
as a
young
remember Mother
I
peating a verse from the 91st Psalm: "A thousand shall
Like
They married
months before he shipped out
1917, about ten
army lieutenant
I
thy right hand; but in shall not
day by
fall at
come nigh
re-
thy side, thee."
my mother, Dad had a wonderful sense of humor and loved to
but he also had an austere demeanor and was a
And
like his father, he, too,
vents poor performance."
He
had
man my
tell
Dad was
gift
It's
a simple
children, then forget. People are
age recite
and without embarrass-
it,
my father that has almost every day of my adult life.
ment. But this was a or another
a saying: "Prior preparation pre-
called this the "Five Ps."
aphorism, the sort of thing adults often surprised to hear a
strict disciplinar-
from
helped
me in one way
an intercollegiate wrestling champion and fine pole-
vaulter while at Princeton.
No doubt his training as
an athlete and his
military service reinforced his views about the importance of discipline and preparation, about doing your best in the fleeting time are given
on
you
this earth.
Dad's fifth-year Princeton reunion book features the photographs
of
many
who never returned from the bloody battlefields of
classmates
He came back, however, as an infantry captain and a genuine war hero. He once ordered some in his company to clear out an enemy trench. When they balked, he went in by himself, armed only with his Europe.
.45-caliber service revolver, that pistol for
many
War helmet and I
My sister and
and captured two German
years until
it
was stolen, and
I still
soldiers.
have
his
I
had
World
uniform. I
always addressed
Dad with
respect, but behind his
6
JAMES
*
my
back,
RAKER. Mi
A.
friends and
I
him "Warden." He expected good man-
called
and deference
ners, hard work,
corporal punishment as
to adult authority,
way
a useful
isfying those expectations.
The
and he regarded
to help us see the benefits of sat-
culture of the 1930s supported this ap-
proach. In those days, children did what their parents asked
them
to.
Sometimes he spanked me. Occasionally, he would throw cold water
me
on
in
leave
I'll
of
bed
it
I
lationship,
my
didn't get
I
now
him
loved
dearly,
and he lives
them too much money and too in the
Dad spent
also loved to
wonderful re-
ruined because their parents gave
little
hunt and
discipline.
That was never
a
prob-
fish.
From
the time
They
I
was
six,
he and
I
are superb classrooms
forms of discipline, including the patience neces-
sary to
know
and
emphasis on the Five
exactly the right time to pull the trigger. After his love
was Dad's greatest a
a
me on the right path. Many of
together in duck blinds.
for teaching other
As
set
We had
Baker household.
many hours
his
and cons
considered old-fashioned and too
that he was a terrific dad.
is
contemporaries had their
lem
should.
I
to the child-rearing experts to debate the pros
can say I
up when
of upbringing,
this sort
harsh. All
if
gift to
Ps, sharing his passion for the
outdoors
me.
young competitive tennis
player,
I
didn't question
my
father's
orders to stay on the court after matches and practice backhand after
backhand.
Nor
did
I
question his decision to send
try to Pottstown, Pennsylvania, to his
didn't even protest cial fraternity at
in
law
school,
when he
told
me
sit
to join his old
I
undergraduate so-
Here
I
was
Week
hazing in
was poured raw eggs down
my throat
and having to go through I
bare-assed on a block of
didn't rebel.
When
I
we
a
Hell
ice.
was growing up, our objective was to please
our parents. Mother and Dad knew them. But
alma mater, the Hill School.
twenty-four years old, just out of the Marine Corps, mar-
which college kids younger than
I
across the coun-
the University of Texas, Phi Delta Theta.
ried with a child,
and made
me
me
certainly didn't always
most teenagers, then and now,
I
best,
and we didn't argue with
do everything we were
broke curfew more than
a
told.
Like
few times.
WORK HARD. One
my
irony in
STUDY...
father's life
captain in the most difficult
"Captain" was an honorific
he joined in the
militia
men
nent
in the
"Colonel Jones." give
younger
conduct
balls,
is
way
title
AND KEEP OUT
OF POLITICS!"
possible, but for
bestowed by
a
my
late 1800s. After the Civil
way
and (not
many promi-
War,
"General Smith" and
as
I
have heard, to
wear outlandish uniforms,
to
least)
grandfather,
ceremonial Houston
My grandfather's militia was formed, a
7
that he earned his military rank of
South were forever known
men
*
join parades,
claim military rank of their
own
—
all
without the grim necessity of being actual soldiers. I
remember
cigars.
and
He
sat
railroads,
the Captain as a heavyset
man who
on the boards of many major banks, and represented them
as a lawyer.
always smelled of utility
companies,
Well known in Texas,
he rose to national prominence in 1900 when he became the central figure in
In a
one of the most sensational scandals of
New
York murder
trial,
his era.
he proved that a butler and an un-
scrupulous lawyer had poisoned William Marsh Rice, a wealthy Texas
merchant, with mercury and chloroform, then claimed Rice's fortune
under
a forged will.
My grandfather had
been Mr. Rice's lawyer, and
his efforts restored the victim's original will,
Marsh Rice
Institute, a "university
of the
which endowed William first
class" that
Rice had
chartered in Houston in 1891. Rice Institute (now Rice University)
opened
in 1912,
and
board of trustees for
The Captain was his father,
was born
my grandfather served fifty
the second James A. Baker in our family.
in
it
The
first,
1816 near Florence, Alabama, to Elijah and Jane
descended from Scottish immigrants.
part of the great migration of early Americans out of the
thirteen original states to the unsettled forests
were,
chairman of the
years.
Baker. Family lore says they
They were
as its first
and plains out west. They
seems, a well-educated family In Alabama, James apprenticed
to a lawyer
and appeared to have prospects for
a
good
career. In April
1852, however, he abruptly left for Texas, apparently in grief over the
sudden death of he served
his bride
as a judge.
of
less
than two years. During the Civil War,
Afterward, he joined a small Houston law firm
the one that to this day bears his name, Baker Botts.
He and
his
second
JAMES
8
BAKER,
A.
I
I
1
Rowena, are buried
wife,
in Huntsville,
Texas, not far from his friend
General Sam Houston. will not
I
pretend that
I
grew up under modest circumstances.
mother's father, J. C. Means, was in the timber,
He
and cotton business.
was not particularly successful, but the Bakers were reasonably
well-to-do.
We
one.
Each generation had
of Houston real estate and Still,
I
we
No
The
made
house near Rice University and befamily
owned
most of
his
No
me.
And no
a dollar
than to
and
I
I've
my mother wanted;
material possessions
were meaningless, something
become much
when
I
was a young boy,
when
just plain fun:
I
inher-
in
my
my own.
childhood.
my mother once
pink linen smock for a portrait by a
Some were
else
better as the years have gone by
There were occasional extravagances
member
Some were
me
had
dressed
of the French Acad-
the University of Texas played
A&M in football, the Captain often took us to the game in a pricar arranged through one of his railroad clients.
rail
There was one domain money.
When
smoke
I
was
until
in
which
a teenager, I
wait until habitual
I
was eighteen for
smoker
until
I
it
I
my
he said he would pay
didn't collect, first
me
taste
though
I
$1,000 if
I
would always
of hard liquor.
say,
that
I
if
I
I
didn't
managed
to
was not in
I
didn't start drinking the
a
our
"The smoking lamp
was okay to smoke. Most everyone did, so
somewhat remarkable
me
father was willing to give
went into the Marine Corps. At breaks
training, the drill instructors
— meaning
my
was twenty-one and another $1,000
drink alcohol before that age.
It's
a re-
Texas existence.
big allowance for me.
have been able to accumulate some means of
didn't
As
it.
his chil-
from him. But
Texas
make
money. Yet he did spend, without hesitation, for
ited
outlandish:
He
quite frugal.
invested
for himself or his children
vate
Dad was
Dad
big cars.
dren's education or for things
emy.
considerable amount
didn't lead the stereotyped bigger-than-life
mansion.
in a
a
other good investments.
was easier to spend
it
on the success of the previous
my parents spoiled
don't think
understood that sult,
built
lived in a nice two-story
longed to two country clubs.
lit"
oil,
My
is
did, too.
moment
— "WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF
my parents tough.
dropped
me
9
*
My first year there was
off at the Hill School.
know anybody. Most
entered as a junior and didn't
I
POLITICS!"
classmates
had already been there for two years and had established friendships.
my
was a new boy. All
wear
and every time
a beanie,
a part
friends I
were back put
it
on,
it
Houston.
in
reminded
senior year,
I
was
much more
at ease.
ships that continue to this day.
outstanding.
my
Still, I
managed
My
larly those
from the South.
said,
I
made up
I
didn't really drink until
for lost time during
my
first
from the constraints of prep school, of both Princeton's Right
Two
clerics, it
many young American men
I
Wing Club
still
friend-
I
wanted and it
was
the destination of
of Scottish heritage, particu-
I
was eighteen, but
I
quickly
year at Princeton. Liberated
became
member
went
wild.
—
named because we spent
so
I
a
of our time using our right arms to hoist spirituous beverages
my
right
arm
a similar mission.
to play tennis as cocaptain
ter than
was.
I
The
next year
I
part because the rugby team
the tennis team went only to
1950 that
who was
My
I
met the
girl
who were
went
to
Bermuda
North Carolina. later to marry,
for spring break, It
was
Mary
in
wonder I
I
nor) and history
and
a bit.
I
(my major)
By
in
McHenry,
New York. my member-
ignored the Five Ps to such an extent that
didn't get five Fs and flunk out.
had matured
bet-
Bermuda
Stuart
freshman and sophomore year grades reflected I
also
gave up tennis and switched to rugby, in
there on spring break from Finch College in
ship in the social clubs.
nately,
was
I
I
of the freshman team,
but the team was loaded with nationally ranked players
a
made
centuries after
was
and 21 Club, another social organization with
is
was not
grades were good, but not
father had attended: Princeton.
choice for
As
also
I
to get into the university
founded by colonial Presbyterian
used
me that I
was elected to the stu-
I
dent government and captained the tennis team.
much
even had to
of the old boys' club.
By
that
I
I
it
junior year, fortu-
studied more, finding the classics
(my mi-
especially interesting.
My senior thesis covered the conflict within
Britain's
Labour Party
10
|AMES
+
in the
A.
RAKER.
Ill
whom
ment, Aneurin Bevan,
Bevin, a "social democrat."
When
men.
said,
I
saw
and Ernest
as a "true socialist," lost
between these two
member declared
that
Bevan was
tween idealism and realism. Those who know favored the approach of the
I
own
his
"Not while I'm around."
argued that the clash between Bevan and Bevin was
I
Parlia-
There was no love
cabinet
a British
worst enemy, Bevin
that
members of
1930s and forties between two powerful
me
Bevin,
realist,
will not
who
be-
a clash
be surprised
served as Clem-
ent Attlee's foreign secretary. "Bevin was not interested in theories, but in practicalities,"
wrote.
I
"He knew
when men were unemployed
that
they wanted bread and work, not an oration on the coming revolution
Bevin believed in solving the problems of the present before tackling the problems of the future." I
had no interest or talent
grasp of history
More
law.
— an
indicator that
important, however,
Baker Botts was everything.
and had worked
"Practicing law
a
is
my
"I'd
wonderful
never
my
father's office as
money doing
insist
summer
More
you be
as a teenager.
tray while stabbing victims
Dad
lifestyle,"
it, it's
he worked,
very satisfying."
Dad
a lawyer."
My
I
I
even
took a job
told
a
at St. Joseph's
assignment was to hold the
cutting into a patient's chest cavity. All that blood!
I
didn't have the
a doctor.
any event,
I
didn't have to
make
to
become
a decision
a
I
also
surgeon
quickly realized
I
by graduation day
'Another alumnus of the Baker Botts office-boy pool, hired manv years Bush.
the
with
flirted
baby being born and observe
stomach or the aptitude
Still,
me
and overdosed drug users threw up.
had the opportunity to watch
In
my legacy.
told me. "Although
than once
going to medical school, but that was before Hospital one
for the
family.
path was not ordained.
choice was mine.
might have an aptitude
fair
been brought up with the idea that
I'd
I'd sat in
never make really big
this career
I
math, but did have a
the firm myself as an office boy.* That was
at
That was the history of
you'll
in science or
later,
was George W.
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OE in the late spring
of 1952.
My
POLITICS!"
*
11
immediate future was Basic School
the U.S. Marine Corps' officer training program
—not law
The
school.
government had started drafting young men out of college when the Korean War broke out school
my
first. It
was too
in 1950.
1
wanted
late to join
an
to serve, but
wanted
I
to finish
ROTC program at Princeton, and
tendency to motion sickness made
prudent not to consider the
it
Air Force or the Navy.
The CIA seemed
a possibility until
I
had an on-campus interview.
"Would you have any problem jumping out of an airplane with chute behind
"You bet
Then
I
I
enemy
we'll give
was asked.
I
End of
would."
interview.
you
a
camp for six weeks each summer for two summers, and commission when you graduate. After that
an obligation to serve on active duty for two years. In Basic School at Quantico,
ond
The
learned of the Marine Corps platoon leaders program.
go to boot
deal:
lines?"
a para-
lieutenants.
I
have
signed on.
I
was one of about
Our commanding
you'll
hundred
fivQ
officer told us that if
sec-
we worked
hard, we'd get our choice of duty station and military occupational specialty
(MOS).
behind
few regular Marine enlisted
When
a it
I
graduated
came time
at
the top of the reserves in our class
men
picked to become
hand out MOSs, the commanding
to
officers.
officer told
—platoon
leader,
because
have a
me, "We're going to put you where we put our best
MOS 0302— infantry officer." "Major," friend
I
replied, "one reason
who graduated
naval gunfire spotter,
a
a
couple of jeeps,
MOS a
worked so hard
year ago, and he talked to
Spotters went in with the
had
I
0840. That's what
first
I
is
me
about being a
really
wave of an amphibious
I
want
to do."
invasion.
They
few men, and some radio equipment, and their
job was to deploy forward and direct the
fire
of naval ships supporting
the operation. This was hazardous duty, as was leading a platoon, but
preferred
it.
I
didn't
want
I
to be responsible for the lives of forty-four
other people.
Although the major wasn't pleased by
my
request, he
honored
it.
I
12
RAKER.
JAMfcS A.
*
thought
be going to Korea, and fifty-nine of the sixty officers in our
I'd
who
class
Ill
MOSs
received artillery
two weeks and then on
went
The
to Korea.
to Fort
sixtieth
Oklahoma,
Sill,
for
— me—ended up with
the battalion of Marines the United States had kept deployed in the
War
Mediterranean since the end of World
USS
port ship, the
overboard
was
I
vember
as
Mediterranean for
in the
1953,
Mary
ton, Ohio. After
Stuart and
my
I
six
I
a
troop trans-
rail.
months.
were married
When
in
her
I
returned in
I
No-
hometown of Day-
we moved
discharge from active duty in 1954,
small apartment in Austin, Texas, where Bill.
was on
Monrovia, where the biggest danger was falling
perpetually heaved over the
I
II. I
to a
GI
entered law school on the
my father argued that the
thought about applying to Harvard, but
University of Texas was the best place to learn Texas law and establish
connections with others
who would be
didn't question his counsel,
During that
initial
practicing in Texas. Again,
which turned out
to
year in law school, our
Nothing concentrates the mind
have been excellent.
first
son, Jamie, was born.
and being mar-
like military service
ried with a child. Practicing the Five Ps to exhaustion,
review and graduated with honors, but
I
wasn't
I
much
I
made
the law
fun to be around.
We never considered settling anywhere except Houston. My family law firm where three James A.
was there. So,
too,
Bakers before
me had hung their shingles.* I would have been happy to
was Baker
Botts, the
follow in their footsteps, but the firm had an ironclad antinepotism rule.
My father was still practicing there, so
Thanks
to
my academic record
and
I
could not.
my name, the partnership con-
sidered making an exception for me, but eventually decided against
waiving the
rule.
I
was disappointed. Baker Botts was
all I
knew; In the
end, however, their decision was the best thing that could have hap-
pened
to me.
father,
my
I
I
succeeded
grandfather, and
*Why am James along.
Had
A. Baker,
III,
my
at a firm so closely identified
great-grandfather, neither
I
with
my
nor any-
not IV? Because the numbering didn't start until
I
came
"WORK HARD, STUDY ...AND KEEP OUT OF body
else
would have been able
my name. Going to sink or swim on my own.
chance
a
my
on
cess was based
me
to say with certainty
skills
or
POLITICS!"
whether
*
13
my suc-
to another firm gave
&
That other firm was Andrews, Kurth, Campbell
Bradley.
was
It
a
smaller but also well-respected firm with a blue-chip roster of clients that included
Howard Hughes. When and
thirty-five lawyers,
hired in the firm's
work.
joined in 1957, the firm had
I
was only the seventy-eighth to have been
I
fifty- five-year history. It
The philosophy of
AK and its history,
was
a
wonderful place to
the practice was collegial,
and we were
loyal to the firm
we were proud of
and one another.
"We're going to assign you to Harry Jones," said Mickey West, the firm's chief recruiter.
And
it
truly was.
warm, gentlemanly,
"What an opportunity!"
The man who would become my mentor was
brilliant,
and pragmatic, the smartest practitioner
ever known. In law school,
I've
that
I
had briefed every case so thoroughly
often got lost in the details. If not for
I
Harry Jones,
my practice. He
followed the same dead-end path in
might have
I
taught
me
to get
to the heart of the matter. I
I'd
would
sit
across from
him
written. "Is there anything
in his corner office while
more on
threatening and professorial voice.
from the chaff
or, less delicately,
he would ask in
this?"
The
to cut
he read what
ability to separate the
through the BS in
non-
a
wheat
a written
memo or a face-to-face negotiation, not only served me well at the law firm, but has also been one of my strengths in politics and public service.
I
owe much of
that to
Harry Jones,
a lawyer's lawyer.
In 1957, the practice of law was not as specialized as
drews Kurth was
just
trial section.
courthouse client
as
I
today.
I
asked to be assigned to
soon found myself sitting second chair
one of our lawyers
down
its
policyholder.
It
at the
Our
tried a personal injury case.
was an insurance company bound by contract to provide
fense for
An-
beginning to establish departments. In law school
they told us that real lawyers tried lawsuits, so the
it is
seemed obvious
to
lying under oath and that nothing was being
a
de-
me that witnesses were done about
it.
I
didn't
BAKER.
|AMES A
14
want any part of
that, so
and
approached
Three more boys a
goodbye
gas,
Sunday school
to
And
a
man
On
his
though he was at
the office.
of
in
off for
to
He
Sunday school
I
remember
was
first
Dad was
left
work those mornings, and
after that first
at First
We
Presbyterian Church near his office
him
at
my
Scottish
work.
attended chapel every day, and
in college
when
how
a little
I
to pray.
found
was
I
a
and attended church only occasion-
switched.
I
ancient Baker ancestors
I
was
a Presbyterian,
didn't think about
I
may have turned
it
at
the time,
when
in their graves
the faith they had brought across the ocean from Scotland and
went over
to the "English"
railing against. In
church they had spent so many centuries
Houston we attended
St.
Martin's fairly regularly.
found the services rewarding and eventually served on the
committee of
lay
members who help manage
then was not nearly as important to Like II
al-
spent Sundays
workaholic
a
Stuart was a better Episcopalian than
and when we married,
I
not a churchgoer,
I
Marines and during law school.
ally in the
my
one year
getting a sense of fulfillment out of religion
nonobservant Christian
but
for
who
was
myself enjoying the hymns and learning
Mary
and
to learn the hereditary faith of
the Hill School.
at
we could be de-
father was raised a Presbyterian.
a Christian Scientist
forebears. After class, we'd join I
My
Stuart,
joined
Mother's church, he would drop Bonner and
at
downtown Houston,
Mary
thanks to
her church.
faith.
way
year of Sunday school
me
been at
and
was good. Our marriage flourished.
scribed as a churchgoing family.
went
gen-
acquisitions, corporate
— Mike, John, and Doug—followed Jamie. We
for a while
a
banking, and real estate.
forty, life
couple of country clubs.
Mother had
and hello to
to litigation
—mergers and
securities work, oil 1
said
I
law practice
eral business
As
Ill
my
orkabolic
is
father,
my
me
it is
I
vestry, the
the parish, but
my
faith
now.
church on Sundays was often
my
law
office.
me during those first made time for tennis and indulged my lifelong
an overworked term, but
twelve years of practice.
as
I
it
describes
desire to escape to the country every once in a while to hunt and fish
and clear
my
head, but
Mary
Stuart and
I
took very few real vacations.
.
-WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF
my
Houston was else or
I
The most
some
a lawyer. Politics
that can be said of
elections anyway. Oftentimes
Texas
15
*
never dreamed of living anywhere
doing anything besides being
picture. in
world, and
POLITICS!"
me I
politically
was not that
is
I
in the
voted
.
.
did something else instead.
hadn't forgotten that Republicans were in office during
still
Reconstruction, so like just about everyone else in the state at the time, I
was
a
1950s,
Democrat.
w hen r
I
And
voted,
I
many
like
other conservative Democrats in the
my party's candidates
voted for
in local
elections and for the Republican candidate for president.
was
different.
remained
She came from
active in the small
a precinct captain I
I
and often
a
1968, she noticed a
Texas branch of her as a
Stuart
if
Mary
my
as
for local candidates.
Stuart had stayed healthy,
entire
life.
Her doctor
in her breast.
even serving
party,
campaign worker
politics for
lump
Mary
state
long line of Republicans in Ohio, and she
sometimes wonder whether,
would have kept out of
and
But in February told her not to
worry; the lump was most likely just mastitis, a side effect of being on birth control pills,
he
if it persists,"
which were
at the
River where earlier.
By
new
at
the time.
"Come back
said.
That summer we took
camping
relatively
a fishing trip into the
mountains of Wyoming,
same spot near the headwaters of the Yellowstone
my father and I had camped to hunt elk twenty-four years
the end of the
The lump was now
trip,
hot and red.
Mary
Stuart had lost
Not too long
we
after
all
her stamina.
returned, one of
America's best surgeons, our friend Denton Cooley, performed a mastectomy. In the waiting
room
doesn't have a chance," but
the worst.
We
I
I
after the surgery,
he didn't
sensed he was telling
me
say,
"She
to prepare for
was scared and depressed, but hopeful.
were building
a
new home. Mary
Stuart had designed
it,
and
she continued to watch over construction. As the months passed, however, the
cancer spread to her bones, and
going to make
From else.
ing mother.
a
was clear that she wasn't
it.
the time
She was
it
I
met her
in
Bermuda
in 1950,
gorgeous and bright woman,
a
1
never dated anyone
devoted wife, and
a lov-
*
16
AMES
|
We
BAKER.
A.
were
close,
but
1
I
1
—whether out of other— we never
talked openly about her
probably, concern for the real prognosis.
told her that a
I
She never told
knew she was
dark cloud in those
found
"My
it
me
she
dying.
knew she was
November
dear sweet loving and lovable Jimmy,"
Though my time
My darling,
afraid
in
it
not be far
Bermuda
love another body.
.
and keep you safe
it
never
goodbye
a
like
letter.
I
and addressed to
reads in part:
off, it is
not now.
life.
Since the night
The only
grown men. Since they .
I
I
We
I
am
not
have been
kissed
you on the
have loved you more than anybody could ever
I
leaving you and the boys.
qualities in them.
me
29, 1969,
has been a beautiful
many ways
fortunate in so
beach
may
to die
dying, and
That knowledge hung over us
months. She did write
last
her death. Dated
after
more
fear or uncertainty or,
.
I
thing that makes
often
are half
God
and
I
me
sad about dying
wonder what they
you they will
will
be
will
is
like as
have some good
watch over you and the boys
me
Don't be sad. Rejoice and come to
someday.
My instinct from earliest memory has been to keep personal things These few words reveal something about Mary
personal. that
Stuart's spirit
worth sharing, however, not only for the sake of her children
is
and grandchildren, but also
woman's
faith
as a
model
how
for others of
gave her the courage to accept her
own
this
young
mortality so
serenely.
When
the house was just about finished,
we took her over
threshold in a wheelchair. She never got to live in
had lapsed into fifteen.
I
a
it.
the
Within days, she
coma. The boys were ages seven, eight, thirteen, and
—
never told them she was dying
a
mistake
I
now profoundly
regret.
Most cot
in
some
nights while
her room. rest in
One
my own
Mary
Stuart was in the hospital,
evening, however, bed.
The
I
went home
I
had slept on
for a
a
shower and
hospital called during the night and
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF said,
come over
"You'd better
breathing heavily.
I
When
here."
held her in
my
sound, and
a little
hours later
at 11:00 a.m.,
sixteen years.
He
like to think
February
The boys and
Eight months I file
I
earlier,
his wife
I
there was no
way
on
for his
"Number
him
told
told
loved her. She
she heard me. She died a few
18, 1970.
We
had been married
for
he was vacating to run for the Senate.
when
I
was
could do
I
campaign
their three-year-old daughter died
flattered,
but given
Mary
Stuart's illness,
that.
Stuart died, that
his senatorial
him
I
I
were our good friends and had experienced their own
of leukemia.
Mary
Stuart was
my tennis doubles partner had suggested that
tragedy with cancer in 1953,
After
how much
17
*
were devastated.
I
for the congressional seat
and
Mary
arrived,
I
arms, only the two of us, and
her what a wonderful wife she'd been and
made
POLITICS!"
same friend suggested
to take
my mind
my
off
that
grief.
work
I
thanked
I
concern and said there were two problems with that
one,
I
don't
know anything about
politics,
and number two,
I'm a Democrat."
He
We did, i's
"We can
chuckled.
and he put
and crossed the
Still,
take care of that second problem."
me
and we carried the county but
t's,
from that time forward,
linked with the candidate, I first
met the man
I
was hooked on
he moved
his family (Barbara
y
22
+
I
A
M
I
A
S
BAKER.
.
Susan was Catholic and divorced, the Episcopal
that May. Because (
Ihurch to which
us.
man of God and
Lancaster, a real
ceremony
in the chapel.
lunch
Only Susan and
church to share our surprise. Both It
was
a
The min-
wonderful guy, performed I
were present
—no family
We had conspired to bring Susan's mother in from Danbury at my mother's house. We went there directly from the
or friends. tor
belonged (and served on the vestry) refused to marry
Fortunately; Dad's church, First Presbyterian, was willing.
ister, Jack
the
I
Ill
a different story
moms were
with the seven kids.
ecstatic.
They were shocked. To
them, the suddenness and secrecy of our marriage were close to fam-
We
ily treason.
made
the job of blending our families
circumstances
—much
tougher.
we succeeded.
heroic efforts,
Our
should have prepared them in advance.
—
difficult
enough
failure
in the best
took a while, but thanks to Susan's
It
My four (Jamie, Mike, John,
and Doug)
and her three (Elizabeth, Bo, and Will) soon became our seven.
added Mary Bonner teen grandchildren.
seven years old
was
We
lost
to
is
this writing,
one of Jamie's
Susan and
girls
us,
and her
in a neighbor's
our time with those we
have seven-
pool in 2002. She I
treasure the
reminded us again how pre-
love.
At the time of our marriage, Participating in George's
loss
I
We
—sweet Graeme, only
our family from God. Susan and
seven years she was with cious
At
—when she drowned
on loan
a gift
in 1977.
of
I
was an acknowledged Republican.
campaign
for the Senate
had awakened
a
sense of adventure and high challenge that was missing from the daily practice of law. 1
I
wasn't ready to quit the practice or run for office, but
was ready for something different. After the election, party leaders
asked
me
to
become
This was, party,
I
I
knew
state finance 7 ,
chairman.
a thankless job. In trying to raise
money
would be competing against committees seeking funds
for the for
two
popular reelection candidates, President Nixon and Senator Tower. (Candidate
money
is
considerably easier to raise than party money,
particularly tor a party as I
accepted
1
had
to start
weak
as the
somewhere.
Texas
GOP was back then. Still,
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF Actually "somewhere" was everywhere.
many
Austin and
volunteers around the
I
had
state,
POLITICS!"
a small
but
I
spent
*
23
paid staff in
many
a
day
driving to fund-raisers around our huge state and to party meetings in the capital. That's
how
I
who had been
Armstrong,
got to
first
know Senator Tower and Anne
counselor for President Nixon and vice
a
chairman of the Republican National Committee. In 1972,
Nixon
also coordinated the
I
reelection effort in the
fourteen-county Gulf Coast area of Texas. At George Bush's request, I
organized a fund-raiser, and without using notes, the president gave
a magnificent tour d'horizon
on foreign
while speaking, but was clearly the event.
I
remember
We met
his
ill
at ease in face-to-face
handshake
I
on campaign
spectful of him, but
strategies I
find
it
meetings
at
was in the Reagan and
Bush administrations, and he periodically wrote gestions
comfortable
as brief, formal, perfunctory.
number of other times when
a
He seemed
policy.
and foreign
me
with sug-
letters
affairs. I
was always re-
hard to forgive him for betraying the
country in the Watergate scandal.
He lied to the American people, and
with the release of his tapes in later years, his reputation
fell
lower and
lower.
Watergate was traumatic, but in
a
way it demonstrated the
strength
and resilience of our system. The president's malfeasance was discovered, and within a relatively short time,
gone.
I
wish we had
their foresight, that,
just
One
history's
measure, he was
declared victory, thanked the Founders for
and moved on. Unfortunately, we tried to
though imperfect
broken.
by
thing
we
(as all
fix a
system
systems are and forever will be), wasn't
got in return was a generation of unaccountable
independent counsels who investigated and attempted to criminalize every political controversy,
a
dreadful idea that was finally allowed to
die a well-deserved death in 1999.
Nixon
also betrayed the
worked hard
Republican Party and
for him, taken his claims
defended him
in the early
of innocence
all
of us
who had
at face value,
months of the scandal. He cost the
and
party, as
well as the nation, a great deal. After Watergate, Republicans suffered
24
*
JAMES
right after
and
BAKER.
bloodbath.
a political
me
A.
Ill
will
I
you
know what they were
Nixon announced he was
it. I
told
him he
talking about.
The
resigning, Jamie called and said, "I told
But I'm proud to be an American, because the system worked."
so.
When giving
eldest son, Jamie, telling
Watergate broke that Nixon was behind
his hippie friends didn't
night
my
never forget
up
I
was secretary of the treasury, Nixon wrote
his
me to say he was
taxpayer-supported secret service protection and would
henceforth assume the cost personally. That was a noble thing to do.
He deserves credit for opening relations with China, his serious efforts to disengage I
from Vietnam with honor, and other accomplishments, but
think his achievements will forever be overshadowed by the fact that
he
is
the only president
In 1973,
cloud),
has had to resign the office in disgrace.
when Vice President
went instead
to
Agnew
Spiro
George Bush was on the short
tion that
man
who
list
resigned (also under a
to replace
him
as
VP, a posi-
Gerald Ford. At the time, George was chair-
of the Republican National Committee. Before
served as our ambassador to the United Nations.
Some
that,
he had
say he would
have preferred that President Nixon name him treasury secretary instead of sending
disappointment
him
—
to the
United Nations, but
Nixon
to George's
former Texas Governor John
that job was given to
Connally, a Democrat and a
—much
favorite.
When Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, Vice President Ford took the oath of office as president. A poll of Republican officeholders put George on the top of the
list
to replace
Ford
others, sent a telegram to Ford extolling
sidered
George but chose Nelson
head our delegation
During different.
in
this period,
decided
The excitement of
it
One was
enthusiasm.
work ethic grounded also taught habits
I
I
I,
along with
my friend's virtues.
left for
many
Ford con-
George was asked
to
Beijing in 1974.
was time for
politics
lacked Washington experience, but
VP.
Rockefeller.
China, and he I
as
made me
me
to
do something
restless as a lawyer.
had several things going
I
for me.
was ready for new challenges. Another was a
in the Five Ps.
My
father and the Marines had
of personal discipline that expressed themselves
— "WORK HARD, STUDY ...AND KEEP OUT OF both in in
my
and
In addition,
me
Harry Jones had taught
Point
1,
Point
—
my
to organize
my
in
To
this day,
my
thoughts and
prove useful. (More about that
getting outdoors as
As tice
much
Department, where
I
I
staff that
was blessed with good
jobs,
you, and almost always
good word.
in a
however, you don't
My interview with
Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, scheduled for April
admitted
it).
The timing
ment
at
later, I
30, 1973,
good word from George Bush (although he never couldn't have been worse. Kleindienst re-
signed that same day, a casualty of Watergate.
few weeks
would
to serve as assistant attorney general
someone with clout has put
a
had also
hoped
calls
came courtesy of
lists
choice for public service was the Jus-
White House; the White House
after
make
first
such
the
I
prioritize
as possible.
in charge of the civil division. In seeking call
25
always tried to preserve by exercising and
I
my
a lifetime lawyer,
later.) Finally, I
and
labors.
developed certain ways of dealing with colleagues and
health and stamina, which
*
professional work.
to organize
work, to focus on what was achievable. 2
-
shoes, neat suits, moderation
personal behavior
eating, drinking,
my
—polished spending— and
POLITICS!
Goodbye
interview.
A
got a nibble about serving as the head of enforce-
the Environmental Protection Agency, but
Two years passed.
I
was
still
in
Houston,
I
wasn't interested.
practicing law, raising
still
seven children with Susan in the house on Greentree. But, having a close friend playing in the Big
was growing ever more In
Game
of politics and public service,
restless.
June 1975 another opportunity presented
George,
I
suspect,
I
itself.
Again, thanks to
was being considered for a high-level position.
with Rogers Morton,
who had
recently replaced Fred
Dent
I
he would
Morton was looking
feel comfortable.
for a
Morton
—
number-two person with
a gentle giant
—interviewed
House.
A
some being pushed by
few days passed. Nothing.
own
whom
from Kentucky,
wonderful man, and an outstanding public servant candidates for the spot, including
met
as secretary
of commerce. Cabinet members are generally allowed to pick their deputies, and
I
the
a
several
White
26
*
I
ing
IAMES
A.
BAKER,
I
I
I
was on Interstate 10 between San Antonio and Houston, return-
home from
ing in with
my
Morton had
picking some of our kids up at office
from
called me.
merce of the United restaurant.
To
a
summer camp. Check-
roadside restaurant,
learn
States
my fate,
from
a
I
I
learned that Rogers
called the secretary of
pay phone outside
com-
a Stuckey's
—
TWO GOBBLERS
AND
pretty long way from
It's a
tween San Antonio and Houston
—not
myself in mid-April 1976
HENS"
on
a Stuckey's
to the
Oval
Interstate 10 be-
Office, but there
I
from the president
just sitting across
of the United States, but offering him advice. Nine months
Rogers Morton had brought
—
commerce
the
me
to
Washington
number-two position
found
as
earlier,
under secretary of
in the department.
Now,
Presi-
dent Ford and Ronald Reagan were in the middle of a close, contentious battle for the Republican presidential nomination. to the
the
White House
to tell the president that his
upcoming primary
Secretary of State
House
in
had come
chances of winning
my home state could increase dramatically if
Henry Kissinger
refrained from briefing the
White
press before departing on a diplomatic tour of Africa.
The May on March
16,
1
Texas primary could be
I
pivotal. In the Illinois contest
Ford had soundly beaten Reagan to take
lead in the delegate count.
whom
I
There was speculation
had met only once, four years earlier
race. "He'll survive until Texas," said
manager, "but
if
John
he loses there, he's out."
a
commanding
that the challenger
— might drop out of
Sears, Reagan's
the
campaign
28
JAMES
*
BAKER.
A.
Ill
Kissinger was a carryover from the
Nixon administration, and
President Ford relied on him to maintain a steady course for U.S. foreign policy in the aftermath of Watergate and Vietnam. In 1976,
who viewed
however, he became a target of unhappy conservatives his policy
of detente with the Soviet Union
were concerned about losing the
as
appeasement, who
and who opposed
U.S. military superiority,
Panama Canal Treaty and other
initiatives.
Reagan repeatedly ac-
cused the secretary of state of taking a defeatist posture toward the Soviet Union, of believing that the "day of the U.S. is
the day of the Soviet Union," of "giving away our
comes from the
restoration of
Texas Republicans ate
it
before leaving, to
make
When I
can't
do
back home,
I
or retreat.
superiority."
two-week tour of Africa
in late
learned that he planned to brief the press
this."
the primary was guaranteed to
"Why
a
called Ford's chief of
I
win Texas, you
tives
American military
freedoms."
up.
Kissinger was scheduled to April and early May.
own
come from weakness
Real peace, Reagan argued, "does not It
past and today
is
staff,
Dick Cheney.
Putting Kissinger on the
stir
"If
you want
air just
before
the political blood of the conserva-
explained.
don't you
come over
to the
"Mr. President, I'm talking to you
White House?" Dick suggested.
now
as a
Texan,"
I
said after be-
ing seated in the Oval Office. "This would be devastating in the lead-
up
to the primary."
The
president was rarely without his pipe. "Well, Jim"
— puff "Henry's done an extraordinarily good job" — "and
I
think
it's
important that he
our foreign policy"
—
tell
puff, puff, puff.
the nation.
I
puff, puff,
puff, puff, puff
very important to
"And you know, Jim," he added,
"the thinking Republicans will understand
"Mr. President,"
It's
—
my
position on this."
replied, "with respect to this issue, there are
no
thinking Republicans in Texas right now." Kissinger's pre-Africa press appearance with the president's bless-
ing was probably one of several reasons six delegates in
Texas and regained
that the president
had
tried to eat a
his
why
Tlfeagan
momentum.
swept It
all
ninety-
also didn't help
tamale in San Antonio without
first
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF removing
—
corn-husk wrapper
its
headlines across the servative
state.
Shortly before the primary,
to leave I
in the
won
I
GOP primary. How bad was be
in his bid to
a
it?
Ford delegate.
accompanied the president on
Commerce to work full-time in the campaign. One week
a
me
the flight back to Washington, he asked
assumed the position of deputy chairman
My
29
*
gastronomical gaffe that
a
Even Senator John Tower was defeated
On
-
Or that nothing in Texas law prevented con-
Democrats from voting
swing through Texas.
POLITICS!
later,
for delegate operations.
camp and
job was to keep Ford delegates in the candidate's
to
win support from uncommitted delegates to the Republican National Convention
in August.
I
took over the duties of Jack
Stiles, Ford's
who had
time friend and congressional campaign manager,
long-
died in a
car crash earlier that month.
symbolism and pres-
In public service, titles are important for both tige,
but they do not necessarily reflect the importance of your duties
how much
or
whom
they have the most confidence, regardless of
these are the people
and
upon the people
influence you have. Presidents rely
who have been
women who worked
elections. That's
more
cabinet with the White
why
House
—
in the
title.
in the trenches with
Generally,
them
campaigns and helped win
prestigious titles
—men
difficult
some members of
often to the dismay of
in
the
—campaign workers who move
to
most important advisers
to
staff are frequently the
the chief executive.
Jockeying for post-election influence begins during the campaign. Titles tend to denote status, and higher-ups in a successful
can expect to get better jobs in an administration.
The
campaign
organization
had several deputy chairmen, each with different responsibilities, but it
was
a prestigious title. Still, at first
paign hand, a delegate hunter.
merce. As
Rog Morton's
(and after he
left,
my
tled
th> r
desk. Little did
on the
floor
alter
I
felt
that
I
was
just
would have preferred ego and stand-in
acting secretary of
enjoyed dealing with
on
I
I
commerce
at
another cam-
to stay at
Com-
cabinet meetings
for several months),
I
interesting and important issues that landed
know
that the
nomination
fight
would be
set-
of the convention and that the fortunes of Gerald
30
+
)AMES
RAKER.
A.
II!
Ford and Ronald Reagan eventually rest on
But remaining
(
PFC),
who won at
a title that
Baker, to a certain extent
—would
the uncommitteds.
Commerce was
named Rog
already
—and Jim
The
not an option.
president had
chairman of the President Ford Committee
as
^reflect Rog's power.
He was in
charge of the entire
campaign. At Commerce, we had worked well together and liked each other.
could
Now
And even
place?
if
Back inJune in
me on you
I
could have,
1975,
China. "Bake,"
it
to the
I
I
"I just
in the first
could not say no to the president.
received a letter from
began,
George Bush, then
got a call from
one and Morton would be good to work
George was
right
for in
my
on both counts. Rog was
still
Rog Morton querying
under secretary of commerce. The job could be
for
How
PFC.
man who had brought me to Washington
say no to the
I
me
he asked the president to reassign
a
good
opinion."
a terrific boss, as big-
hearted as he was big in stature. Before coming to
Commerce, he had
served ten years as a congressman from Maryland, two years as chair
of the Republican National Committee, and four years as secretary of the interior.
Although
moved from 1975,
1
was Rog's
I
Interior to
first
when he
choice for under secretary
Commerce
at
May
President Ford's request in
was not necessarily the White House's. Reasoning that the ap-
pointment of
a
Reagan supporter
to the
number-two spot
at
Com-
merce might win points with conservatives, Don Rumsfeld, then
White House chief of
staff,
lobbied
Rog
to offer the job to
Banowsky, president of Pepperdine University
committeeman from
national
straight to President
My
visit
in
an even
the top job James's.
No
at
said,
As
I
understand
"No, Baker's the one
I
it,
and
GOP
Rog went
want."*
with the president before the Texas primary was not
'Soon alter taking didacy
Ford and
California.
in California
William
office,
the Ford administration tried to head off a possible Reagan can-
more dramatic
Commerce
luck.
my
fashion,
by offering the former California governor
or Transportation, or the ambassadorship to the Court of
St.
-WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF first.
Several months after
into
my
we
and
office
Rog
got there,
instructed
come
"Jim, I
me
how
Oval
to wait outside the
*
31
head
When
Office. Five
busied myself reading. Finally the door opened.
I
in here for a minute,"
don't care
his
go over to the White House."
said, "Jim, let's
or ten minutes passed.
Rog poked
arrived in Washington,
I
POLITICS!"
Rog
said.
how much you
old you are or
complished, walking into the Oval Office for the
—
time, for that matter
to
think you have ac-
time
first
—
meet the president of the United
or any-
States
is
a
heady and humbling experience.
The door was
held open by a
man some ten years my junior, but far
—Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld's successor and
senior in the pecking order
the youngest
behind
White House chief of
Rog
his desk.
sat in a
moment. He motioned
the
chief of staff
is
me
giving
Rog introduced me
staff in history.
nearby
for
me
President Ford sat
chair. Dick's chair
to take
and
it,
thought, "Golly, the
I
his seat."
to the president,
who
we're certainly glad to have you on board."
said
We
something
exchanged
pleasantries and then discussed an issue of the day.
what
it
was, but
I
their seats.
And
First impressions
policy
sown
remembers who
count for
taught
me
is
I
remember It's
a small
staff,
in
came
I
to learn,
Washington,
as
long
is
as
the boss. I
have
We do not always agree on
the seeds of our long-lasting friendship were
That friendship extends
everything
"Jim,
few more
Washington. Dick and
in several administrations.
—who does?—but
that day.
a lot in
can't
I
like,
Washington, D.C., don't give
in
most powerful person
the holder of that office
a
gracious Dick was.
White House chief of
the
potentially the second
worked together
how
men and women
thing, but powerful
up
never forget
will
was empty for
know about
far
beyond Washington. Dick
fly-fishing,
and
I
still
don't
know
half of what he knows.
Dick
is
an extremely bright, no-nonsense guy.
President George
and
W Bush,
to President Ford.
He
just as
he was to the
first
is
very loyal to
President Bush
understands that the people
there and take the risks and put their elected are the ones
He
who have
name on
who go out
the ballot and get
the right to exercise power.
32
JAMES
*
When
I
RAKER.
A.
Ill
was nominated for the position
Houston Chronicle that
I
hoped
Commerce,
at
to help ease the
particularly small businesses. President Ford had
lawyer for eighteen years,
a business
I'd
told the
problems that "govern-
ment regulations and bureaucratic red tape" caused
As
I
seen
for businesses,
made
many
this a priority.
of those prob-
lems, such as the need to provide duplicate reports to different gov-
ernment agencies. "In some is
totally appropriate."
I
areas,"
added, "governmental regulation
I
The
believe that.
still
trick
to find the right
is
balance, and that's never easy.
After
I
was confirmed by the Senate, Susan and
seven children
moved
and Mike,
nell,
his senior year
my
to
Washington. Jamie,
my
first
I
and
five
of our
son, was at
Cor-
second, chose to stay in Houston to complete
of high school and keep his place on the school foot-
team.
ball
Mike was
a gifted athlete,
the star of the Bush-Baker family foot-
games (Turkey Bowls) we played
ball
Day.
The
after
lunch every Thanksgiving
other kids nicknamed him Conrad Dobler, after a tough of-
fensive lineman ("I only bit
one guy!")
for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Mike's football coach and family stayed with him in the Baker house
on Greentree.*
Washington was (and
still is)
largely a one-industry town, but if
own our
you're in
power
house
Houston, we lived in the northwest section of the District
a
in
it's
a great place to live.
house rented from Alex Hufty.
While continuing
to
in
We might have preferred to enroll the
kids in public school, but the system in the District at that time was in
bad shape. As
on
tions
a result
a salary that
we found
ourselves paying for private educa-
was considerably lower than what
I
had earned
at
Andrews Kurth. I
am
not looking for sympathy.
'Mike has made oilfield
his career with
equipment and
services.
It's
bad form to ask for
Smith International,
He
also took
a
I
then
major Houston-based supplier of
on the extraordinarily
ing two children as a single parent, something
a job,
don't think
I
difficult task
could have done.
of rear-
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF complain about the
life in
and
fic
nomic and
a
For one thing, the quality in
Houston
when they come
much-needed
on
ranch
a
—
less traf-
owned
I
Susan
to Washington. Fortunately,
because about that
in a better position than most, in part
time, an oil play
33
But many public servants make genuine eco-
less pollution.
were
I
benefits.
Washington back then was better than
sacrifices
*
of your paycheck. In addition, public service
many important nonfinancial
offers
of
size
POLITICS!"
South Texas provided us with
in
financial boost.
In Houston, our social
life
was organized around get-togethers
with lifelong friends. In Washington, a city based on power and the
we found
perception of power, true friendships.
You
it
more
difficult to establish as
are extremely busy with your
work and,
many
further,
you can never be certain whether people are attracted by your personality
and character or by your
lic officials
the people
this:
to
receive,
it's
title.
With
all
the attention ranking pub-
hard to stay grounded. But you can be sure of
who wouldn't return your phone
Washington damn well won't return them
Without
a circle
of old friends
like
calls
before you went
you go home.
after
we had back home, we
those
enjoyed far fewer backyard barbeques and endured far more functions
—where protocol determines almost
tion at the table for an official
formal private party)
is
official
everything. Your posi-
luncheon or dinner (or for that matter
determined by your position
a
in the govern-
ment, and people pay attention to whether you are seated above the salt
or below
it.
Cabinet and subcabinet
officials get invited to far
more of these
dinners and receptions than they can possibly attend. If you want to get
your work done
all
case
—you have
Of
six
work
Commerce,
I
is
a difference.
"eyes only"
I
a half
no
days a week
asked two of
my
me some
A
few weeks
my
after
I
ar-
top assistants, Frank Hodsoll
ideas for initiatives that might
offer the following excerpts
memorandum
at the office in
to the parties.
what's important.
and Jim Goyette, to present
make
and
to learn to say
course, the
rived at
—
because they express
a
from the resulting
guiding principle of
34
)AMES
+
A.
BAKER.
Ill
policymaking: don't do anything without being aware of
its
political
impact, especially during an election cycle. Frank and Jim listed factors to consider in choosing initiatives.
The
first
two are most
five
in-
structive:
1.
Interest in
and usefulness of these actions
government
and
(c)
other
officials.
Public visibility and political impact of these actions.
At Commerce,
I
quickly learned that the power
game
is
continu-
being played between departments within the executive branch.
ally
To
terms of good
to (a) the president, (b) the secretary,
key administration 2.
in
illustrate,
I
have one word:
textiles.
In 1976, the State
argued for the unlimited import of Chinese States.
textiles into the
United
This policy would further former President Nixon's (and Sec-
retary of State Kissinger's) earlier effort to ple's
Department
Republic, State argued.
open the door
to the
Peo-
True enough. But the administration
believed that our country's best economic interest was to pursue a
more balanced approach textile
Ford states
that contained
manufacturers. Clearly,
it
some protection
for
domestic
was also in the best interest of the
political operation to avoid alienating the textile
manufacturing
where important primaries between the president and Reagan
loomed.
March
In late
the president flew to San Francisco to address the
American Textile Manufacturers speech was sent for State and
comment
Institute.
draft of his
to interested departments, including
Commerce. At Commerce we were happy with language
allay the manufacturers' fears that
flood
An advance
cheaper Chinese
American markets. The president intended
committed
"to ensure that
our domestic market
textiles
to
would
to say that he was
is
not seriously dis-
rupted."
While we expected State
to lobby for the
the department had not weighed in
removal of that language,
when Ford took
off for California.
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF At
a
meeting of the Economic Policy Board, Bob
POLITICS!"
Ingersoll, the
35
*
deputy
secretary of state, had simply said that he didn't have the secretary's
A master at playing the power
position yet. This was vintage Kissinger.
who
game, he knew that he that he
would
minute
—when
speaks
last
often speaks loudest.
try to get the problematic sentence it
would be too
day of the president's
flight,
removed
I
figured
at
the last
late for us to offer a rebuttal.
my suspicion was
On
the
confirmed by Bob Hor-
mats, an international economics specialist with the National Security
Council. Kissinger planned to place a call to the president on Air
Force One, Bob I
said.
quickly called
Cheney on
He
the plane.
told
me
that Kissinger
had already called and that the president had tentatively decided to
my
remove the sentence. After hearing that time, politics should
dent to restore
trump
argument, Dick agreed that
policy,
at
and he persuaded the presi-
it.
A few days later, met Kissinger I
partment function. "Ah," he said
—
for the
time
first
—
at a State
in that distinctive voice
of
his,
De"so
you're Textile Baker." I
guess that was better than being called "Goodbye-Kissinger
Baker." In early April, the
campaign asked
me
to attend a fund-raising
event in Oklahoma, another important primary state where Reagan
was strong. After
would have
if
my
presentation,
Ford won
in
was asked what role Kissinger
I
November.
We were at a wealthy contributor's that
no media were present, but
just to
off the record, not for publication. that Kissinger
As
it
would serve
home. be
It
safe,
then said
I
in the next
my understanding declared my remarks
was I
it
was hard to imagine
Ford administration.
turned out, reporters were present from both the Oklahoma
Journal and the Daily Oklahoman. As Denise Donoho, a reporter for the Journal later wrote me,
"We honored your
request of confidence and
apparently the Daily Oklahoman did not."
When
I
returned to Washington,
I
was not aware of
this.
Nor was
I
aware that Rog, now President Ford's campaign manager, had made
H)
(AMES
+
BAKER.
A.
Ill
similar remarks in California.
Our unorchestrated comments had put
the administration on the defensive and forced the president's press
Ron Nessen,
secretary,
media
to tell the
that the president was not try-
ing to ease Kissinger out of office.
After a
ceremony
in the
White House Rose Garden,
I
finally
learned what had happened. "Before you leave the White House, stick
your head
in
Mr. Cheney's
The wire
retary.
featuring
my
furious,
This was last.
services had picked
up the Daily Oklahomans
me
the clips.
Cheney
my
first
The
State
Department and the secretary
reported.
major blunder on the
job. It
could have been
as far
ing order as the under secretary of commerce. sorry
I
was. "Don't worry," he laughed. "Just
called the secretary
me
my
Presidents should never be forced to explain or correct the state-
ments of those who serve them, particularly one
I
story
speculation about Kissinger's future, and a solemn chief
of staff showed
were
Nell Yates, the president's sec-
office," said
—but only
after
I
and begged
make
his forgiveness,
had properly groveled
it
the peck-
Cheney how
told
I
right with Henry."
which he kindly gave
my
in
down
apology to him.
Why did Cheney treat me so gently? later learned that the White House had been impressed by my role in helping the president avoid I
a potentially big political
household phrase:
Common tiple
gal. In
common
at a job site
at the site.
December
by
a labor
union of mul-
because of the union's grievances against
Under
federal labor laws,
1975, however, Congress
—
its
it is
generally
job sites.
make
it
easier for the unions to shut
Now the president had
to decide
Within forty-eight hours of the
dum
to
Rog Morton and
bill's
a letter to Jim
bill.
My
—
passed leg-
down multi-employer
whether to sign or
passage,
I
wrote
a
veto.
memoran-
Lynn, director of the Office of
Management and Budget, explaining why president to veto the
ille-
ranks of Democrats
swollen by the post- Watergate midterm election of 1974 islation to
a
situs picketing.
situs picketing is the picketing
employers
one employer
problem with an issue that was hardly
it
eleven-point
was imperative for the
memo
to Rog,
which
I
"WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF knew would be forwarded problems with the
tive
*
37
White House, outlined the substan-
to the
bill.
POLITICS!"
For instance,
it
would
"strike hardest at
small business and nonunion craftsmen and contractors, particularly minorities,"
I
But
said.
I
also laid out the political implications, with
point one being this fairly blunt warning: "A failure to veto will be posuicide as far as the nomination
litical
On January hoped
is
concerned."*
1976, the president vetoed the legislation. "I had
3,
would provide
that this bill
a resolution for the special
prob-
lems of labor-management relations in the construction industry and
would have the support of
mism
in this regard
all
parties,"
he explained.
was unfounded." This was the
"My earlier opti-
first
veto he ever ex-
Labor John Dunlop was so disappointed that he
ercised. Secretary of
resigned and returned to his teaching post at Harvard.
When
should a public
ences in policy? This differently.
One
of
is
official leave
obviously a question each person might answer
my predecessors
1980 after Jimmy Carter authorized ican hostages in Iran.
but he also
failed),
an administration over differ-
at State,
Cyrus Vance, resigned
a military
operation to free
in
Amer-
Vance not only disapproved of the plan (which
(justifiably)
believed he had been ignored in the
decision-making process. President Carter had made the determination after
meeting with other
his national security adviser,
Zbigniew Brzezinski,
advisers, principally
while Vance was away for the weekend in
Florida.
Although I
was
at
I
Treasury or
—when you
so
tration asks
T
was not alone
He
bill.
me
and
I
can't in
you
in
State, there are times
call for a veto. Bill
I
I
like
it is
appropriate to do
a policy the
in
adminis-
Vance, you are not con-
Simon, the treasury secretary, also opposed the
deputy. that
The
president declined to do
wing of the
party.
tune ideologically.
so. Bill
to let
was
a
Those conser\ati\cs who
was too moderate to serve President Reagan always ignored
were
when
were on the same wavelength so often that he once asked the president
Commerce and serve as his conservative, much admired by
thought
when,
to carry out, or
my
when
good conscience support
leave
true
and
never came close to resigning over a policy issue
Bill's
sense that he
18
*
IAMBS
A.
BAKER.
Ill
you do choose
suited about a significant issue in your portfolio. If
way
that
president and his administration.
The
you should do
resign,
you the chance
it
in a
is
to
the least detrimental to the
president, after
has given
all,
to serve.
At Commerce,
I
briefly
worked under someone involved
one of
in
the most spectacular cabinet resignations in history, Elliot Richardson.
became commerce secretary on February
Elliot
time,
Rog moved
White House
to the
the president on domestic and ident Ford
noted, he
as a
economic
1976.
2,
At the same
cabinet-rank counsellor to
issues
and
liaison to the Pres-
Committee and the Republican National Committee. As
would
later
become
Ford's
campaign chairman.
Immediately before replacing Rog, Elliot had been our ambassador United Kingdom. Before
to the
that, the
Harvard-educated attorney
served as secretary of health, education and welfare, secretary of defense,
and
—most famously—attorney
he became the
first
victim of the "Saturday Night Massacre" in Octo-
ber 1973
when he chose to
order to
fire
Elliot
tolerate as
resign rather than to obey President Nixon's
the Watergate special prosecutor, Archibald Cox.
was
a
wonderful man. This Boston Brahmin
more than one drink
genuine.
general. In that latter position,
—
—who
couldn't
wasn't as earthy as Rog, but he was just
He once said that Washington
was
of cocker spaniels,
a city
meaning people who would rather be petted and admired than wield power.
Maybe we
He
it
off because he
knew I would
rather wield power.
was extraordinarily bright, so cerebral that he was sometimes
difficult to
wrote
hit
a
understand.
He
book called The
often
seemed
to talk in riddles. In 1976, he
Creative Balance: Government,
dividual in Americas Third Century.
tried to read
I
Politics,
and the In-
it
but found
a
blood sport, featur-
it
too es-
oteric to finish. Politics, as the
saying goes,
ain't
ing raw emotion and gutfighting. advantage, but
some have been
stump
for President Ford,
The
It's
intellectual
successful. Elliot
considered himself too refined for tant to
beanbag.
retail politics
whom
is
often at a dis-
was one.
He
never
and was never reluc-
he obviously admired.
WORK HARD. I
worked with
AND KtEP OUT
STUDY...
Elliot for only three
reluctantly, for the
PFC. The
offices
OF POLITICS!'
months before
left
I
that will get
the
its
A
3
of our campaign headquarters
well-run campaign spends
9
Commerce,
Eighteenth and L Streets were small and poorly furnished, should have been.
*
money on
as
at
they
the things
candidate elected, like television, not on amenities for
staff.
At the PFC,
I
Secretary of the
reported directly to Rog,
Army Bo
Callaway
PFC.
chairman. In the weeks be-
as
tween Callaway's departure and Rog's
for presidential candidate
cemented
chestrate Reagan's
had made
a
name
Nelson Rockefeller
when he and
his reputation in 1966,
Stu Spencer ran the
arrival,
Stu, a first-rate political consultant,
working
who had succeeded former
win over Pat Brown
Bill
in
for himself
1964 and had
Roberts helped or-
for the California governor-
ship.
Stu also worked on Reagan's successful campaign for reelection in 1970, but in
September 1975, he joined the Ford
effort. In time,
appointed deputy chairman for political organization
—
he was
the chief po-
litical strategist.
Stu was political, but he was not politic. At one point, he told Ford,
"Mr. President, as a campaigner, you're no fucking good."
dent was taken aback, but laughed Jack
Stiles,
my
predecessor
rectly to Stu.
Although Stu and
port to him.
Initially, this
however,
we I
up
I
a
presi-
it off.
delegate hunter, had reported di-
worked closely
together,
I
did not re-
source of tension. As time went on,
forged a strong relationship.
When came ing
was
as
The
to the
delegates, so
I
PFC,
tracked
there was no how-to manual on round-
down some good
delegate hunters from
past campaigns and picked their brains. Clif White,
who engineered
Barry Goldwater's remarkable drive for the Republican presidential
nomination
in 1964,
and Dick Kleindienst, Nixon's man
in 1968,
were
the most helpful. Clif's advice
went something
like this:
thing you can about these delegates.
"You want
to learn every-
What makes them
tick.
What
are
I
their interests
W
hat issues are important to them.
commit
them
Who
are the per-
then you want to get them
to Ford, if possible in a public way, not just tell you,
You want them
there.'
And
important to them.
sonalities that are
to
II
to char
it
would be embarrassing
moving to the
PFC
for
White and Kleindienst
.
my conver-
and based largely on I
Roy Hughes,
sent Rog, Stu. and
the deputy chairman for administration, a six-page, single-spaced
orandum
be
_
Five davs after sations with
nailed, so that
'Til
titled
mem-
"Proposed Delegate Management Operation."
"The primary
make
results of the last ten days
likely that the
it
president and Reagan will go to the convention with neither having sufficient delegates for a first-ballot victory,** it
of
turned out. As
nized and implemented.** delegate
—
u
and "uncommiteds.**
I
also offered a plan
headed by
chairman. Each state in the region would also have
official
This
is
a
a
regional
chair,
a
"knowledgeable party politician rather than
who normallv would be a
as
promptly and carefully orga-
to divide the country into eleven regions, each
should be
wronglv.
proposed that we keep dossiers on each
I
"ours.** "theirs.**
—
delegate-hunting operation would be
a result the
importance and needed to be
vital
wrote
I
who
"an" elected
too busy to give us the time required.**
cardinal rule of politics: partv people will
work
their tails
off for a candidate they like: elected officials have divided loyalties their
own
come
careers always
first
and too many other demands on
their time. In the
memo.
or three times a
I
urged that the chairmen update the campaign two
week on the
status of delegates in their region, that
the president set aside twenty to thirtv minutes a day to call targeted delegates, and that
we schedule caucuses with
keep them "informed, plugged can happen to
a politician
"The next worst thing tion
is
is
is
in,
and
delegations in order to
rired up."
"The worst thing
not to have someone to talk
not to
know what
is
going on.
to.**
I
that
wrote.
Communica-
the answer to bot:
enty-nine states selected their delegates through primaries.
"
'WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KM!' OUT OF
POLITICS'
while twenty-one chose them at state conventions. In gates
would come
The magic number
to Kansas City.
41
+
2,259 dele-
all,
for the
nomina-
tion was 1,130.
The
race seesawed back and forth. After Reagan took Texas to put
himself back in contention, Ford
still
Wins
led 232-183.
Georgia, and Alabama gave Reagan a brief lead, but by
in Indiana,
May
25, the
count was Ford 732, Reagan 530, uncommitted 184. Ford stayed ahead through the end of the primary season on June
8.
By
then, however,
only eleven of the twenty-one state conventions had been held, and
Reagan was better organized
on July
16, the
New
in most. After the final state
York Times called
it
conventions
1,102-1,063 for Ford with
ninety-four critical votes uncommitted.
Reagan's campaign manager, John Sears, saw
July
19,
he said
gates, ten tant.
man would come
more than needed. Such
When
clinched,
his
it
differently.
On
to Kansas City with 1,140 dele-
projections, if credible, are
impor-
delegates perceive that one candidate has the nomination
many
Everybody
will flock to his side.
loves a winner. If
we
couldn't
hold those delegates committed to us and win enough of the
uncom-
numbers were even close
Sears's
mitteds, Gerald Ford
to being accurate
would become the
first
and
if
sitting president to fail to
hold his party's nomination since Chester Arthur.
Not too many
drews Kurth law firm
home.
"I
realized
my protege from the Anintroduced me for a speech back
years ago, John Cabaniss, in
Houston,
on one of our spring turkey hunts that Jim Baker was
destined for high office," John said. "There just has to be greatness in a
man
that can distinguish
whether
a
wild turkey you are tracking
gobbler or a hen by closely examining
its
After the laughter stopped, he added:
is
a
"The operative word there
is
droppings.
closely!''
I
didn't hunt delegates for President Ford exactly like wild turkeys,
but almost.
I
began by sending out biographical questionnaires.
Many
4
.>
*
JAMES
A.
BAKIR.
Ill
delegates responded, and
on those who did
we
blanks as best
example, excerpts from
not. Here's an
single-spaced bio
in the
filled
we compiled on
we could
a three-page,
delegate from the South
a
who
eventually committed to Ford.
Engaged
in practice
Citizens Advisory
ber of
of law continuously since 1951. Served on the
Committee
Member
Commerce work
.
.
.
Active in
Cham-
of the Propeller Club of the
x\merican Legion, Young Americans for Freedom.
United States
Has been and probably would torneys
to juvenile court.
named
as federal
like to
continue to be consulted on
judges in [his
state].
at-
Practices extensively in
federal courts.
The biography gate's
also included a detailed
chronology of the dele-
involvement in Republican campaigns and
information about local,
state,
ported. For example: "1961,
activities,
including
and national candidates he had sup-
member Goldwater banquet committee
which sponsored large and successful banquet honoring Senator Goldwater
.
.
.
long before Senator Goldwater was considered
a presidential
candidate."
We also kept a log of our contacts with delegates. In the case of our quarry mentioned above:
—President
6/18/76
sent
him
a
thank you in response to
recommendation on behalf of vacancy on the U.S. 6/22
[a
candidate] for appointment to
for
Ford does not veto the offshore presidential candidate
not go for Ford
of
district court.
—Per Jim Plummer: Will go
will
letter
if
is
oil
Ford on three conditions:
revenue sharing
bill;
If
the vice
not unacceptable (Brooke/Percy); [and
Ford challenges] Louisiana and Mississippi
delegations [for not having] enough blacks, females, and young.
—
6/24
Baker:
He
needs
lots
of attention.
AND
"WORK HARD. STUDY
K
Whether the nomination would go
to
the votes of about 150 swing delegates.
The
ted.
rest
would go
U>
E
OUT OF POIITK V
*
43
Ford or Reagan depended on
Some were
backed either Ford or Reagan but not
uncommit-
truly
The
firmly.
to the outfit that did the best job of corralling
its
contest
own herd
while picking off strays from the other side.
was
It
my job to stalk the uncommitteds.
stalked me, and not always appropriately.
I
Sometimes, however, they
doubt that any of these pols
were Latin majors, but clearly several of them understood the meaning of quid pro quo. If
had taken them up on their proposed
I
well might have been in flagrante
delicto.
Two
deals,
my
examples, and
I
re-
sponses:
[A delegate from Missouri] offered through Peter Roussel [of the
PFC]
uncommitteds
to deliver the
ernor] Kit
Bond
on patronage
if
we would
in the St.
assure
Louis area.
Missouri
in
I
who do
not like [Gov-
them they would have
final
told Roussel not to discuss
it
say
with
[the delegate]
Party people had reported [that
wanted
He called me
a federal job.
a
delegate from Pennsylvania]
and asked for an appointment with
Art Fletcher, [the deputy] assistant to the president fairs].
I
refused to do
In
I
had
all
at least
with their hands out.
I
fore the convention,
I
[for
urban
af-
for him.
it
seventeen questionable contacts with delegates
remember wrote
a
that
number because four weeks be-
memorandum
for the
file
("Improper
Suggestions from Delegates") that listed these incidents and the rest of
them. For instance, his vote if
a
we promised
Commission;
a
eral building
named
sued
who
a
congressman from Colorado hinted we could get to
name him
to the Federal
delegate from the Virgin Islands wanted the after him;
most
for
new
and "a delegate from Brooklyn
public statement saying he would
bids the
Communications
sell his
fed-
... is-
vote to the candidate
it."
While we were scrupulous about making
a
record of improper
4 4
+
|
AM ES
\
BAKER. Ml
.
we were otherwise plenty
suggestions (and rebuffing them), sive.
For instance,
we
and assigned one key person
identified
suader" to approach each targeted delegate. party leader, or even
official, a
a
neighbor
sonal influence to win or hold a
then follow up with
a
phone
call
It
aggres-
as a "per-
might be
public
a
— anyone with enough
per-
commitment. The president would
and, in
some
instances, a face-to-face
meeting.
Candidate Reagan also telephoned and met with key delegates, but
Gerald Ford had
phone
call at
a big
advantage here. Imagine receiving
home from
a state
dinner
the
at
President Ford and the leader of a foreign country.
on July
on board the USS Forrestal'm
1976, as forty
4,
tall
President Ford also met
He
egations.
articulate.
stood
Chevy
celebrating the
New
York Harbor
at
White House with
the
at
these events
entire state del-
—
gracious, humble, and
Chase's Saturday Xight L he impersonation of
the caricature
—
particularly the physical
graceful and athletic man,
onship football teams
him
as a ge-
over doorsteps and big words. Unfortunatelv,
humor
own. Even the slightest misstep was taken
offers
Or
one who actually knew the president ever quite under-
who stumbled
nial dolt
White House with
ships from around the world sailed past.
was impressive
No
personal
the president of the United States, asking for
vour help. Or being invited to
nation's bicentennial
a
who had
as
—took on
a life
more proof
from the pros, was,
played on two national champi-
all
down
bumbler.
in fact, a
President Ford personified
its
that this
the University of Michigan and turned
at
of
that
is
good about America, and he
was comfortable with himself, popular with old friends on both sides of the
aisle in
Congress, admired and respected by his
tive in private sessions
1976?
with delegates. So
The economy and
the pardon of Richard
cipal reasons, but a contributing factor
friendly at a time politics.
The
he spoke.
when
television
president had
When
why
staff,
did he
fail
and effecto
win
Xixon were the
in
prin-
was that he was not television-
had become the nation's window on
a habit
of pausing for several beats before
the red light on a television camera
would come on
WORK HARD. his
cue to
talk
STUDY...
—he would not
AND
start
KEEP CM
POLITICS!
(H
I
45
*
speaking right away. This some-
times gave the mistaken impression that he was struggling to find the right words.
TV-friendly or not,
wonderful, lifelong public servant was ab-
this
solutely the right person at the right time to heal the tergate, to restore America's confidence in
its
wounds of Wa-
government, and to
bring the nation out of that terrible period. Pardoning the disgraced
Nixon on September
8,
The
1974, was the right thing to do.
"could go on and on and on, or someone must write an end to said. "I
have concluded that only
conscience
tells
me
that
it is
tranquility but to use every
I
my
can do
and
that,
if
I
can,
I
scandal it,"
Ford
must.
My
duty not only to proclaim domestic
means
that
I
have to ensure
it."
By doing
the right thing, however, he hurt himself in the polls, the primaries,
and
—
ultimately
The
—
the election.
average American might wonder whether
ting president to entertain delegates at the
it is
proper for
White House,
just as
a sit-
Amer-
icans had concerns about President Clinton's inviting donors to stay
overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom. After one delegation lunched with President Ford, reporters asked
The
who had
paid for the meal. Answer:
president had used personal funds.
Having led presidential campaigns fwe times from 1976 through 1992
—and
for three
tive to these matters.
incumbent presidents
—
The
is
ways took pains to do connection with
tions at the
so.
visits to
government funds
first
In late
official
and the
to follow the law. I
I
wrote, but
it
—were okay
if
We
could not use
was okay for delegates to
official events, "as
al-
meetings or recepat-
long as their presence
nature of the event." Small
like
We
drafted guidelines "in
for "entertainment or political
tend state dinners and other
tie clasps,
June 1976,
have long been sensi-
Washington of delegates."
White House,"
does not alter the
rule, clearly,
I
gifts
—
cuff links,
they were not purchased with
government funds.
summer of
While
I
spent part of the
delegates,
I
spent most of the time at
'76 at the
PFC
White House with
headquarters working the
4
t)
+
A
!
M
A
IS
.
B
A K
Ml
phones and keeping
Ill
.
in daily
contact with regional and state chairmen,
with our "persuaders," and with the delegates themselves. Spencer and I
around the country to meet delegates.
also flew
When cle
New
the convention began, the
York Times published an arti-
about our delegate operation under the headline, "'Miracle Man'
Given Credit
for
Ford Drive." In Kansas City, the campaign picked up
on the headline and gave walkie-talkie network.
I
me
the code
name "Miracle Man"
—from
on the hard I
a
effort
like
team
the del-
for the soft sell
cases."
recognition as
sport,
much
and we had
a
next guy, but delegate hunting
as the
great one —
Pete McPherson, Paul Manafortjudy
and others
—
Others bugged the dele-
a failure into a success
on behalf of Mr. Ford. But they saved Mr. Baker
gates
our
earned that "sobriquet," the Times reported,
by "having turned the most crucial phase of the Ford egate hunt
for
at
ations in the
headquarters, and field.
By
is
-Jackie Fernald, Pete Roussel,
McLennan, Richard Mastrangelo,
many more
the convention,
and
in regional
we had
a
state oper-
tremendous organiza-
tion in place. In politics, organization think.
Texas pols have
a "goat
out
a
a
term
is
much more important
for a disorganized
than people
campaign: they
call
it
rope" (as in roping goats, a figurative term for "chaos"). With-
smoothly functioning presidential campaign apparatus, the chair-
man would be
forced to spend far too
much time
refereeing battles
between players who are on the same team.*
PFC Chairman Rog Morton volving me.
Some background:
did have to referee one battle in-
In 1966,
Godfrey "Budge" Sperling,
a
Washington-based Christian Science Monitor reporter, started hosting breakfasts at
which print reporters met
for freewheeling on-the-
record discussions with political newsmakers. Although Sperling re-
*
Political operatives use a
members of themselves
at
the
cruder term, also involving animals, for
same team spend most of
a
campaign
their time fighting for turf
the expense of their colleagues.
They
—
call that a "rat f
k."
in
which
and promoting
AND
-WORK HARD. STUDY.
K
E I
OU1 OF POLITICS!"
P
*
47
linquished his duties as host in 2001 and retired from journalism in 2005, the breakfasts are In 1976, attend.
1
The
press; this
now
was asked to
talk
a
chance to
But the invitation created
institution.
about the delegate hunt.
was eager to
I
uncommitteds was being played out
battle for the
was
Washington
a
in the
about our operation and delegate count.
talk
a furor within the
campaign. Peter Kaye, head
PFC press operation, strenuously objected to my going. Why? He told me would be eaten alive by the veteran journalists, but suspect the real reason was turf. The PFC press people wanted to of the small
I
I
keep tight control of what was said and by whom, but them.
I
was adamant about going, so
I
took
my
I
didn't report to
case to Rog,
who
gave
his blessing.
The
breakfast not only
credibility.
went smoothly but
The Washington
particularly if
new a
my
you are ill-prepared or untruthful. In
to the Beltway,
I
was not
you
press corps certainly can eat
the campaign, however, no one
our
also contributed to
seemed anxious
to
early days at
devour me.
and
a professional politician,
alive,
I
was
I
came with
decent resume: a successful lawyer in private practice with a good
education
who had done
Maybe
merce.
a respectable job as
they were just giving the
under secretary of com-
new guy
the benefit of the
doubt.
As the summer progressed, however, the major reason that credibility with the press a
delegate unless
was simple: I never lied to them.
we had something from
public statement, for example Credibility
is
—
that
I
that delegate
would support
never claimed
—
a letter
nomination
fight.
or a
my claim.
important in every political campaign, but
sential in the too-close-to-call '76
had
I
it
was es-
Because reporters
saw that the delegate counts we announced were accurate, not speculative,
City.
they could
This
human
say,
"Looks
won support
like Ford's got it," as
for us
(I
believe the
information about delegates also contributed to
media
to Kansas
from some uncommitteds because
nature to side with the winner.
relationship with the
we headed
in the eighties
and
my
it's
way we handled
generally positive
nineties.)
•4cS
+
JAMES
The
BAKL
A.
R,
Ill
other side did not enjoy the same credibility. After Reagan
campaign manager John Sears proclaimed on July 19 that date had 1,140 delegates, later,
reported that
I
The New
in
York Times
Some Ford
accused him of "blowing smoke." Four days
we had picked up
and now counted 1,135 win.
I
his candi-
our column
would
fifteen delegates
—
five
from Hawaii
more than we needed
to
later report:
operatives urged Mr. Baker to use razzle-dazzle to toss
out numbers without names and claim delegates not yet confirmed
and thus create
He
a
momentum
in fiction that
might lead to one
in fact.
refused
Unlike his counterpart in the Reagan campaign, where claims of 1,140 delegates
—
ten over the nomination
—stood
for
weeks without
evidence, Mr. Baker edged along slowly to the magic number, citing three delegates in Virginia or five in Hawaii
names and
— and handing out
their
addresses.
The news media
canvasses invariably confirmed the switches and,
within a few delegates one way or the other, matched the Ford count
and rebutted the Reagan count.
As we "edged along even
if
we
vention.
slowly,"
did reach the magic
By
state law,
didate on the
we knew
number by
some delegates had
first ballot,
that victory was not assured,
the beginning of the con-
to vote for a particular can-
but were free to go their
own ways on
procedural votes and, in some cases, on subsequent ballots for the nomination.
We
figured about twenty first-ballot Ford delegates might
go Reagan's way on procedural matters.
Why was this own
party
is
important? Because unseating a president from your
hard to
justify,
unless he's perceived as a loser. Beating
President Ford on procedural issues, the Reagan team believed, would create doubts in the minds of
uncommitted delegates and some of our
delegates, too. If Gerald Ford can't control his
can he defeat Jimmy Carter in November?
own
convention,
how
WORK HARD. On July
26,
gates by
naming
sylvania.
The
and Reagan's
STUDY...
Reagan made a
a
AND KEEP OUT
OF rO
LI
TICS'
*
49
desperate pitch for these swing dele-
running mate, Senator Richard Schweiker of Penn-
senator was viewed as considerably to the strategists believed
ticket in the general election.
sylvania delegates
to
of Reagan,
he would broaden the appeal of the
More
committed
left
important, they hoped that Penn-
Ford would switch to Reagan
at the
convention to show support for their home-state senator. This was possible but not probable. In football parlance, the Schweiker ploy was a
Hail
Mary
pass.
The man who could make
the ploy
work or defeat
it
was
Drew
Lewis, President Ford's chairman in Pennsylvania. In 1974, he had
managed 1976,
his friend Schweiker's senate reelection
Drew Lewis could
not be moved.
He
campaign, but in
not only remained loyal to
Ford; he also prevailed on the Ford delegates to honor their
ments.
(Drew would
ident Reagan before
later serve as secretary
becoming
commit-
of transportation for Pres-
CEO of Union Pacific Corporation.)
How confident was I that we had the nomination won when we rived in Kansas City?
convention,
I
totally.
On
the Sunday evening before the
attended church with Susan. "If the count had been
1,250 for Mr. Ford, to the press.
Not
ar-
maybe
that wouldn't have
been necessary,"
I
joked
THREE "THE CLOSEST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YOU'LL EVER SEE IN
YOUR
LIFETIME"
Vice presidential nominees Americans vote
tions.
argued that in 1976,
who
don't decide presidential elec-
for the top of the ticket. at least, the
the vice presidential
it
can be reasonably
Republican nomination hinged on
nominee was
As delegates were packing
But
...
or was not.
for their trips to
Kansas City, Ronald
Reagan's campaign strategist, John Sears, asked the party rules
com-
mittee to force candidates to pick their running mates before the con-
vention voted on a nominee. With Pennsylvania Senator Richard
Schweiker already lined up for Reagan, Sears wanted to force Ford's hand.
He
decideds his
reasoned that he could pick off some Ford delegates or un-
who were
running mate. Aware of
over what came to be
we opposed
this,
the rules committee, which
When
whomever President Ford
alienated by
known
we as
the proposal. So, too, did
controlled. This forced a floor fight
Rule 16-C.
the convention began on
Monday, August
vote on 16-C would determine the nomination final
yes,
count
after the
selected as
itself.
16,
we knew
And
it
did.
the
The
Tuesday night showdown was 1,189 no and 1,060
with 10 abstentions. Sears's make-or-break gambit had failed by
only 29 votes.
'WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF POLITICS! If tion,
had been advising Reagan,
I
would have
I
rolled the dice
ideological, not procedural: "Fire
-
51
*
told reporters after the conven-
I
on
a
three-word proposal that was
Henry
That would have
Kissinger!"
mobilized the Reagan troops, attracted some undecideds, and, more than
likely,
won support from
My suggestion
about attacking Henry had nothing to do with
judgment of him or
his policies. It
would have been harder on
line I
few of the president's supporters.
a
was
for President
offered lots of good advice.
we
are both realists
ally see
mand
Ford to have kept
have always liked Henry and consider him
sought his counsel before taking office
but
a purely political assessment. It
referendum over the controversial secretary of
a
—
as secretary
state.
When
a friend.
I
of state in 1989, he
We come from very different backgrounds,
practitioners of realpolitik
—and we gener-
eye to eye on foreign policy issues, particularly those that de-
American public
realize that the
we each
will not long support a policy that
cannot be explained in terms of hard national
good bureaucratic
interests.
committed, and
The
a
We
are both
infighters, too.
vote on the nomination on Wednesday, August
mactic. Everyone
team.
his troops in
national sacrifices. Values are important, of course, but
The
my
knew Ford would few
president
soft
won
win. Overnight, the
Reagan delegates
18,
was
anticli-
uncommitteds winning
also joined the
1,187 to 1,070, a narrow but decisive 117-
vote margin.
From 1972 through tions. last
1996,
1
attended
all
seven Republican conven-
For sheer drama and excitement, 1976 stands alone.
time either party actually picked
wrap up the nomination
dates prefer to
time and
money
however, that
its
I
candidate on the early, so
It
nostalgic for the days
when
Candi-
floor.
they can spend more
against their general election opponents.
am
was the
the
I
confess,
outcome was not
preordained by state primary contests. Each election cycle,
it
seems,
the primaries are earlier than last time, and a few key states always
have disproportionate influence. that the
nominee
and that many
will
Our system now
virtually guarantees
be known months before the party convention
states will
have
little
or no say in the decision.
The
52
JAMES
+
BAKE
A.
R.
Ill
Commission on Federal Election Reform President Carter in 2005
good way
a
to
do not suggest
New
now have
permit states that
runs for our nation's highest I
political persuasions into the
we could
find a
way
say help decide
who
rooms, but the modern
When
the three major telin earnest in the
room drew Americans of
all
ages and
drama of self-governance. Seeing the
work inspired many Americans
at
of regional
Hampshire. That would
began covering the conventions
early 1950s, the box in the living
system
a series
little
a return to smoke-filled
first
cochaired with former
office.
system deprives us of something important. evision networks
I
recommended having
primaries after the contests in Iowa and
be
that
to get involved.
I
wish
to reinvest major-party conventions with that
same meaning and excitement. Nowadays, the selection of teams to compete for the
NCAA
Men's Division
I
sixty-five
Basketball
Cham-
pionship seems to generate more excitement than the selection of the
two nominees
for the highest office in the
most powerful nation on
earth.
When John
Kerry picked John Edwards
as his
running mate before
the 2004 Democratic convention, the last vestige of suspense was
drained out of the convention. nation in 1976, sure
whom
nobody
he would
By
—including
select.
when Ford won
contrast,
the president himself
the nomi-
— knew
for
As noted, he was under the impression
that he should not offer the spot to Reagan.
My choice,
George Bush,
was also out of the running.
George was conspicuously absent from
politics in 1976. In January,
he became director of the Central Intelligence Agency, a position he didn't seek.
seemed
He hoped
like a
to run for president someday,
major detour, possibly
a
and Langley
dead end, on the path
White House. Would Americans ever accept
a
to the
former spy chief
as
chief executive?
Before voting on the
CIA
nomination, Senate Democrats wanted
President Ford to pledge that he would not ask
ning mate
in 1976.
Both Rogers Morton and
I
George
to be his run-
advised George not to
— "WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF George saw
take the post. said,
"and
if
There was speculation by
Don
me
the president wants
to
do
it,
I'm gonna do
53
it."*
CIA appointment was engineered
that the
Rumsfeld, then Ford's White House chief of
who became
*
important position," he
differently. "It's an
it
POLITICS!"
staff.
Rummy,
secretary of defense after Ford fired Jim Schlesinger, was
thought to have presidential aspirations of his own.
George from the scene could only have helped
If true,
removing
his chances.
After winning the nomination, Ford wisely sought Reagan's advice
on possible running mates, among them John Connally, Howard Baker,
Bob Dole,
Simon, Elliot Richardson, and William Ruckelshaus.
Bill
Reagan favored Senator Dole, and Ford tapped the World
War
Anne Armstrong, then was also on the
list.
would have been
hero
II
as his
to the
GOP convention was
While
still
demographic
count considerably more
good
This
is
good
politics.
for
advisers,
United Kingdom,
a national ticket.
a big surprise in 1976, especially
face of the Kansas City this
own
chosen, she would have been the
major party to run on
a
with his
running mate.
Ambassador
U.S.
Had she been
woman nominated by
after talking
predominates
women
at
from our
party.
first
That
The
largely white and male.
our conventions, we
now
delegates and delegates of color.
our party and our nation, and
—not
coincidentally
After the convention, Ford advisers and campaign
officials,
includ-
ing me, gathered at a retreat in Vail, Colorado, to plan the campaign against Jimmy Carter. In discussions to
sion was
made
mittee (PFC).
Most
notably,
*In the end,
Rog had made
when Ford
George enjoyed
his
Clinton wrote
in
for Intelligence. it
I
was not
privy, a deci-
Rog as chairman of the President Ford Com-
to replace
restored America's trust in the
which
a
lost in Indiana,
time
as
CIA and
CIA
also
Alabama, and Georgia three
director and did a great job in the office. "You
the rest of the intelligence community," President
1999 when the Langley
The experience
few mistakes during the primaries.
compound was named
made George
the
George Bush Center
a better president,
I
think, because
enabled him to understand both the importance and the limitations of intelligence-
gathering.
54
JAMES
•
BAKER,
A.
111
days after being humiliated
Texas,
in
Rog had
"I'm not going to
said,
rearrange the furniture on the deck of the Titanic!' At the same time,
he permitted himself to be photographed liquor bottles.
full
To
be
fair to
in front
of a row of less-than-
Rog, the press had joined in emptying
knew
those bottles. Furthermore, although few
it,
Rog was
suffering
from cancer.
Rumor had
it
that John
Connally would replace Rog, who would
then be given the largely ceremonial
shocked when
of chairman emeritus.
title
I
was
learned that the president wanted me to take over day-
I
to-day control of the campaign.
Chairman of the President Ford Committee was not was seeking.
I
had been
Washington
in
a position
for less than a year.
I
really
struggled with the question of loyalty to Rog, a wonderful man,
who had been
ill,
the
first
place.
The
situation
woman and
to
me
and had brought
grew even worse when Rog's
him you
"But, Anne," I
good
dear friend, heard about the
urged. "Tell
If
so
I
can't
do
hadn't thought
it
I
turn
to the capital in
Anne,
"Don't take
offer.
down
it,
a lovely
Jim," she
the president?"
would hurt Anne even more,
told her that the decision to replace if
wife,
now
it."
"how can
said,
me
I
I
would have
Rog had already been made. Even
had turned down the president, he would have offered the chair-
I
manship
to
somebody
else.
At
least
I
could make certain Rog received
the respect he deserved and the responsibility he wanted in his role as
chairman of
a blue-ribbon steering
committee
for the
new cam-
When we returned to Washington from Vail, I refused to move the large PFC chairman's office, insisting that Rog remain there.
paign. into
The Ford-Carter was historic on
many
contest in the year of our national bicentennial levels. It
marked the
to elect a president after Watergate.
candidates was a sitting president fice or, for that
tion in
It
first
chance Americans had
was the only time one of the
who had
not been elected to that of-
matter, to the vice presidency.
And
which Joe Garagiola played an important
it
was the
role.
last elec-
"WORK HARD. STUDY ...AND KEEP OUT OF
am
I
the
St.
only half-kidding
when
who
Louis Cardinals
I
*
55
mention Joe, the former catcher
for
parlayed his genial sense of
humor
into
broadcaster and television celebrity, eventu-
a career as a baseball
NBC's Today show His presence on
ally hosting
POLITICS!"
the campaign
symbolized the increased importance of television. By 1976,
trail
TV
had
—almost every household had one
not only penetrated our culture
more
sets
—but had
also
begun
to
thought about government and
The
read about Watergate.
change the way most Americans
politics.
TV
or
The newspaper
generation experienced
generation it,
through
broadcast hearings and press conferences, and finally through the live resignation of a president, right there in the living room.
The
post- Watergate
campaign laws compounded the power of the
The Pursuit of
tube. In Marathon:
the Presidency,
1972-1976, his compre-
hensive book on the 1976 election,* reporter Jules Witcover called the
1976 presidential race "ordination by television." In part reflected the
power of the medium, but
it
this
simply
was also an indirect conse-
quence of the new campaign-finance law passed by the Democratic Congress
1974 in response to the fund-raising abuses of the 1972
in
Nixon campaign. tarily"
In theory, both candidates Carter and Ford "volun-
accepted public financing of their general election campaigns.
no choice, given the new
In reality, they had
limits
on how much indi-
viduals and groups could contribute. (This decision had already been
made by
the time
in return
they could not accept private donations. As Witcover pointed
out, this
I
took over.) Both campaigns got $21.8 million, but
was "roughly one-third of what
for Nixon's
no-cost strategies to
'This book, for which
earlier"
I
its
candidate to the public^ Television could
was interviewed extensively, will refresh the
required us to assign
comply with
forced each campaign to look for low-cost and
sell its
interested in revisiting 1976.
law,
had cost four years
campaign against McGovern.
The spending limits
fit also
it
It
memory
of anyone
refreshed mine.
a large tribe
detailed rules, and
of lawyers and accountants to interpret the
file
new
reports with the Federal Election Commission.
IAMES A
BAKER.
Ill
reach millions, so the challenge for both campaigns was to win as
much
airtime as possible for as few dollars as possible. Twenty-four-
hour cable news networks did not
a
back then. The evening news
— ABC. CBS. and NBC —drove the
on the three major networks numbers. This begat
exist
simple philosophy: orchestrate events featuring
the president that the networks had to cover If
we wanted
between our farm program and
size the difference
dailv
to
empha-
Carter's, for
exam-
then send the president to a farm.
ple,
Televised debates
wav
—
the ultimate reality television
to reach tens of millions of
Americans
acceptance speech, the president side.
I
am
.
.
.
said.
—
also offered a
at a time. In his
convention
"This year the issues are on our
eager to go before the American people and debate the
real issues face-to-face with Jimmy Carter."
Here Ford was breaking the mold. He would be the president to participate in
broadcast debate with the other parry's
a
nominee. Comfortably ahead
in the polls
and reasoning that they had
nothing to gain by giving their opponents Presidents Johnson and
first sitting
Nixon had refused
a
forum and
credibility.
to debate.
Free coverage was important, but both camps also recognized the
importance of paid
political advertising.
For the
last
few days of the
campaign. President Ford flew to key venues to do half-hour commercials in a
with
a
talk-show format, not with his running mate. Bob Dole, but
TV
and Jerry
personality. Garagiola. Stay tuned for
more about the
"Joe
Sh
WITH
G4
*
JAMES
September
A.
7
BAKER.
I
I
I
The
meeting.
first
Women
sponsored by the League of
NBC
Voters and moderated by veteran
newsman Edwin Newman, was on September
atre in Philadelphia all
ninety-minute Ford-Carter debate,
held at the Walnut Street The-
23.
"The debates
overshadow
will
other presidential campaign activity," said the Vail campaign strat-
egy document. "This
And
dent's time."
advertising guru
it
activity
began long before the
bate thesis"
seeing
it
15,
Bailey,
first
and media consultant
Carruthers,
Bill
memo with
a "de-
the debate' will result from the president's
commu-
not as a contest with Carter, but as an opportunity to
what Carter does
nicate with the people, regardless of strategy"
by Mike Duval,
question was asked.
Bailey sent Duval a two-page
—"'Winning
on the presi-
priority call
did. Ford's preparation, led largely
Doug
On September
must have the
—"The dominant
fact
—and
of the debate will be that
a
"debate
it is
not be-
tween two candidates but between one candidate and the president." Seven guidelines followed, including these:
The
president should always stand, never using the stool.
should
.
.
.
take notes
when Carter
is
making
He
strong point; ignore
a
the cameras, always assuming they are on him.
He
should refer to him
direct conversation with
The
as
"Mr. Carter."
He
should avoid any
him
president should not cite congressional anecdotes.
He
should always be presidential by referring to the past two years.
A
final
guideline referred the president to an attached chart listing
"seven points to be made, the type of question or
be used to make them, and some memorable
Here
is
comment which can
summary
lines
on each."
one example:
Basic message to communicate: "With recovery of peace, stability,
and
When
trust,
to use
we can
it:
enter a
new generation of freedom."
Questions on
government reorganization, equal
economic
priorities; issues
such
rights, crime, education.
as busing,
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF Key
we must lives
"FDR's Four Freedoms are
lines to use:
freedom from government
also seek
—freedom from Washington
in
our
—thanks
valid.
still
*
65
But today
restrictions in
our
lives."
Carter arrived in Philadelphia for the
first
debate with a
to an article
ing 18 percent lead, but
POLITICS!"
—momentum was beginning
media source
from
to shift
command-
most unexpected
a
our way. Three days
before the debate, Playboy released a long interview with Carter. "Christ said,
'I
tell
you that anyone who looks on
committed
lust has in his heart already
interviewers. "I've looked
ted adultery in
recognizes for
I
my
will
heart
on
a lot
many
—and
do
of
with
adultery,'" Carter told his
women
times. This
have done
I
woman
a
with
commit-
God and God forgives me
is
—
it
lust. I've
something that
." it.
.
.
Carter's statement was the perfect political gaffe.
It
hurt
him with
almost every voting group. His fellow Southern Baptists, for instance,
were offended that he gave the interview without condemning Playboys role irrwhat they
saw
as the
of traditional sexual morality.
funny
(in the
Some
voters simply thought
it
was
sense of odd) for a presidential candidate to talk openly
about his lustful thoughts. as excessive religiosity.
and
coarsening of culture and weakening
political skills.
And
others were troubled by what they saw
The episode
cast
doubt on Carter's judgment
Frank Irwin, a conservative Democrat from Texas,
even printed bumper stickers saying, "God doesn't want you to vote for Jimmy Carter."
Meanwhile, we had to decide how the painfully long campaign
say something controversial.
whether
it
will gain
mining factor
is
trail
to respond.
It's
inevitable
some
that a candidate will, at
The
on
point,
opposition then has to figure out
more by speaking up or keeping
quiet.
The
deter-
often whether the press itself can be expected to keep
the story alive, and on "lustful thoughts," reporters were doing just fine,
thank you very much, without any help from
president nor I
Bob Dole
us.
Neither the
said a thing.
accompanied the president
to Philadelphia for the first debate.
GG
JAMES
*
Ill
none of the
Surprisingly,
Not
BAKER.
A.
panelists asked about the Playboy interview.
surprisingly, neither candidate
The
debate
first
but instead for
its
is
mentioned
remembered, not
best
silence.
Cutoff," as the Washington
on the
stage.
fix
it,
anything that was said
in the
Posh
middle of
a response.
H ay nes Johnson
While technicians
lasted twenty-seven minutes.
what was wrong and
for
With about eight minutes remaining, the
sound system went dead while Carter was
"The Great
it.*
called
it,
tried to figure out
the president and Carter remained standing
Neither said a word, and neither seemed to want to
sit
down. President Ford eventually
won
the standoff. After about twenty
Sound was restored
minutes, Carter took his seat.
a
few minutes
later.
The
first
won
the debate, too. Carter's 18-point lead (54-36) was reduced to 8
post-Philadelphia Gallup Poll suggested the president had
(50-42).
A
little
more than
paign, a Harris poll
a
month
was remarkable considering it
with just days
showed the race was
Carter leading Ford by only
cult
later,
1
a virtual
point, 45^44.
how
far
The
left in
dead
the cam-
heat, with
tightness of the race
behind we had
started,
how
diffi-
was to overcome public concern about the Nixon pardon, and
how many new and unexpected
troubles
came our way during
the
campaign. Unbelievably, given President Ford's sterling reputation, one of our first
big problems was fighting off an ethics charge. Watergate Special
Prosecutor Charles Ruff was appointed by the administration's attor-
—without campaign —
ney general, Edward Levi in the heat
of the
prior notice to the president and
to investigate whether, as a congress-
man, Ford had diverted campaign contributions
for personal use.
It
'Finally questioned about the interview in the third debate on October 22, Carter con-
ceded that
it
had been
Christian beliefs fice,
.
.
.
a mistake. "If
I'll
I
should ever decide in the future to discuss
my deep
use another forum besides Playboy!' In interviews after he
President Carter admitted the interview had cost him
a lot
of votes.
left of-
— "WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF was
a
POLITICS!"
*
G7
bogus charge from the beginning, and Levi should never have
referred
it
mid-October, Ruff announced
to a special prosecutor. In
there was no evidence of wrongdoing and closed the case. Nevertheless, the investigation
ion, inappropriate a real sign
and
badly hurt our campaign and was, in
unfair, a perversion
of troubles to
come from
my opin-
of the political process, and
the post- Watergate independent
counsels.
Another ethics question boiled up
in the press while
Ruff was con-
ducting his investigation. John Dean, President Nixon's White House counsel
who
pled guilty to obstruction of justice in the Watergate
scandal (he admitted paying the Watergate burglars to keep quiet), told reporters that Ford, as a congressman, had
White House
—attempted
to kill a 1972
—
at
the behest of the
House hearing on
the Water-
gate burglary. At his vice presidential confirmation hearing, President
Ford
testified that
he had opposed granting subpoena powers for the
investigation but that he
had not acted on behalf of the White House.
(These events occurred well before the
full
implications of Watergate
were evident.) Both Ford and the White House aide as his
source denied Dean's allegations, and
—
whom Dean cited
despite the hair-trigger
post- Watergate spirit toward real or imagined impropriety
not think the charges were worth investigating
Still,
the
—Ruff did
damage was
done. President Ford suffered guilt by association every time reporters
wrote another story about Dean's baseless charge.
The Butz
affair,
another unexpected pothole on the campaign
trail,
resolved itself with the secretary's resignation, but two days later an-
other key administration
damaging. That
official
official
spoke and the result was even more
was President Ford himself.
During the second televised debate, the president painted himself into a corner while trying to defend the Helsinki Final Act,
signed in 1975.
It
was an extremely important human rights document
among other things fense, President
which he
—butjimmy Carter
criticized
it
mercilessly. In de-
Ford said the Soviets had kept their word and notified
us about their military maneuvers. "In both cases where they've done
68
so,
there
will
BAKER,
JAMES A
*
is
no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never
he under
A
III
a
Ford administration."
Max
follow-up question from
Frankel of the
New
York Times
gave the president an opportunity to correct his misstatement. But President Ford responded by citing two communist countries that in
some sense had kept and Romania
thumb of
—and
the Soviet
one
Union
at arm's
other, Poland, that
He
—Yugoslavia
was clearly under the
the Soviets. "I don't believe that the Poles consider them-
dominated by the Soviet Union," he
selves
length
said.
was, of course, referring to the indomitable spirit of the Poles
and other peoples of Eastern Europe the collapse of the Berlin Wall
some
—one of
the major reasons for
thirteen years
later.
And he was
also stating a longstanding U.S. policy that refused to accept the legality
of the occupation by the Soviets of Eastern and Central Europe
ter
World War
deny the At
facts
II.
But
That's
most
one thing
on the ground, which
this stage in the
to carry
it's
if
not
where the
to have a policy is
—
and another to
what he appeared
to be doing.
campaign, we knew that to win we would have
all
of the northern and eastern industrial
where the
electoral votes were. That's also
blocs of Polish Americans and others of Eastern lived
af-
states.
largest
European descent
the population most likely to be affected by the president's re-
marks.
What to do? that in the
and
I
Several of us
met to discuss damage
control.
We decided
morning Cheney, National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft,
would go
to the press to explain the president's statement
an enviable task given the
number of
—not
Soviet divisions stationed in
Eastern Europe. Interestingly, while both the
press immediately focused ets
Ford and Carter campaigns and the
on the president's remarks about the Sovi-
and Eastern Europe, the public did
of those
who had watched
comfortable
1 1
not. Teeter's
overnight polling
the debate gave the president the win by a
percent margin.
Then
the newspapers hit the stands,
the remark was rebroadcast on television, the pundits
weighed
in,
and
"WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF
POLITICS!-
*
GO
the Carter campaign focused on the assertion. Within forty-eight
who had
hours, polls revealed that a substantial majority of those
watched the debate now believed Carter had won.
When This
guiding principle of
a
is
vou're wounded, you must stop the bleeding immediately.
message and threatened
Many
to
politics.
This gaffe had knocked us off
keep us there for
a
long time.
of us advised the president to meet the press and clarify his
remarks. Unfortunately,
Henry Kissinger had
what
to tell the president
a
called after the debate
wonderful job he had done, which rein-
forced Ford's view that he didn't need to do that. After
we
didn't of-
recognize that the Soviets had any right to dominate Eastern
ficially
Europe, and neither did the Eastern Europeans
Only
all,
after
it
became
being sidetracked
—
—
at least in spirit.
clear to the president that his
six
agonizing days later
—
campaign was
did he speak up.
"The
original mistake was mine," he said. "I did not express myself clearly. I
admit
it."
That gave us something
to
work
with, and
pointing out to reporters that this was the
first
I
was soon happily
time in
six
weeks that
the president had had to clarify any remarks, while candidate Carter
was constantly revising what he had
said.
I
cited six
comparable Carter
do-overs, including the famous Playboy interview.
Carter gaffes were in part responsible for the
statistical
dead heat
the polls reflected on election eve. So, too, was the fact that voters not
only liked Gerald Ford, but also saw him
as presidential.
The
"Joe and
Jerry Show" played a big part in reinforcing this perception.
off.
The
president and Garagiola had met earlier in the year and hit
The
plan to team
them together
in six
it
thirty-minute campaign in-
fomercials was hatched at an October brainstorming session between
Bob Teeter and consultant John Deardourff. In
modern
"cookies"
—
baseball parlance, Garagiola pitched the president
questions he could easily hit for
home
runs. I've long since
forgotten these confections, but in Marathon, Witcover recounts a few
of them, including: "Gosh, Mr. President, there sure are
a
lot
of
7
+
)AMES
BAKER.
A.
Ill
people worried about taxes, and
just
what are you going
them out?" And, "How many world leaders have you These shows went over extremely
we had
of what
outcome with
ever, the picture
fore
we
He
left
polls
opened on November As our
certainty.
"Thank you, but I
I
said,
As always, he was gracious. Be-
don't smoke, Mr. President." After
had stopped when Mary Stuart got
exit polling
find
as a victory cigar.
I
from our people
in the field,
the residence in the is
sick, started
up
The
it
for
looked
it."
as if
I
might have reason
early results were better than our
from the
for the
press,
campaign on
monitored returns
and watched the television coverage from
downtown Washington. The
and several close friends
There
cig-
the campaigning, the presi-
some use
fielded questions
the Ford headquarters in family,
all
had predicted. As the spokesperson
election night,
smoking
then quit again.
"Maybe you might
up
it
o'clock in the after-
5
a cigar.
For a time after the polls closed, to light
how-
presented the numbers to the
I
His voice reduced to a whisper by
dent
no one could predict
exit polling data trickled in,
stoically.
me
he even offered
arettes for years,
2,
began to look bleak. At about
took the news
after she died,
dealt with?"
well, with viewership well in excess
noon, Cheney, Spencer, Teeter, and president.
to help
expected.
By the time the the
do
to
president, his
—including Garagiola—watched from
White House.*
a telling
photograph of Joe and Jerry, taken
during the evening. As the two friends
sat
at
some point
together on a couch, the ex-
pressive Garagiola has his head buried in his hands. Beside him, the
president calmly lights his pipe. Later Joe was reported to have said,
"The president took
'The
Family was
First
all
the news very calmly.
a real asset in the
I'd
seen [Cardinals'
campaign. Because the president did not travel
extensively until late in the campaign, appearances by Mrs. Ford and the children were
very important. "Mrs. Ford ident," said
We
didn't,
is
greatly respected because she
our Vail strategy book.
and Betty Ford,
a classy
is
independent from the pres-
"We should not try to discourage this independence." woman, won a lot of votes for the president.
"WORK HARD. STUDY ...AND KEEP OUT OF
POLITICS!"
71
*
teammate] Enos Slaughter get more upset about an umpire saying, 'Strike two,' than
win
Gerald Ford did when he realized he wasn't going to
a presidential election."
That
come
realization didn't
day morning. In the end
a shift
of only a few thousand votes in Ohio
would have given
(25 electoral votes) and Hawaii (4 electoral votes)
won
the victory to the president. Carter-Mondale
by about
1.7
Wednes-
until the early hours of
the popular vote
million ballots out of almost 82 million cast, 50 to 48
where the magic number was 270,
percent. In the Electoral College,
Carter-Mondale won 297
to 240.
(A renegade elector from Washing-
Not
ton gave Reagan one vote.)
Woodrow Wilson
since
Charles Evans Hughes by 23 electoral votes in 1916 had
defeated a race for
president been so close.
As sunrise approached,
How
thought to myself,
I
were a Democratic lawyer in Houston seven years
ago,
up
for I
all
also
11
is
lit
up the
ter dinner. Politics
That assessment held
ever see in your lifetime.
cigar the president I
kicked the habit,
had given me. For the next three I
smoked
a cigar
every night
af-
can be hazardous to your health.
Because the results were so close ously about asking for one or
more
in so
many
states,
had decided against
would be very hard
for
me
it.
we
talked seri-
recounts. After thinking about
day or two, however, President Ford called us
said he
obviously the clos-
of twenty-four years.
or four years, until
for a
Here you
and now you ve run a
campaign for an incumbent Republican president, in what est presidential election you
bizarre.
"I lost
together and
all
the popular vote," he said. "It
to govern if
Electoral College through a recount."
it
I
He
won was
Gerald Ford may have been calm about
the presidency in the
right,
of course. Garagiola re-
losing, as
ported, but that reflected the president's character, not indifference to
the outcome.
He
presidency are
was
a strong
—and he was
spective. His reputation
our nation pull
itself
a
—
competitor
proud man.
was secure
all
those
Still,
who
he had
as the president
a
aspire to the
sense of per-
who had helped
together after Watergate. Against great odds, he
72
JAMES
+
BAKER.
A.
Ill
ran a strong campaign and almost pulled
it off.
Now
he gracefully ac-
cepted the decision of the American people and prepared to move on.
As
for
me,
good man win
come
a shot. In the
economy were
just
rally
from 33 points down
host of the Today
to
it
a
end the Nixon pardon and concerns about the
too
also took solace
I
nomination and
his party's
within an eyelash of recapturing the presidency. We'd given
of
hell
took satisfaction in having helped this wonderfully
I
much
to
overcome.
from the many
show
letters
I
the time, thanked
at
Tom
received.
me
for
Brokaw,
demonstrating
"class" in
appearing on the program the morning after the election, and
added:
hope
"I
that
you
will take
some consolation
in
knowing that the
President Ford Committee conducted a masterful closing campaign.
was an
effort
of which you can be proud."
And George Bush
"Dear Bake: Nobody could have done any better thing
is
spect,
that
you did
your dignity
One day
it 'first
class'
intact. Just
nobody!!
—and you emerge with
know
during the campaign,
—
I
wrote:
The
big
universal re-
we're awfully proud, Bushie."
brought Susan and some of the kids
over to the White House, and President Ford graciously invited us into the Oval Office.
Our ten-year-old
The
is
office.
My
really ugly."
president laughed and said, "Well, son,
your daddy will be getting
Rumor had
all
son, Will, looked the place over,
then said to the president, "Gee, you have a really pretty daddy's office
it
a
much
if
we win
this election,
prettier office."
the president planned to
name me secretary of trans-
portation. After the election, however, the only transportation
be concerned about was
how
to
I
had to
pack up the Baker brood and move
back to Houston. Andrews Kurth had an office waiting for me, and took for
it,
me.
but resuming the practice of corporate law held I
knew
I
for.
little
I
would run
for office, but
what
office
I
it I
appeal
wouldn't be able to stay out of politics for long.
question wasn't whether
run
It
The
would
FOUR "DOESN'T IT PISS
YOU
Running for Attorney General (AG)
OFF?"
in Texas, as
did in
I
1978, was a far cry from running a presidential campaign. In this, first
(and only) bid for elective
were in.
a year,
I
ate every variation of chicken imaginable. (In
no question about which comes
state politics there's
House
dinners in the White
Rotary Clubs and barbeques in backyards were
out; potlucks in
Over almost
office, state
my
the chicken
first,
or the ego.)
When
I
wasn't pressing
my case
at
these gatherings,
the flesh on street corners and in supermarket parking
advance team, and such as
it
I
didn't travel
was, usually consisted of
on Air Force One.
two guys
—Peter
I
was pressing
had no
lots. I
My
entourage,
Roussel, a friend
from Houston who had worked for George Bush, and Jim Cicconi, recent University of Texas
me one day on wanted to for
help.
Law
School graduate
the street in Austin before
(Jim
who had approached
had announced and said he
later served with distinction in the
George H. W. Bush and,
dential Library and
I
afterward, helped set
Museum. More
a
recently, he
White House
up the Bush
Presi-
was vice president
74
|AMES
*
BAKER. Ml
A.
and general counsel of
AT&T before its merger with
SBC.) The press
rarely followed me.*
Susan rarely accompanied me. Her job was to stump couldn't get
to.
She covered much of the
in the areas
I
our white Suburban
state in
with "Jim Baker for Attorney General" painted on the windows, stop-
ping for coffees and teas organized by family and friends. Karen Jones, a
young campaign worker, organized the
did Susan's
and traveled with
her, as
Much
of the
Klinka Lollar, and other special
sister,
time Susan traveled with for
trips
a portable crib in the
back of the Suburban
our daughter, Mary Bonner, the newest Baker, born
September
saw
in
Houston
a small
crowd
in a
the Texas Panhandle.
shopping center and went over to shake hands
and distribute campaign
literature.
"Hey, did anyone ever
you that you look
tell
like
Jim Baker?" one
man
said before
I
I
was hardly
a
household name or
I
had frequently been on national television
Baker" because
could introduce myself. face,
dent Ford's campaign chairman. "Yes,"
'Back
at
our modest headquarters
in
Houston,
I
but some people knew "Jim
Stoltenberg, and Jan Naylor.
(When
I.
my campaign
affairs consultant.
Lavin
is
my I
affairs.
Today he
is
staff,
a
under secretary of commerce. Naylor
personnel director for Bush 41.)
fWhen
manager, Frank Donatelli,
Townsend, Frank Lavin, Lisa
was White House chief of
an assistant to President Reagan for political
as Presi-
replied with a smile. "Often."
led a small staff that included his wife, Becki, Carol
being
in
1977.*
One hot summer afternoon I found myself in I
pals.
Donatelli served as
prominent D.C. public later served as
deputy
We were also blessed with any number of volunteers, one
cousin Preston Moore.
learned Susan was pregnant,
boy." "Jimmy,
we
I
said,
"Oh my goodness,
we're gonna have another
are going to have a blue-eyed baby girl," she replied.
the delivery room,
I
When
stayed behind, true to the old tradition that there are
she went to
some
places
men
just don't belong.
"Mr. Baker, you have a lovely baby is
a really
cruel joke,"
I
the baby had blue eyes.
our
I
think
train of eight children.
together.
it
the nurse told
me
in the
had put her up
to
it.
was God's providence that we had
waiting room. "That
But
it
was
this lovely
true.
And
caboose to
She brought the Baker and Winston wings of our family closer
Mary Bonner took her
was giving an interview.
girl,"
told her, thinking Susan
first
steps in a press office in
Brownwood, Texas,
as
Susan
-WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF
The guy never "Doesn't
said,
it
batted an eyelash.
piss
In those days,
you
was
it
for attorney general,
I
—
for statewide office
He
POLITICS!"
looked straight
at
*
75
me and
off?"
hard to be a Texas Republican. In running
still
was attempting to do what no
save Senator John
Tower
GOP
candidate
—-had done since Re-
construction. Win.
George Bush and others had suggested nor, but
Dolph
and
I
didn't think
Republican
and
a
chance.
knew I was
I
could raise enough
RNC.
I
Daniel, Jr., was liberal
for
office
money
enough
much
to give
to
run for AG,
had been encouraged
to seek. Be-
as
I
Houston and the Andrews Kurth law firm
after the '76 election,
lican National
of the
Demo-
lawyer*
a better
Washington
fore leaving
few weeks
I
wouldn't cost nearly
It
Governor wasn't the only
a
should run for gover-
My likely Democratic opponent for attorney general, for-
mer Texas House Speaker Price a
I
Briscoe, the incumbent, was an establishment
crat, fairly conservative,
to beat him.
that
some Ford supporters on
Committee (RNC) encouraged me gave this serious consideration.
to
Repub-
the
run for chairman
When a Democrat holds
the presidency, as Jimmy Carter would from 1977 to 1981, and Republicans control neither
chair I
becomes de
prominent
my name for a
I
fight."
Second,
it's
in "a
surplus to
More money came
my
who
knock-down, drag-out
in
we had
in 1980,
a deficit,
he wrote
when George
but
a fund-raising letter
than was needed to pay off the debt, so
of.
My
father
once told
me how much
from Connecticut who had done the same thing
the father of
told the
I
on
refunded the
contributors on a pro rata basis. Returning unspent campaign contributions
unusual but not unheard
U.S. senator
I
virtually impossible to run the party without being
eventually raised about $1.5 million. After the race,
behalf.
RNC
First, sev-
politicians sought the position, and, as
Bush received the vice presidential nomination
my
was the case then, the
couple of reasons.
wanted to avoid being involved
press,
is
as
facto spokesperson for the party and, thus, a player.
eventually withdrew
eral other
*I
house of Congress,
my friend George. Even me any money back."
ever gave
today people
tell
in the
he respected 1950s
—
a
former
Prescott Bush,
me, "You're the only politician
JAMES
+
/(,
BAKER.
A.
scarred politically.
Ill
You have
to be willing to
make hard
about
calls
what campaigns to support with funding and other tough issues. You can never please everyone, and
people
mad
if
you're
you end up making more
fair,
than glad. Finally, although the White House privately
me
encouraged
to run, President
Ford did not want to endorse one
candidate over the others.
As I
turned out, not running was one of the best political decisions
it
ever made. Former Tennessee Senator
ship on,
believe, the third ballot
I
Brock won the chairman-
Bill
and did
a fine job.
When the party re-
claimed the presidency in 1981, President Reagan named him U.S.
Not
trade representative. ident's inner circle,
bad. But Bill never
even when he served
became part of the
as secretary
When
returned to Houston,
I
Baker Botts, approached
me
Bill
Harvin, managing partner
about becoming
My
great-grandfather had helped found.
a partner at the firm
dad was no longer
family firm, albeit twenty years don't think
They
I
can do
me pursue
let
that, Bill,"
I
was appealing, but
said.
"AK
It just
wouldn't be
practicing law and
I
if
of good friends
years
taught
later,
me
I still
do you think would have
President Ford had won?"
"Wow,"
said this
man whom
"Secretary of transportation."
me serve
live to see
In the
Governor a
declined. "I
would probably have been named secretary of transportation,
told him.
see
I
man who had
whom, nineteen
called "Mr. Jones." "Jim," he asked, "what
happened
so
alive,
right."
of those friends was Harry Jones, the
much about
my
has been very loyal to me.
this political agenda. I've got a lot
practicing there.
One
late,
at
my ticket punched at the
the nepotism rule was not a problem. Getting
so
of labor in Rea-
second term.
gan's
still
pres-
as secretary
me
I
I
so admired, with genuine awe.
deeply regret that he did not
of the treasury and secretary of
run for attorney general, though, and
Democratic primary, Mark White, Briscoe, beat
major upset,
as
"Price, Jr.," in the
state.
live to
He did
lose.
a conservative
my opponent of choice, Price
— Daniel
I
protege of
Daniel. This was
idiom of Texas
politics
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF was widely expected to follow
in the footsteps
POLITICS!"
of his
*
77
father, a leg-
endary Texas House speaker, attorney general, governor, senator, and state
supreme court justice. Young Daniel
side
from
my
faced
He figured, erroneously, that me in the general election.
Just as
money on
to
run
—
lost, in
TV during the pri-
he would need
George Bush had expected
his mother's
Sam Houston
great-grandfather's old friend
part because he was reluctant to spend
mary.
—descended on
more when he
it
mainstream
as the
alter-
native to the liberal Ralph Yarborough in the senate race of 1970,
expected to portray myself Daniel.
And
just as
as the
Preston
been
a bit closer
liberal
my unexpected establishment Dem-
(Mark White) beat me, 1,249,846
Moore
had
George's unexpected establishment Democrat op-
ponent (Lloyd Bentsen) beat him, ocrat opponent
mainstream alternative to the
1
recently reminded
had
me
said yes to an offer
I
munity organization that
shall
go
to 999,431.
that the race
made by
unnamed
would have
com-
leaders of a
here.
They
offered to
deliver a large bloc of voters in return for a $5,000 check. "Walking-
around money" for local
political leaders
cedure in Texas
they
It
politics,
was an odd election
said.
year.
I
told
John
was standard operating pro-
them
Hill, a
it
wasn't
SOP
me.
for
moderate,* upset Dolph
Briscoe, a reasonably popular conservative governor, in the
Democratic
primary. This was an early sign that Texas conservatives were drifting
away from
their hereditary party. Bill Clements, a gruff
former Democrat with strong
ties to John
Texas oilman,
Connally, and former deputy
defense secretary in the Nixon and Ford administrations, spent millions of his crats
still
own money
win the governorship. With Texas Demo-
outnumbering Texas Republicans by
drilled a very expensive Hill,
to
a
big margin, he almost
dry hole. In the end, however, he squeaked bv
thanks to superb media, good organization, and a lot of crossover
*In a footnote to history,
Perrin, in 2005.
my
They now
daughter Mary Bonner married John
live in
Hill's
Los Angeles, where Mary Bonner
is
grandson,
an actress
\
lunter
78
JAMES
*
BAKER.
A.
Ill
who
votes from conservative Democrats
Clements became the
first
GOP governor in Texas in
Another Texas Republican
George W. Bush, then Texas
made
105 years.
his first bid for office in 1978.
thirty-two, ran for Congress in a sprawling
moved
first
also
liberal.
to the state. In the
GOP
primary, an opponent
charged that "Junior" had "Rockefeller-type Republicans such
Rove
to help
Rove in
him run
his
as Karl
campaign."
twenty-seven-year-old guy
"is a
West
included Midland. That's where the Bushes lived
district that
when they
regarded Hill as too
who works
in
my dad's office
Houston," George W. responded. "He has had nothing to do with
my
campaign
doubt he even supports Rockefeller." Junior won
I
the primary but lost the general election to Kent Hance, a conservative
Democrat.
Everyone knows what became of George W. Bush. Here's what be-
came of Price Daniel, Jr. Devastated by
home
turned
rifle,
movie, a sad testament to a
re-
him
to
then beat the rap with Racehorse Haynes
her attorney. This story later showed up in life
a
made-for-TV
dreadful
and career that held such promise.
Another candidate, John Tower, retained
We
Mark White, he
to Liberty, Texas. In January 1981, his wife shot
death with a .22-caliber as
his loss to
ran into each other on the campaign
trail
his senate seat in 78.
one hot summer day
in
San Antonio and repaired for drinks to the old Menger Hotel. That's
where
in
1898
my
hero Teddy Roosevelt recruited Texas cowboys of
varying degrees of sobriety as
American War. Over vodka thing, Baker?
This
is
Rough Riders
my
disillusioned, but
many campaign
I
race,
I still
George
"You know some-
I
replied. "I'm
new
to
all this."
didn't find the business squalid.
I
wasn't
was exhausted. So was Susan, who had attended so
coffees
on
taken for the Folgers Lady.
We
said,
a squalid business we're in."
"Speak for yourself, Senator," After losing
Tower
martinis,
to fight in the Spanish-
my behalf that We retreated to
hadn't been vacationing for called. "Let's get going,"
she might have been misFlorida for a
more than
he
said.
I
a
little
R&R.
day or two when
knew what he meant.
"WORK HARD. STUDY. ..AND KEEP OUT OF George and
do
so.
Now he was
had promised
I
this?"
to help if
I
were
in a
po-
ready to go.
me one
Early on, George turned to
do
79
*
had talked many times since 1976 about the possibility
I
of his running for president. sition to
POLITICS!"
Even fellow Texans
day and asked, "Am
—who tend
to
crazy to
I
admire bold action
—were
you don't mean you're gonna run against
ridiculing him. "George,
John Connally?" he was asked more than once.
who looked and sounded
Connally, a Texan's Texan
had been planning
casting's idea of a president,
George. John and
I
had crossed paths
a
of
my
duties at the Vail meeting
run for
as
long
where
know
it
him.
I
really got to
I
was named Ford's cam-
Dem-
paign chairman was to host this fellow Texan (and fellow former
Over the next few months, the former Texas governor and
ocrat).
as
few times over the years, but
wasn't until the Ford campaign of 1976 that
One
a
like central
U.S.
treasury secretary was a great help to our campaign.
When I
my
behalf
ran for attorney general, Connally at a
fund-raising event in Fort Worth. Beforehand, he and
his wife, Nellie, staff
were
point, if
Susan and
I,
visiting in the hotel
where the event was
I'd like to
into the next room. "Jim, I'm
hope you
have
gonna run
a
campaign
to be held.
word or
for president,"
At one
his said, "Jim,
two."
he
We
said,
went
"and
I
will help me."
was never quite sure whether he asked because he was impressed
by the job
I
had done
for President
around who had run president in the I
my
and Peter Roussel from
Connally stood up and in that deep, rich voice of
the ladies will excuse us,
I
made an appearance on
said
I
a
I
was the only guy
Republican general election campaign for
last fifteen
couldn't help.
Ford or because
My
years and hadn't done allegiance was to
first
jail
time. Either way,
my
friend George,
I
told him.
While the relationship between George Bush and Connally was ways
civil, it
was never warm.
I
think
al-
George was disappointed when
President Nixon appointed Connally as treasury secretary in 1971.
It
Nixon's urging that George had given up his safe seat
in
was largely
at
JAMES
8
*
the
House
George
BAKtR, IN
A.
to run for the Senate against
The Connally
and was,
I
won
a cabinet
that George, not John, eventually
the presidency.
community supported Connally, which gave
the business
and
credibility
a
only major candidate
good source of campaign funds. (John was the
who turned down
primaries, which, in theory, permitted
money
than other candidates.)
run, and
I
meant
In
it.
my
He had what it took to be ter
that,
family never considered George a real Texan
somewhat envious
think,
Most of him
he should have been rewarded with
rightly believed
position.
Ralph Yarborough. After
Nixon resigned
considering
in
a
Still, I
federal matching funds in the
him
and spend more
to raise
George he wasn't crazy
told
to
mind, he was the best-qualified candidate. strong campaigner and a fine president. Af-
1974 and the newly sworn-in President Ford was
whom to nominate as his vice president,
I
had jotted down
my thoughts on why George should be considered. Under the heading "Fit to be Pres.,"
life
—
Kappa) and
Successful Yale
scholastically (Phi Beta
(capt. baseball team);
war record
as
country over
—
—decorated—
a record of success":
athletically
shot down; successful
—Ways and Means freshman; UN Ambassador; RNC — toughest
businessman; Congress
Committee
—
wrote: "Look at record in
I
first
Repub. from Houston
job in
last
eighteen months.
In the four years since
to his resume, serving as
I
our
had made those notes, George had added liaison to China, then director of the
first
CIA. (George's 1980 campaign slogan would be "A president we won't have to
train.")
My notes also included several other pluses, including:
Age, geography (Conn, and Tex.), foreign
by Repub. Party leaders
who knew him
in
in all sections
of country, respect of those
Congress (both sides of
esty and integrity (above
all),
experience, admired
affairs
aisle),
reputation for hon-
outgoing, articulate, intelligent, fair
(votes convictions), competitive.
— "WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF In addition to
all this,
he had
many
POLITICS!"
81
*
around
friends and acquaintances
the country, thanks to his family and business connections and his personal and political travels.
card
list
George and
Barbara's legendary Christmas
was testimony that they never forgot anyone they had met.
Lest someone tag George as a loser because he had been beaten in
two Senate
races,
I
wrote: "Precedent for pres. losing race for Senate
William McKinley."
our nation's twenty-fifth
later learned that
(I
president had, indeed, lost two races, but for the
1882 and 1890, not the Senate.)
tatives in
Let's
be frank about another reason George Bush ran in 1980.
was ambitious. So was he was
a
House of Represen-
I.
He
Despite George's impressive resume, however,
long shot; Ronald Reagan was the clear front-runner for the
Republican nomination. But we believed we could win by using a
model developed by another long
George made
shot, Jimmy Carter, in 1976.
run for the nomination but
a credible
lost,
And
if
there was al-
ways the possibility that he might be tapped for vice president. I
saw no downside. George was
Even
fifty-six in 1980.
around the track time out, win or shot.
Look
is
he
turn
he would be only sixty in 1984. Going
lost,
very important in presidential
lose,
at Bill
if
He would
relatively young.
you learn
a lot. Besides,
politics.
The
first
you've got to take your
Clinton in 1992. Big-name Democrats such as Lloyd
Bentsen and Dick Gephardt saw George's 89 percent approval rating after the first
polling
Gulf War
—and decided
—
the highest in the history of presidential
to wait until next time. Clinton
way and wound up becoming
a
On
and started talking political action
details.
money
By
we
to
I
any-
campaign
talked about tak-
quit talking generalities
the end of that year,
committee called the Fund
This was not exactly to raise
George and
1977 trip to China,
a
in
two-term president.
After President Ford lost in 1976, ing that shot.
jumped
for
we had
set
up
a
Limited Government. a legitimate
way
pay for George's travel around the country.
On
a
vehicle, but
it
was
these trips, he spoke about his philosophy of government and strength-
ened
ties
with local Republican leaders. By the time he formally
82
JAMES
*
BAKER.
A.
I
I
I
May
declared his candidacy on
two
1,
1979, he had already visited forty-
states. I
served as chairman of the fund even before
We
eral.
operated out of
Trust
ran for attorney gen-
on Main Street
a small office
&
been the Houston Bank
I
Company
Building.
in
We
what had
had
very
a
small staff that included Jennifer Fitzgerald, George's assistant since 1974. a
Our
first
two hires were twentysomethings with
young man by the name of Karl Rove and
a
lots
of energy
young woman named
Margaret Tutwiler.
No
one would ever wonder whatever happened
course, later for the
my
became George
political strategist in runs
Texas governorship and U.S. presidency. Margaret served
assistant (her title
cal affairs)
and
W Bush's chief
to them. Karl, of
when
I
was deputy assistant to the president for
politi-
was President Reagan's White House chief of
as assistant secretary for
public affairs
when I was
staff
secretary of the
when
treasury and assistant secretary of state for public affairs secretary of state. In the
as
was
I
George W. Bush administration, she served
with great distinction as ambassador to Morocco and then as under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public
an executive vice president of the day,
I
consider her one of
New York
my most loyal
affairs.
Stock Exchange.
and capable
incredibly sensitive political antennae and an
She
advisers.
uncanny
is
now
To
this
She has
feel for the
way
things will play in the press and with the public.
George and
I
got things going in earnest after
Florida. Before the
my
end of 1978, we spooled up the Fund
return from for
Limited
Government and created an exploratory committee
that eventually
became the George Bush
We
raising
money.
And we
for President
Committee.
also started
paid courtesy calls on both Gerald Ford and
Ronald Reagan to advise them of George's intentions. President Ford and George had always gotten along very well, and I
still
would
had great respect for the former president. like to
plans, but
help George,"
he released
me
I
to
told him.
work
He
for
said
my
"If
you don't run,
he was uncertain of
friend.
I
his
Former Governor
WORK HARD.
STUDY...
AND KEEP OUT
Reagan was very friendly and thanked us
He
George's plans.
we
but
coming out
for
very briefly
him of
was noncommittal about whether he would run,
my
first
contact with Ronald Reagan.
—when he spoke
at a
ganized in Houston. Four years
later,
ident Ford in the general election. had.
was in
I
my office
at the
We
first
met
1972 Nixon for President event
we
I
I
or-
crossed paths in the fight for
the nomination during the primary season, and
when he helped
Pres-
remember one exchange
fondly
President Ford Committee headquar-
when Pete Roussel came running in.
ters
"Bake," he said, "there's a you.
He
says he's
of strange
"He
guy on the phone who wants
to talk with
Governor Reagan."
some kook,
"He's lot
to tell
83
*
believed he would.
This was not
we
OF POLITICS!"
just get rid
of him,"
I
replied.
(Campaigns get
a
calls.)
really
sounds
like the governor,"
Pete
said.
"Well, you don't think he'd be calling me, do you?"
"No,
So
I
don't.
I
But
it
sure sounds like him."
picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Howard?" was indeed Reagan, but he was trying to reach
It
—
Baker
the senator from Tennessee,
Howard and I became good worked on
his staff
as
In 1978,
Baker.
Over the
friends. In the early eighties,
when Howard was Senate
wasn't the last time
each other
Howard
Reagan helped
years,
my son Jamie
majority leader.
And this
We
refer to
someone confused Howard and me.
"O.B."— Other
a different
Baker.
me campaign
headlined a fund-raiser in Lubbock
at
for attorney general.
He
which we auctioned off hunting
and fishing equipment.
George Bush spent more than three hundred days on travel in 1979.
Not me. An
effective
political
campaign chairman or manager
doesn't need to go out on the road very much. Indeed, he shouldn't.
His job
is
to plan the travel,
name
a
good advance team
for
each
visit,
help organize the candidate's speeches and public statements, and
84
JAMES
*
BAKER.
A.
manage the campaign It's
grunt work, but
it's
Ill
finances
—
To
George and did
in
home
little
Houston
my
much
of what
firm's history
spurious
I
trav-
to the
Mary Bonner
Washington area
later joined
me
in a
(The other kids were either away
for the
time being.)
I
didn't
partnership share. This resulted in
I
immedi-
did signifi-
my
foregoing
otherwise would have had of the largest payday in the
—
a big fee for fighting off
ambitious tax collectors,
and wannabe heirs to save the Howard Hughes estate
wills,
for family
moved
from Andrews Kurth, but
ately take a leave of absence
cantly reduce
frees the candidate to
young man from Houston,
I
in Alexandria, Virginia.
in college or stayed in
It
a first-class job.)
January 1980. Susan and
rented
a fine
manage the campaign,
better
administer the operation.
necessary grunt work.
be the candidate. (David Bates, eled with
in short to
members
in
Houston.
Running the primary campaign
for a little
known, underfinanced
long shot would prove to be very different from running the general election
campaign
looked nothing acteristics
which
is
The
common
the 1976 Ford model. to
all
The 1976 Carter model
Still,
there are certain char-
successful campaigns, the most important of
organization. first
step was to get the right people in place.
who had
George and
I
re-
Houston friend Bob Mosbacher to be finance chairman.
cruited his old
Bob,
like
for a sitting president.
served in the same role for President Ford's campaign,
gave us instant credibility with Republican insiders and helped im-
mensely
as
I
recruited the rest of our core
campaign. Bob Teeter, Ford's
a
dyed-in-the-wool conservative
had worked for John Sears; Rich Bond, Teeley, a very effective press aide for Javits,
most from the Ford
pollster, joined us. So, too, did three tal-
ented operatives: David Keene,
who had
staff,
a
young Bush
loyalist;
who
and Pete
New York's liberal senator Jacob
himself campaigned for President Ford. David served
as political director,
Rich was
field director,
person. Others with the very good team
and Pete was our press
we put
together were David
Sparks, Bill Mclnturff, Susan Morrison, Fred Bush, Joe
Hagen,Jon-
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF athan Miller, Emily Ford, Alixe Glenn,
Tom It
Lias,
POLITICS!"
Mary Ashmun, Rob
*
85
Quartel,
and Betty Green.
was not surprising that we were able to
The American
public
Bush
at the outset
liked
by Republican
may
attract
known
not have
such good people.
of the campaign, but he was well insiders.
George
or appreciated
They appreciated
known and
well
his service to the party
and the nation, and knew that Ford also liked and trusted him.
Most of
the other candidates would have been happy to have had
these folks. In addition to Reagan and Connally, Senate Minority
Leader Howard Baker, Senator Bob Dole, and Representatives John
Anderson and Phil Crane joined the
race.
Although George often
noted in his speeches that labels were for cans, not candidates, the consensus was that Reagan, Connally, Dole, and Crane were the conservatives,
and Bush and Howard Baker the moderates.
At the beginning, George was an
"asterisk in the polls"
date with numbers so microscopic that they did not even
When
the polls.
he
some celebratory
later
lapel pins that
As chairman of the of
cracked the
polls, the
campaign
—
a candi-
show up staff
in
made
trumpeted our number, "3%."
RNC, George
had inevitably bruised
his share
GOP egos, but he also made a lot of friends and established valuable
contacts.
These
friends
and contacts helped us
raise
money and
organizations in the critical caucus and primary states the early contests in Iowa and
—
New
New Hampshire. Our strategy was to do
—Ronald Reagan and George
Hampshire, historic
had long been dates paid
little
came before
Jimmy
a
site
make-or-break
of the
state.
first
would
Bush.
primary of the season,
Until 1976, Iowa had not; candi-
attention to the state's caucuses, even though they
New
Hampshire's primary.
Carter changed
Harris, Morris Udall, shire, the
up
particularly
so well in these venues that the cluttered seven-candidate field
quickly be reduced to two
set
that.
While opponents Birch Bayh, Fred
and Sargent Shriver focused on
New Hamp-
lesser-known governor from Georgia worked ceaselessly
back and forth across the plains of Iowa. His unexpected victory rhere
8 G
JAMES
*
BAKER.
A.
momentum
gave him
Ill
in
New Hampshire. We knew an
Iowa win would
have the same effect for Bush.
Looking
at the glass as half full instead
for politicians
tial trait
—we believed George's low rank
was an advantage, not
polls
of half empty
a disadvantage. If
won
he
—an
essen-
in the early
made
or even
strong showings early on, he would exceed expectations. In politics
and
in governance, too
expected." That's
why
—
name of
the
who
long shot
a
game
the
is
to
do "better than
scores a strong second can
sometimes win more press attention than
a
better-performing front-
runner. In 1968, for instance, President Johnson polled the most votes in
New
Hampshire's Democratic primary, but
antiwar candidate Senator
his
primary opponent,
Eugene McCarthy, won the headlines by
doing better than anticipated.
How
Bush backers thought we should work the major media markets face time I
on
disagreed.
television.
As
This
is
to
win
what Connally and Howard Baker
did.
told a reporter early in the campaign,
I
name-identification problem
Jimmy
Some
does a little-known candidate become better known?
.
.
.
you have
to
win
"To cure the
early, the
same way
Carter did, and you can't win those early ones by standing in
the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria in
Ronald Reagan liked
New York."
to joke that
George spent more days
in
Iowa
than he, Reagan, had spent hours. George was a tireless campaigner.
With Rich Bond running our operation on the ground, we scheduled appearances from dawn to dusk
—on
farms, at factories, in homes, and
at rallies.
Retail politics takes time. Despite George's intense effort
campaign that
ber
trail
(and a complementary wholesale
began airing 1,
in
Iowa
in early October), a
1979, poll by the Des Moines Register
by 36 points
— 50 percent
to 14 percent.
on the
effort: television
ads
November 28-Decem-
showed we
The January
trailed
Reagan
21 caucuses
were
only seven weeks away, and the front-runner looked unbeatable.
By
this time,
contests."
Maine and
Florida had each held presidential "beauty
These were merely straw
polls in
advance of
state
conventions
— WORK HARD,
STUDY...
AND KEEP OUT
or primaries, not elections of delegates, but
and most other candidates
did, too
—
OF POLITICS!"
we took them
87
*
seriously
an important forum for trying
as
to beat expectations.
the favorite in Maine, a state in which Reagan
Howard Baker was was making no
effort.
early because he and
He
George were
young Maine
quietly engaged a
run an under-the-radar
November
was also the candidate we had to knock out
effort.
from the same pond.
state legislator
She did
won
who had
to Connally,
named Josie Martin
a masterful job,
and
in early
Howard Baker and
invested heavily there.
which no delegates were
Each party was
in straw
at stake.
Iowa the
to hold a debate in
first
week
The much-anticipated Democratic showdown between ter
to
the Florida straw poll convincingly, a
John Connally never recovered from these early knockdowns polls for
We
George shocked everyone by beating Baker in Maine.
1979,
Several days later Reagan
blow
fishing
in January.
President Car-
and Teddy Kennedy never materialized. Citing the Iranian hostage the president refused to leave the
crisis,
spotlight
on the
GOP
debate.
We,
too,
White House. This put the
had
a
no-show
On
the advice
of campaign manager John Sears, Reagan passed, the only Republican to
do
so.
During the
final
week,
we
sent out about one million pieces of mail
and made thousands of telephone
matched
more than ever
six
The
before.
man who
(31.6 percent),
final
who had been running
one of Reagan's
come
a sitting president.
Reagan 31,348
far
preference vote was stunning: Bush
four years earlier had
nomination away from
be
of our opponents
thousand Republicans attended the caucuses,
upset Reagan, a candidate
Black,
None
this effort.
One hundred
1968, a
calls.
(29.5
for president since
close to wresting the
The
count: Bush 33,530
percent). "Hell," said Charlie
political operatives, "I didn't
know
it
was gonna
a primary!''
In the afterglow
that he
now had
of victory, an ebullient George Bush announced
the "Big
Mo"
— momentum—heading
into
New
ft
88
*
JAMES
BAKE
A.
R,
III
Hampshire. The weekly newsmagazines gave him extensive coverage, and dozens more reporters now clamored to travel on our rented campaign plane, an old nineteen-passenger turboprop Fairchild. (Unlike
some other
candidates,
we never
raised
of-the-art airplane. For a long time
enough money
George
to get a state-
flew coach in commercial
aircraft.)
George Reagan
in
flew ahead in the polls, too.
New
He had been down
19 points to
Hampshire. Suddenly he was 6 points ahead. In the
Puerto Rico primary, he whipped Howard Baker by 60 to 37 percent.
He in
and built up sizable leads
also took the lead in Florida (for a time)
Massachusetts and Still, as
Illinois.
George has
fortunate because
since acknowledged, the Big
raised expectations too high.
it
win
to be excited about the
in Iowa, but
paigned and we had barely beaten him.
Mo boast was un-
We had every reason
Reagan had hardly cam-
One week
after the caucuses,
Wall Street Journal reporter James Perry praised George's "organization
and hard work." But, he added, "post-Iowa, Mr. Bush that he verges didates,
on cockiness." Cockiness
and verging on
is
bad news for
nearly as bad as going
it is
is
all
down some
political can-
the way.
My first big opportunity to lower expectations came Breakfast shortly after Iowa.
so confident
at a
With the help of Pete Teeley,
Sperling I
jotted
talking points for this meeting with the Washington press,
including these:
We
would
ble to
do
like to
so.
win
New
However, the
gan's strongest states.
Hampshire and reality
Combine
is
that
will
N.H.
is
will
After
realize
how
difficult
be
all
the
his victory at
one of Ronald Rea-
that factor with the all-out efforts of
Howard Baker and even John Anderson and you it
do everything possi-
work
that
George Bush put
was one of elation.
one time or another.
.
.
.
It is a
into Iowa ... his reaction to
human
quality that
Frankly, that was a
week
ago.
all
of us have
The
realities
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF are that he
still
POLITICS!"
*
89
remains an underdog, and he and the entire campaign
staff realize that.
As we lowered expectations
for
New
image of George
to raise the public's
as a
Hampshire, we also wanted
man of substance
ident you wouldn't have to train. In Iowa
"George who?" Now,
tion
"George why?" Bush
We
(fifty-five at
also
New
in
wanted
we had answered
the pres-
the ques-
Hampshire, we had to answer,
to stress the age difference
the time) and Reagan (sixty-nine).
erature featured pictures of
—
George
between
Our campaign
lit-
and he frequently went
jogging,
out for runs with the media in tow Teeter's polls
showed
base, to give voters a reason to
won in Iowa. more
George needed
that
back him other than the fact that he had
Bob, David Keene, and
specific
on the
After the campaign,
issues.
I all
told
He wasn't quite
George would
tell
tive,
ily
and
I
would argue with them:
I'm answering questions every day
concede
at this
point
I
George
that he should be
as responsive as
now I
we hoped.
Germond and
reporters Jack
Jules Witcover, "There was a feeling, well, substantive,
to build a substantive
you've got to be more
think
... I just
I
am
being substan-
didn't see
may have been wrong. But
I
it. I'll
read-
didn't feel any
great need to do something different."*
The New Hampshire
debates offered
portunity to be substantive.
remember the ber,
however,
tor Jon
Breen
I
all
seven candidates an op-
will wager, however, that
issues discussed at those events.
is
in
few Americans
What many do remem-
the following exchange between Reagan and modera-
Nashua on
Saturday, February 23
—
three days before
the primary. Reagan and Bush had agreed to a one-on-one debate that
evening, but
when Reagan took
the stage, he argued that
all
candidates
should be allowed to participate.
'Germond and
Witcover's campaign journal, Blue Smoke and Mirrors, helped
number of events from
the 1980 campaign, as did
me
recall a
George Bush's book, Looking Forward.
90
JAMES
*
BAKER.
A.
1
Reagan: I'm paying for
that was is
due
made our
words won the nomination
more to
real
Reagan
is
[sic].
had met
no question that
for seizing the
Manchester
Voters.
By
it
created
moment,
I
New
Hampshire.
debate.
Three days
share of mistakes in
in
That may be
for Reagan.
momentum for
and sustainable than our Big Mo. And while
Nashua was the second
Women
microphone, Mr. Green
this
an exaggeration, but there
credit
off.
observers believe this was the turning point in the campaign,
that those seven
him
I
Turn Mr. Reagan's microphone
breen:
Some
1
for a
this time,
all
have to admit that we
earlier
all
candidates
forum sponsored by the League of
Reagan had pulled even with George
the polls. Stunned by the Iowa results, he was
now campaigning
in
with
purpose and energy. Reagan also had the support of William Loeb, influential publisher of the state's largest newspaper, the Manchester
Union Leader. George, an "oil
man from
Texas," was a "phony candi-
date" pushed by "the entire Eastern Establishment, the Rockefellers,
and
all
the other
power
interests in the East,"
he thundered. Most
viewers thought Reagan did better than George and the other
can-
five
didates in the Manchester debate, and by the twenty-third the race
was no longer even. According to most digit lead.
He
polls,
was beginning to solidify
Reagan now held
his base,
which was
a
double-
far larger
than George's.
Although we were now the
Nashua
trailing,
debate. This was to be
we were
excited by the prospect of
Bush
Reagan, mano a mano.
vs.
Our
strategy from the beginning had been to engineer a two-candidate race. Still,
it
had not been our idea to leave the other candidates
Jerry Carmen, Reagan's
New
Hampshire chairman,
idea of a two-candidate debate.
Hugh
first
broached the
Gregg, our state chairman,
quickly persuaded the Nashua Telegraph to sponsor the event.
would the Reagan challenger?
cut
forces
Carmen
George down
later
to size.
want
to anoint
out.
George
as their
Why
only serious
explained that he believed the debate would
"WORK HARD. STUDY ...AND KEEP OUT OF The
other
complained
five
POLITICS!"
*
91
contenders were not happy to be excluded. Dole
Commission (FEC)
to the Federal Election
that the Tele-
graph was, in effect, giving the two invited candidates an illegal cam-
paign contribution.
The FEC
suggested that the two candidates fused,
When
agreed. split
the Reagan
camp then
the cost, $1,750 each,
Gregg re-
and those of us running the national campaign went along with
him. This was a huge mistake.
The Reagan camp, having paid
the costs, then set an ambush, se-
all
cretly telling the other candidates that if they
came
to
Nashua, they
might be included. Everyone showed up except Connally. ing for broke in South Carolina.
Crane
filed
When
He
was go-
Dole, Baker, Anderson, and
onto the stage of the Nashua High School auditorium as
the debate was to begin, the majority of the 2,500 in the audience ap-
plauded. George and the Telegraph's Breen stuck to their guns, ever: as previously agreed, this
was to be
a
two-man, not
how-
a six-man,
forum.
As Reagan began
to explain
why he wanted
to include the other
candidates, Breen called for technicians to turn off his microphone.
That's
when Reagan
hit
it
out of the ballpark.
The debate proceeded without the stage, an angry
Bob Dole came up
"Jim Baker," he said, "you'll regret
Dole when
fectively with
We
the other challengers. As they
I
left
me and poked me in the chest.
to
this." (I
was chief of
worked very closely and
staff
and in
my
ef-
cabinet posts.
were, and are, friends.)
Matters didn't get any better of days
later,
frontation.
"The bad news
The good news
is
is
later.
As Teeley told George
that the
a
couple
media are playing up the con-
that they're ignoring the debate,
and you
lost that, too."
Reagan had indeed "paid
for this
for getting ourselves in a position
eted.
On
microphone," and we paid dearly
where
it
mattered. His numbers rock-
primary day, he took 49.6 percent, Bush got 22.7 percent, and
Howard Baker
ran third with 12.1 percent. As
campaign manager learn
a lot
I
said, a
candidate and a
by going around the track that
first
time.
92
BAKER.
*
JAMES
If
there was a silver lining to
Ill
New
Hampshire,
it
was
later,
George rebounded
Howard did.
A
to capture the Massachusetts primary.
That same evening Reagan won Vermont. Baker, who in
this:
John Anderson, and the others did even worse than we
Baker,
week
A.
finished poorly
each of these contests, dropped out. Connally was done four days
when Reagan crushed him
later
Anderson held on
longer.
By
and Vermont on March
setts
George
worse than
as the
finishing
victors.
us to a certain degree because paint
South Carolina. second in both Massachu-
he exceeded expectations and drew
4,
away from the
press attention
in
His continued presence helped
made
it
candidate of the
it
more
difficult for
But
in the end,
left.
Nineteen-eighty marked the
likely to vote for
first
time
I
led the
didate trying to win his party's nomination.
chairmanship of the Ford
date
is
a
it
effort,
When
to
hurt us
hurt Reagan, because Anderson drew moderates
it
would otherwise have been more
What does
Reagan
who
George.
campaign of I
a can-
had assumed the
he was already the party's choice.
campaign leader do from headquarters while
his candi-
on the road during the primary season?
In addition to running the
George
ularly offered
my
demanding day-to-day operation,
counsel.
A memo
I
sent
I
him two days
regafter
Massachusetts and Vermont, "Reaction to March 4 Primary Results," is
typical.
You should be that
careful to stick to your position
Reagan cannot win
in
November
—
i.e.,
on Ford's statement
you don't agree with
that,
but [you do believe] you would be a better candidate with a better
chance to win.
You should not and Vermont It
as freakish or aberrations.
This makes you look petty.
wouldn't hurt to even congratulate him on
[say] that
the voting
of
refer to Anderson's showings in Massachusetts
states.
it
is
remains to be seen
if
he can do
primarily by Republicans, as
a
good showing and
as well in states
it is
where
in the vast majority
"WORK HARD, STUDY. ..AND KEEP OUT I
also coordinated George's
ularly effective
on
a series
"Ask George Bush."
An
OF POLITICS!"
campaign appearances.
He
*
93
was partic-
of campaign television broadcasts called
April 8
memo to eleven members of our cam-
paign staff offers a glimpse of the logistics for these events. For the four "Ask
George Bush"
The goal was
one's duties.
We
wanted
telecasts in Pennsylvania, little
to
chance
and prepared George Bush to meet
a rested
... is
responsible for the buying of
vision] airtime (after
a candidate-
checking with
me
regarding
required [tele-
all
cost).
Red Caveney and Bob Goodwin, working with Dave responsible for securing the four locations
Each lead advance man articulate
as possible.
would ask candidate-friendly questions:
friendly audience that
John Morgan
always to leave as
spelled out every-
I
members of
... is
.
.
.
and
all
advance work.
up
responsible for lining
the audience to carry the
Sparks, are
Q&A
five
or six
at his event.
Questions will be restricted to non-press members of the audience.
Dave Gergen
is
responsible for writing the opening and closing
remarks for George Bush for each
Margaret Tutwiler
is
telecast.
responsible for seeing that
hours are
five
blocked out prior to each telecast for the following: one hour staff briefing
on
local issues;
one hour jogging; one hour on
television consultant] Bill Carruthers; and
After Iowa, District of
we had won only
in
two hours
site
with [our
off.
Puerto Rico, Massachusetts, the
Columbia, Maine, and Connecticut, but by
late April all
major candidates except Reagan and Bush had dropped out, and Pennsylvania offered the
put everything
two-man matchup we had been looking
we had
into the April 22 primary
campaign charged that Reagan's plan tax cut was
"voodoo economics"
—
to stimulate the
that's
for.
We
where the
economy with
—and came away with
a
a solid victory
in the
popular vote. Unfortunately, thanks to an odd "blind voting"
system
in that state,
manding
lead.
Reagan won more delegates and added
to his
com-
94
*
I
A
The
M
RAKER,
A.
E S
III
conventional wisdom was that the loss in
put George off his game for
around the
trip
track.
By
a while.
contrast,
New
Hampshire had
Perhaps. Again, this was his
Reagan had run
first
for president in
both 1968 and 1976.
George known.
is
He
does not
like to lose,
George never hung
gan,
War
from prep school to
have ever
he displayed the same de-
age eighteen,
at
I
but as state after state went for Rea-
his head. Instead,
termination he had shown straight
human being
about the most competitive
when
he became
Yale,
instead of heading
a naval aviator in
World
II.
Everything came together on
May
20 in Michigan.
I
turned on the
television that night expecting George's 57 to 32 percent landslide
there to be the lead story, but
ABC and CBS had a different take. They
proclaimed George the winner in Michigan
all right,
but the big news,
they said, was that by winning Oregon, Reagan had collected more
than the 998 delegates needed for the nomination.
Three delegate-rich would hold primaries in his
home
metic was both
state,
right,
—New
two weeks on June
however
—and
it
3.
and California
Reagan was way ahead
to be
—even
still
if
If the arith-
George won
win the nomination.
to raise about $500,000 to challenge in California. In
would be "goddamn tough"
reporters.
seemed
and Ohio, Reagan would
light of the delegate projections, It
Jersey, Ohio,
but George was strong in the other two.
New Jersey
Now what? We needed
in
states
should
we keep
to raise the
money
fighting?
Could we?
in California,
At the same time, George told the Washington
I
told
Post that with-
out sufficient funds to contest California, campaigning in Ohio and
New Jersey "might be
an irrelevancy."
Washington Post staff writers Bill Peterson and David Broder re-
ported that
quoted to
me
I
said
we were
as follows: "If
people that you
numbers.
still
closing
you
have
down
can't
operations in California.
do California, then you
a shot [at the
And once you concede
that,
nomination]
why do you
in
They
can't argue
terms of the
stay in?"
WORK HARD. If
I
had
carefully.
I
terpreted.
do over
to
it
again,
didn't think through
Only the candidate could do himself to
I
call it quits.
was
I
just
Does
George was actly
what
I
this
had
words more
remarks might be in-
Nor was
I
trying to pressure
George
answering questions honestly and be-
New Jersey,
however, reporters
I
I
it
whether to stay or
in California, but
I
gave the impression that
reality,
go,
He wanted to know ex-
don't blame him.
had only talked about not having enough
compete
to
The
you're dropping out?"
and
said.
admitted, because
pull the plug.
mean
furious,
money on hand I
95
George, "Baker says you don't have anything going in
telling
California.
my
*
intention to throw in the towel.
ing realistic about our prospects. In
were
my
the ways
my
that.
OF POLITICS!"
would have chosen
all
was obviously not
It
AND KEEP OUT
STUDY...
of course,
but
I
is
that
hadn't done
shouldn't have done
it,
we had no choice but to
George had
him any
to decide
soon
favor by talking so
openly about our rocky financial position.
George had done
remarkable job in transforming himself from
a
the pollsters' asterisk into the only legitimate challenger
He had won
Iowa and seven other contests. "The remarkable thing
about Bush's candidacy long as
it
standing.
left
is
not that
it
failed,
did," the Post's Peterson wrote.
I
but that
agree.
it
kept going as
And because
it
had
kept going, George would be the only candidate besides Reagan with a significant
a
good shot
number of delegates at
becoming the
at the
convention. This meant he had
party's vice presidential
nominee.
Candidates for president should never create the impression that they are really running for vice president or would be happy to end up in
second place.
ficult
had carefully followed
this rule. It wasn't that dif-
because George always said privately that he wasn't sure
was interested I
We
now
told
in
George
campaign much
camps were already gan's Eleventh
he
being vice president. that
it
was time to decide and that
he would blow any chance of getting on the ticket less
if
longer. Relations
strained.
if
I
he ran
thought a
hope-
between the Bush and Reagan
Each candidate had
tried to observe
Commandment, Thou shah not speak
ill
Rea-
of fellow Republi-
96
JAMES
*
cans,
BAKER.
A.
Ill
but opponents in a two-way race invariably rub each other the
wrong way George decided
He
to return to
Houston
members, close
talked at length with family
campaign
staff.
Keene, and
I
As
I
to think about
remember, senior consultant Vic Gold, Dave
George wanted
New Jersey. Nick
to do.
and senior
friends,
argued that he should withdraw. His family
ther they nor
what
believed George could
to disappoint supporters in
who was running the operation
Brady,
win
still
his state.
Why
Nei-
resisted.
in
Ohio and
New Jersey,
not try to strengthen
George's hand by picking up the delegates there and in Ohio?
For what?
I
asked. "You're the only person at the convention who's
going to have any delegates,"
I
said.
"They have
they're going to run with, and the longer a
to start thinking
you hang
in if
who
you don't have
mathematical chance of winning, the more you're going to hurt your
chances."
On
It
went
like that all
weekend.
the campaign airplane,
Kenny
Rogers's song
"The Gambler"
was sometimes played on the public address system. George and others had often joined the chorus, "You got to 'em,
know when
tell a
to fold 'em."
candidate to fold 'em, particularly I
when
that candidate
did not back down.
he
said,
"but
I
also
his
know how
as
is
On May
George announced he would stop campaigning and throw to Reagan. "I'm an optimist,"
to hold
hard for a campaign manager to
It's
competitive as George Bush, but
know when
26,
support
to
count
to 998."
George was gan's
first
a logical
pick for vice president, but he was not Rea-
choice. Nevertheless, he held a
good hand. What other can-
didate had comparable delegate and party support at the convention,
or a perfect resume to balance the ticket?
At the convention, however, the answer switched from George
Bush
to a
most surprising
possibility,
suddenly depended on whether
a
Gerald Ford. George's future
former president might accept the
role of vice president or, as Walter Cronkite suggested
"copresidency."
on the
air,
a
"WORK HARD. STUDY. ..AND KEEP OUT OF
My
future looked even
more
uncertain.
I
POLITICS!'
had managed two hard-
fought battles to deny Ronald Reagan his party's nomination successful, the other not. I'm a realist,
room
for James A. Baker,
idency.
It
looked
like
III,
in the
time for
me
and
97
realistically there
Reagan campaign or
to fold 'em, too.
a
—one
was no
Reagan pres-
FIVE
"I
WANT TO TALK TO YOU YOU GO BACK TO
George
H. W. Bush
ported that
when
is
nothing
if
BEFORE
TEXAS"
not likable. Yet
it
has been re-
the 1980 primary season ended, Ronald Reagan was
not happy with George and did not want to select him as the vice presidential
nominee. Let
me
set the record straight: This is true.
moment, Reagan's preferred candidate
for
running mate was
At that
ABB
Anybody But Bush.
Why?
After gracefully withdrawing from the presidential race and
support to Reagan, George seemed the obvious choice.
throwing
his
He
proven vote-getter, the only other candidate
was
a
rive at the
mid-July convention in Detroit with
delegates.
He had
necticut Yankee graphically,
a
who would
a significant
ar-
number of
superb record of government service. As a Con-
who had
relocated to Texas, he balanced the ticket geo-
and he was perceived to be more moderate,
politically,
than Reagan. Selecting him would give the ticket credibility with un-
decided voters in the middle. But writes, the
stand
up
as
Reagan biographer Lou Cannon
governor thought George lacked spunk because he didn't
for himself in the school
auditorium during the
fight
over
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF whether
when
also lost points
nomics" for the policies that would
99
*
The
Republican contenders to debate.*
to allow the other
Bush campaign
POLITICS!"
used the label "voodoo eco-
it
be known
later
as
Reaganomics.
"Lacked spunk"? George joined the Navy straight out of prep school,
won
He
sions.
wings
his
at eighteen,
parachuted out of
He won
U.S. submarine.
he took the
risks
a
and flew
burning
fifty-eight
aircraft
combat mis-
and was rescued by
a
the Distinguished Flying Cross. In business,
of entrepreneurship and started a thriving company.
His resume in politics and public service was replete with tough, highprofile positions. (I've listed his offices often
won't do
1980 race
again here.)
it
as
Most
enough
recently, of course,
in this
book and
he had entered the
an overwhelming underdog and emerged as Reagan's only
serious contender.
But
Aware
at that time,
nominee held him
that the party's
George and a spot
these facts about the
I
man seemed in relatively
thought he probably didn't stand
on the November
We
ballot.
to matter
little.
low regard, both
much chance of winning
were even
learned that several prominent Republicans and
less
hopeful
members of
when we
the Reagan
inner circle were lobbying for themselves or other strong candidates.
Nevada Senator Paul
dent supporters, wanted the
man
Jack
Kissinger,
Kemp were
—
ticket in as a
GOP
the president
Ford?
job.
also
Senator
To be
chairman
apparently in the running.
Bill
Brock) pushed their
many of them had once
sure,
And Henry
own ABB
Ford-Reagan dream
ticket
as
it
was
candi-
served, Gerald Ford.
Republican polling revealed that
1980 had the potential to be
ar-
Howard Baker and Congress-
Alan Greenspan, Bryce Harlow, and others (including,
rumored, the date
one of Reagan's best friends and most
Laxalt,
a
Reagan- Ford
appealing and successful
might have been
in
1976. But the
Ford crowd had another motive, the one everyone in politics shares:
'Cannon covered Rise
to
the
White
1
louse for the Washington
Post.
Power and President Reagcm. The Role of a Lifetime
searching this hook.
His biographies
— Reagan: His
— were excellent sources
for re-
100
JAMES
+
BAKER.
A.
I
I
I
ambition. If they could return their
number-two
man
would enhance
position, they
Washington, even
to
their
in
the
own chances of
re-
turning to power and influence.
At
first,
remote.
the odds of seeing Reagan-Ford
The
contentious battle for the 1976
both of these
men
fine
with scars.
bumper
man
They were anything but
real power.
come back
No.
as
2
The
became
close.
the United States, the
in the world. Traditionally, vice presidents
moved from
appeared
GOP nomination had left
Moreover, Gerald Ford had been president of powerful
stickers
were
most
far re-
absurdity of having a former president
when I asked myself how I would
clear
Or was
dress Ford. "Hello, Mr. President-Vice President"?
ad-
"Hello,
it,
Mr. Vice President-President"?
On his way to the convention, By coincidence, fered
me
I
was there for
a ride to Detroit.
we
certainly did not discuss the subject.
we had been
if
was coming, however,
would not have broached the
my
role in George's campaign, that
alone and
I
much more
had known what
than pleasantries. Even I
Omaha.
corporate board meeting, and he of-
was too short and the plane too crowded for
flight
in
hadn't heard any talk about his being con-
I
sidered for vice president, and
The
a
Gerald Ford stopped over
subject.
Given
would have been inappropriate.
But now, George's future was very
much up
in the
mine. Shortly after George withdrew in late May,
from Reagan press secretary Lyn Nofziger.
He
I
asked
air,
and so was
received a call if
were
I
inter-
ested in serving as political director for the Reagan campaign.
As
I
have noted,
had
titles
are important.
had installed
his trusted friend Bill
have accepted the
comedown
for
title "political
Casey
in that capacity.
director"
But for
last election.
I
told
Lyn
I
me
would have been quite
someone who had managed the campaign of
president in the
demand
—campaign chairman. Governor Reagan
I
to
did not presume to
1976
the position
in
I
was interested
a
a sitting
in
helping
Reagan, but not in that capacity \lv role was late
June.
He
still
was
a
unresolved when
I
met with Casey
in
Dallas in
Wall Street lawyer and former Securities and Ex-
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF
POLITICS!"
change Commission chairman, but he hardly looked the
may have gone
to his head, but not to his wardrobe.
rumpled, he was disheveled. spoke.
They had
to;
he was
a
Success
part.
When
101
*
he wasn't
people paid attention when he
Still,
We talked about how to
chronic mumbler.
organize Reagan's effort against President Carter and
how
might
I
help the campaign.
At that time Jimmy Carter was 10 points behind Ronald Reagan
The
the polls.
Iran hostage
economy, foreign policy
soft
Kennedy were taking
their
wearing rose-colored
glasses,"
You can win told
I
politicians
thought
it
this election,
toll.
but
I
"But
anyone
if
it's
gut-fighters
He
had one big advantage, incumbency.
also
all
had
his a
too,
campaign team
for the fall,"
I
your time. You won't
make
where
After
we
find I
much
sleep until the election
make
met,
I
enough hours
thought
I
over,"
a decision, so
sent
him
day to do
all
you have
We discussed ways
I
we agreed
He had
drafts of an organizational structure
much
not solicited this material.
happened
terial also
the better.
however,
my
could
to
remind him of
When
role was
I
He
to talk again later.
budget based on our 1976 campaign, along with more ideas about egy.
I
demands made on you and
in the
could help.
is
including by serving as a deputy chairman.
his job easier,
wasn't ready to
GOP's convention
said.
told Casey. "You're going to find incredible
is
said.
"This gives us a head start in organizing and gearing
"But don't expect to get
to do." This
I
that
one the Ford campaign
did not have in 1976. As the party out of power, the
up
they
problems, Carter
"They've got their act together,"
Governor Reagan had an advantage,
first.
a mistake.
who would do whatever
to elect their guy. For
track.
making
is
some tough, hard-nosed, capable
—accomplished
had been around the
your organization
going to be close."
against
would take
in
Ted
battles with
told Casey, "they're
him he was up
would come
(most notably the
failures
and the president's primary
crisis),
in
wanted
and
strat-
to help, but if the
ma-
my experience and expertise, so
the convention began on Monday, July 14,
still
uncertain.
102
JAMES
*
A.
BAKER.
Ill
Reagan did not reveal in
his choice for vice president before arriving
would have removed
Detroit. If he had, he
the proceeding. I'm said,
I
offer this
tion to
name
a
all
for injecting a bit of
We
it
was
the block of rooms
He
12.
we had
same hotel where Gov-
stayed at the
I
George
joined
in
The
— Barbara and other family members,
spokesman Pete Teeley, some other
loyal
Dean Burch, an
as
we reached
after
reserved at the Hotel Ponchartrain.
relatively small
such
George beat
a mistake.
ernor Reagan was headquartered, the Detroit Plaza.
served in the
conven-
making the
too) before
so,
went our separate ways
I
Detroit on Saturday, July
friends,
until the
did not do that in 1988, the year
President Ford and
few
That
votes.
running mate: make sure you have thoroughly vetted
Michael Dukakis, and
Bush party was
win
to
warning to any candidate who waits
your choice (and that the press has done
announcement.
drama
suspense from
all
Nixon and Ford
campaign
staffers,
old Goldwater hand
and
a
who had
administrations. Governors, other
elected officials from the primary states where
George had done
well,
and other prominent Bush delegates stopped by from time to time to
pay their respects and
about the one and only topic
talk
at
conven-
tions, politics.
President Ford's opening-day speech roused the delegates, pleased
Governor Reagan, and created momentum
for the possibility that
Ford might be offered the number-two spot. This set off closed-door meetings that did not conclude,
a series
of
the eleventh
literally, until
hour Wednesday evening.
Only the
insiders
know
exactly
played out. Later reports said
group of Reagan
loyalists
Bill
who
how
the Reagan-Ford courtship
Casey and Ed Meese headed sat
down
with a Ford team led by
Henry Kissinger and Alan Greenspan. One thing talks
would never have happened without
Meanwhile, back vate meetings, but inside story, so
we
at the
Ponchartrain,
rumors were
flying.
a small
a
is
clear,
however: the
green light from Reagan.
we were not
privy to the pri-
Everyone claimed
to
have the
hesitated to believe anyone. Besides, what could
we
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF do? About
all
-
*
103
George had scheduled during these long hours were
few delegation drop-bys,
a
fall
campaign.
met with the California
the hotel to hurry
up and
On Wednesday might be willing
On Tuesday
delegation.
Then
it
morning, for
was back to
wait.
evening,
Walter Cronkite, Ford
a
duty he shared with other party luminaries,
to motivate the troops for the
instance, he
POLITICS!
broke loose. In an interview with
hell
all
out the general conditions under which he
laid
to take the
second
He
spot.
said that he
would need
"reasonable assurances" that his role would be substantive rather than
ceremonial. Cronkite said this sounded like he was proposing a "copresidency." Ford never used this word, but his failure to correct the
anchorman
By some
most viewers
led
later accounts, the
to believe that
was exactly what he meant.
former president's team had proposed that
he would chair the National Security Council and have veto power over some appointments, which pretty far
"As that
I
down
—
if
—was
not exactly a copresidency
the road in that direction.
watched that interview," Reagan wrote
we had some major problems with
member
thinking, this
gotiations continued as
the idea: Wait a minute,
two presidents
is really
later, "it really hit I
re-
he's talking about!' Still,
ne-
Wednesday evening wore
on.
While Ford's remarks gave Reagan pause, they brought the alive. It
now seemed
gan, the
that the
dream
rumor went, would come
ticket to the
me
might soon be
a reality.
floor
Rea-
convention center to make
the announcement.
Meantime, George was on coveted prime-time speaking
his
way
slots.
to the hall.
He
He had one
of the
delivered a powerful speech,
but the Ford story overshadowed his appearance.
Our mood vention
floor,
in the
Bush
we awaited
now seemingly
suite
the
inevitable,
Unbeknownst
was not
Like those on the con-
announcement of the once improbable,
Reagan-Ford
ticket.
to us (and the delegates), the deal
Reagan and Ford representatives were details.
festive.
still
was not done.
trying to work out the
Unable to reach agreement on the makeup of Ford's
staff
and
104
its
JAMES
*
BAKER.
A.
said. I
Ford visited Reagan's
p.m.,
suite.
It's
not going to work, he
Reagan agreed. was not there for that meeting, obviously, but
what happened
dent Ford's
Ford
next. Shortly after the
rang in George's
man
suite.
I
Drew
answered.
visit to
Lewis,
line. "Jim,"
he
was present for
I
Reagan, the phone
who had been
Pennsylvania in 1976 and was
in
Reagan, was on the to
broke off negotiations. Sometime between 10:30
role, the parties
and 11:30
II!
Presi-
now working
"Governor Reagan would
said,
for like
speak to Ambassador Bush."
Was Ford?
this a
Or was
though most
courtesy
it
the call
call to tell
George
we had been hoping
in the suite suspected that the
The
tension built until
George
Reagan had selected
for?
Nobody was
news would be
George was
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, spoke.
that
finally
sure, al-
bad.
silent as
Reagan
turned our way, smiled,
and gave us the thumbs-up.
During the conversation, Reagan had asked George two questions, one general and one
specific:
And, can you support
my
In his
campaign
opposed
am
amendment
decision, because there
vide for exceptional cases I
George had spelled out
his position
personally opposed to abortion.
to a constitutional
preme Court
policy positions?
position on abortion?
literature,
that sensitive issue. "I
Can you support my
—
is
that a
I
am
on
also
would override the Su-
need
to recognize
and pro-
rape, incest, or to save the life of a mother.
oppose federal funding of abortion, with the exceptions noted
above."
George and Reagan had to overturn Roe
v.
fundamental disagreement over whether
a
Wade with
a constitutional
amendment, but they
agreed on several points. Both opposed abortion, personally. They also accepted that
it
was
justified to save the life
would add cases of rape or
incest.)
And
of the mother. (George
they both opposed federal
funding for abortions, except in those cases.
Some select a
of Reagan's more zealous backers
may have hoped he would
running mate whose positions on abortion and other social
is-
"WORK HARD. STUDY ...AND KEEP OUT OF sues were identical to his own. the only
way
who had run
a presidential
The
reality,
POLITICS!"
however,
nominee and vice
*
105
that just about
is
presidential
nominee
against each other in the primaries could be in complete
agreement on everything would be through cloning. The best No.
1
No.
2
can
hope
realistically
for,
and unequivocally demand,
that
is
supports his policies. If in good conscience George could not have an-
swered Reagan's two questions, "Yes, sure,
sir,"
he should have (and, I'm
would have) declined the nomination.
To put an end to the Ford rumors, Governor Reagan then went immediately to the convention hall to introduce his running mate. This
broke the tradition that nominees were not supposed to appear on the
podium
until they
roof almost
were ready
came
there together,
it
off,"
to give their acceptance speeches.
Reagan wrote
was almost
as if
later.
we were
"As
George and
I
"The stood
putting the party back to-
gether again."
The next
day, not surprisingly, the press
honed
ences, real and imagined. This was to be expected.
is
bound
on their
The two
differ-
candidates
in the primaries.
Any
alliance
to raise questions.
The
goal
had offered competing visions former adversaries
in
between
now was
to
de-emphasize the issues that divided them and emphasize the ones on
which they agreed.
When Rights
reporters asked
George
Amendment (ERA) and
that could not be used to drive a
make news: "My view fall ...
are going to be
and I'm the
in favor
is
to state his positions
abortion, he answered with language
wedge between the running mates or
that the big issues, the major issues in the
economic and foreign
of equal
rights."
Note
affairs.
I
oppose abortion
that he didn't say he supported
ERA, which Reagan opposed; he supported equal
Reagan.
Nor did he
on the Equal
rights, as did
say that he opposed the constitutional
on abortion that Reagan favored; he
amendment
said, quite honestly, that
he op-
posed abortion. "I'm not going to get nickeled and said as the questions continued,
dimed
to death
by
detail,"
he
adding that he would not "get bogged
10G
JAMES
*
down
in
.
.
A.
BAKE
R.
Ill
permitting you to accentuate the differences with the gov-
.
ernor during the campaign, which have been minimal."
The
press also zeroed in on the point that
Ronald Reagan.
ald Ford, was standing beside
ernor, that Mr.
George was number-two make?
"Isn't
it
clear then,
Gov-
Bush was your second choice?"
think the situation
"I
George Bush, not Ger-
is
unique."
also asked if
he was the number-two choice for the
spot. "It's unique,"
he echoed. "What difference does
it
irrelevant. I'm here."
It's
In 2004
,
a
perhaps even more "unique" situation arose when
ocratic presidential
nominee John Kerry spoke
John McCain about running and the
clined, Kerry
man he
to
Dem-
Republican Senator
as his vice president. After
McCain
de-
did choose, Senator John Edwards, faced
questions similar to those faced by Reagan and Bush.
Would
Kerry-McCain
McCain appealed
cause
most
a
likely
said that,
Case
In
top
of the
independents and ticket
splitters
who
the undecided voters in 2004. But having
ticket. Further,
politics,
party switchers rarely do
in point: John Connally.
brief speech
a
have been effective? Perhaps, be-
important to remember that in presidential
people vote for the well.
to the
made up most of
it's
ticket
accepting his nomination Thursday night,
George endorsed the platform, compared Reagan
to Eisenhower, en-
couraged Democrats and independents to vote Republican, and then got off the stage. This was Reagan's night.
Following a film about his
podium
to a
life,
the
nominee walked onto the
thunderous ovation. "Well, the
find myself, for the first
time in
a
first thrill
tonight was to
long time, in a movie in prime time,"
he joked.
Reagan hammered campaign themes that would take him
White House and, afterward, provide tration
—
a blueprint for his
repairing what he called "a disintegrating
to the
adminis-
economy" and
"a
weakened defense." "We're taxing ourselves into economic exhaustion and stagnation,"
WORK HARD. he
said,
duce."
On
AND KEEP OUT
STUDY...
OF POLITICS:
107
+
"crushing our ability and incentive to save, invest, and pro-
The
answer: tax cuts and better control of federal spending.
make-
defense, "the Carter administration lives in a world of
believe," he charged, citing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the
Iranian hostage
increased Soviet military spending, and the gen-
crisis,
of American leadership. His
eral failure
own
priority,
he
would
said,
be "in working for peace, to ensure that the safety of our people cannot successfully be threatened by a hostile foreign power."
when
only too well that war comes not strong, but
when they
was
his soaring rhetoric. "It
splendor of
this vast
the forces of freedom are
are weak."
What was even more important ever,
"We know
is
than his views on the issues, howimpossible to capture in words the
continent which
of His creation," Reagan
said.
God
has granted as our portion
"There are not words
to express the
extraordinary strength and character of this breed of people
Americans." Language like
this
was balm to the
wounded by Vietnam, Watergate, and As the convention ended, for at least the next three
and
it
call
of a nation
economy.
was clear what George would be doing
a half
certain. Philip Uzielli, a great friend in
a fractured
spirit
we
months.
My future remained un-
of mine from Princeton
who
died
August 2001, once told Time magazine, "Jimmy gets depressed
whenever he
He
faces the prospect of having to return to practicing
craves the action."
To
this charge,
I
plead guilty.
Reporters on the Reagan plane later fabricated phony book
and attributed them derstood
my
need
to
to figures in the
law
titles
campaign. Showing that they un-
be where the action was, the
title
they picked for
me was Third Choice, The Only Campaign in Town, by Jim Baker, referring to my serial support for Ford, then Bush, then Reagan. Ouch! Among the other "books" was Prospects for Nuclear Disarmament, by Amy Carter. When people talk about the debate between Amy's father, President cite
Jimmy
one famous
sponse to
a
Carter, and Ronald
line
Reagan
in 1980,
they generally
by each candidate. President Carter's came
question about arms control.
"I
had
a discussion
in re-
with
my
106
ill
«
Amy
daughter
me
the other dav be:
here and asked her what
the most important issue was." the president said. "She said she
thought nuclear weaponry and control
Amy
Carter had
iust
or"
turned thirteen. Her
ggest in an understated
"daisv commercial" Democrats osc a
popped up
inst
Goldwater
think,
:ew>
_
the infamous in 1964.
What
Remember
the "Ask
Amy"
posters
at rail
memorable
gin's
_
—an echo of
I
delicious straight line to the press, late-night
comedians, and Reijir. supporters. that
father's point.
and indirect wav that Re.
on nuclear disarmament scared children
he did instead was feed
nuclear arms."
had the opposite
line
on
effect
his
campaign.
^vVhen Carter charged that Reagan had opposed legislation to create
Medicare. Governor Reagan looked the president in the eve. sighed, lid.
"There vou go Set Mi:ch.
int i
again."
member
a different line
from that evening of October
uttered about an hour earlier. Governor Reagan and ing
room s,
at the
Cleveland Music Hall,
in his hold-
two of us. In
just the
one
a
few min-
he would take the stage for his only debate with President
— an event
Carter dencv. near,
were
I
28,
He
that could
make or break
his quest for the p:
was calm, almost serene. "Jim." he said
"would y mi excuse
me
a
moment 1 want to
as h
ill
have
a
came
word with the
rs I
left
room with
the
gUL He
who
wi>. i>
deeper understanding I
would see again and
of.
and respect
again, a
man
for.
of faith
verv privately, but verv genuinely, drew his strength from
higher power.
and for the
n
It
then.
\
George and
set I
_an a
had agreed
month or
if a
so after the convention.
use ot
tt
election experience with President Ford,
not Bush,
a
was an extraordinary privilege to serve him. that night
That term of that
By
a
I
for vice president
prior general
should work with Rei_
suitable role and title could be found.
manage George's run
mv
Dean Burch would
WORK HARD, Reagan
AND KEEPOU1
STUDY...
officials told
me
they wanted
me
me to
Casey and
a senior adviser
Meese. Soon,
I
work
*
l()
^SD KEEP OUT OE
POLITICS!*
137
push story of the Reagan economic inheritance; Iran
for presidency;
hostage policy announcement; and
.
.
.
unannounced
Washing-
visits to
ton memorials, mix with crowds."
During the ship
coming
u
first
week, we planned an emphasis upon new* leader-
into office; show- decisive break with past, fresh
hope
for
future; set brisk but not frantic pace; begin building constituencies
support
(e.g.,
blue collar).
r
We
also
developed an action agenda for the
president to implement these goals.
On January
22, for instance, the
president would issue "directives to department heads
re:
fraud and
waste and cutting costs."
Like Jimmy Carter in 1976, Ronald Reagan had run as an outsider
who
made uary the u
Washington
criticized the
status quo. Unlike Carter, however,
plans to extend an immediate olive branch to Congress.
23,
according to our plan, the president would host
we
On Jan-
a breakfast for
GOP leadership and have dinner with Tip O'Neill. On January 25:
Super Bowl
—
invite in top congressional leaders (including a few-
Democrats) to watch on big screen. White House family
During the
transition period,
and asked for their advice,
I
just as
I
tracked
down former
theater."
chiefs of staff
had asked former delegate hunters
and campaign managers for advice before assuming those positions.
The
counsel
I
received from
my
predecessors ranged from the practi-
cal to the philosophical to the personal.
with Dick
Cheney
rilled
Notes from
my
four legal pages. His suggestions included:
•
Restore power and authority to the executive branch.
•
Orderly schedules and orderly paper flow
the president. •
Keep
come
a
a
low
Most valuable profile.
conversation
asset in D.C.
is
[are]
way vou protect
time of Ronald Reagan.
Talk to press always on background.
If
vou be-
major public figure you lose credibility feathering vour own
nest rather than serving the president.
Dick also told
me
to "be an honest broker. Don't use the proces
impose vour policy views on people."
I
highlighted that advice, and
it
138
JAMES
*
served
own
me
A.
BAKER,
111
my
well during
four years in the White House.
opinions on most important issues
of doing something about them issues
White House, and
Dick's predecessor
with
a
what
that's
Don
on the
politics
some
as well, that
That
for presidential attention.
when I
particularly
—and understood,
were not important enough
the president was best served
—
my
had
I
said,
sides got a fair hearing in the
all
tried to provide.
Rumsfeld,
like a true
CEO,
twelve-page primer that he had written four years
"Rumsfeld's Rules for the Assistant to the President."
me
presented
The
first
earlier,
and
last
notations were the same: "Don't play president." Other advice:
•
Assume
that everything
you say and do
will
be on the front page of
the Washington Postthe next morning and conduct yourself accordingly. •
it
unless you have, in understanding
tell [the
president] what you think and feel
Don't take the job or stay in
and
fact,
the freedom to
on any subject with the bark •
Obviously, always
correct •
the
full truth. If
down and
in groups, assign
Don't get or
let
out.
tell
him and
about the press or Congress or
Rumsfeld
among
your mooring
job or
you
leaks. Relax.
performance. Help your
don't forget
it
to
Understand the
some valuable personal will lose
lines into the world,
the
is
do
responsibility yourself.
in-
staff,
tips:
"Don't be
your balance. Maintain and tend your family,
people out of government. That balance
still
the pressure
institutions.
also included
consumed by the
x\ll
areas, arrange
White House or the president get paranoid
the
evitable interaction
Find problem
them, and delegate.
more and more
the reverse, to take
you are
you screw up,
it.
Force responsibility
them
•
tell
off.
is
friends, neighbors,
critically
important to your
children, and friends to understand that
same person, despite the
publicity,
good or bad
.
.
.
and
yourself."
As White House chief of
staff,
I
was
in a position to help
my friend
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF George Bush I
more than some
stay in the loop
was working for Reagan now, not Bush
bruising primaries
Any appearance
—and my
that
I
would be
opponent
in the
to the president.
wasn't about to do that.
I
Even the appearance
was more closely aligned with Bush than Reagan would have un-
dermined
my effectiveness.
George was present the meeting tion.
139
past vice presidents. But
his principal
loyalty
*
my real goal was only to help my old friend would
have been inappropriate. that
first
—
POLITICS!"
One
I
attended
— along with Casey, Meese, and Deaver— at
topic was cabinet selection.
elect's close friend
office.
days after the elec-
We were joined by the president-
and confidante Senator Paul Laxalt, and by Pen
James, a private-sector headhunter personnel
home two
the Reagans'
at
who would run
the
White House
Pen had already begun putting together
a short list
of
candidates for each position.
During the at 5:00 p.m. in
deputy or
transition,
my office
James, Meese, Deaver, and
We would then discuss our recommen-
assistant secretaries.
would make the
final decision.
Reagan tentatively selected General Al Haig
He had
Al had a heck of a resume. Allied
Commander
experience in Vietnam and last
days of the Watergate
staff for
met every day
to go over candidates for key positions such as
dations with Reagan, and he
Supreme
I
as secretary
of
state.
returned from serving as
just
of Nx\TO. Before that he had combat
a stint as crisis,
an aide to Henry Kissinger. In the
he served
as
White House chief of
Richard Nixon.
Before offering the post to Al, the president-elect wanted assurances that he would not use
it
as a
base of operations to run for the
presidency, as rumors suggested. In early December, he had told
Meese, Laxalt, Allen, and
me that he did
not want to be president. Fur-
thermore, he said, no one interested in running for president would
want to be secretary of
state.
Too many occupants of
suggested, have been scapegoated by their presidents.
that office, he
That
satisfied
Reagan, and he soon nominated Haig for the position.
On January
20, 1981, a bit
more than
a
month
later,
Susan and
I
140
sat
JAMES
*
BAKER.
A.
Ill
on the inaugural platform
as
Ronald Reagan took the oath
idential reviewing stand in front of the
and
floats
crept past,
I
White House. As bands, digni-
showed Susan the area under the bare
trees in Lafayette Park, just across the street
Mary
Stuart and
our
We later watched the parade from the pres-
nation's fortieth president.
taries,
as
and to the
where
left,
had shivered through the 1953 parade twenty-eight
I
years earlier.
Inauguration day was memorable for other reasons, as well.
ments
Reagan took
after President
more than fourteen months
earlier.
vania Avenue after the parade,
We
office.
mentous tration
office, Iran
freed the hostages taken
While work crews swept Pennsyl-
Mike Deaver and
I
went
to
Ed Meese's
probably talked about the president's response to
event.
It's
also likely that
and the bright
sion Directive
we
lifted a toast to
possibilities ahead.
We
were
And
even unpacked our briefcases.
still
Suddenly and unexpectedly,
in formal attire.
We
—
—had Al Haig—
is,
tion.
Ed
Haig
Defense Weinberger, viser Allen before
hadn't
including
yet seen, proposing to put the secretary of state
in charge
told
Deci-
here was Al Haig, not yet con-
firmed by the Senate, with a twenty-page document no one the president
mo-
our new adminis-
in.
Talk about bad timing.
that
this
He said he had a proposed National Security (NSDD) he wanted the president to sign.
Al Haig walked
Mo-
of
crisis
management
for the administra-
that
we needed comments from
CIA
Director Casey, and National Security Ad-
Secretary of
we could put something this important on
the pres-
ident's desk.
This did not Realism, Reagan,
sit
well with Al. In his diplomatic memoir, Caveat-
and Foreign
Policy,
he suggested that he had an earlier un-
derstanding with the president about lines of authority that was
danger of being reversed. Striking specifically
at
now
in
Meese, Haig wrote:
"Surely the President did not want his counselor editing communications
from the cabinet, or muddying presidential instructions."*
Instructions? President
ument. But
as
Reagan had given us none about
this
doc-
Al Haig and others would soon learn, the president
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF
—
did want communications to his office officers
—
to be vetted, if not edited,
This presented far too heavily
"a
a real
problem
He
staff,
141
+
including those from cabinet
by Ed and me. Management
for Al.
on the White House
POLITICS!"
101.
thought the president relied
whom
he later referred to
as
bunch of second-rate hambones."^ Just ten weeks after President Reagan took office, tragedy struck.
Without warning, senior White House
staff,
the cabinet, and the vice
president were forced to consider a variant of the question Haig had posed: in a
'When
I
crisis,
who's in charge here?
later served as secretary
of state for George Bush, 41, the scope of
was defined by something considerably more powerful than
Document f After It
put
a
a
—
a
my
authority
National Security Decision
the confidence and friendship of the president.
thorough review, President Reagan signed
NSDD
No.
3
on December
14, 1981.
"Special Situation Group, chaired by the vice president," in charge of crisis
agement. In 1988, Al Haig ran unsuccessfully against that same publican presidential nomination.
\
man-
ice president for the
Re-
SEVEN
SPARED FOR A PURPOSE
I
was in the White House mess having lunch when
Jim Brady dropped by my
March
30,
at
the Washington Hilton.
can't go,"
I
said. "I've
Mike Deaver went ident's side as the
of the hotel
and breezv
and said
it
was time to leave.
and the president was scheduled to speak
CIO members "I just
table
Press Secretary
in
got too
my place.
I
had planned
many
AFL-
on today."
After the event, he was at the pres-
return to the
day, the sidewalks
was
to attend.
things going
entourage exited the YIP entrance
at 2:25 p.m. to
to 3,500
It
at
the lower level
White House.
were wet from
It
was
a light drizzle.
a
The
warm pres-
ident had been in office seventy days.
As the president walked toward their usual questions,"
Mike
his car, "the press started asking
recalled
U later.
I
Brady up because he was the press secretary. the
first
shot went over
with the help of
a
turned and moved [Jim] I
took three steps.
my shoulder. knew what it was. I
Washington policeman.
I
I
Then
ducked down
smelled the powder.
I
never saw the gunman." In less
than ten seconds, that unseen gunman, John Hinckley,
Jr.,
twenty-five, fired six hollow-nosed bullets from his .22-caliber re-
— "WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OE volver. later.
sounded
It
One
like firecrackers
pop, pop,
—
pop
Tim McCarthy in
rushed between the president and the shooter. left
eye and entered his brain.
ing Ronald Reagan, realized
143
in the neck.
An-
the stomach as he
third hit Jim
Brady
although nobody, includ-
the time, another bullet ricocheted
at
it
And
A
+
the president said
Thomas Delahanty
bullet hit police officer
other struck Secret Service agent
over the
POLITICS!"
off the president's limousine, cut into the president's chest, ripped into his left lung,
and embedded
itself there,
inches from his heart.
Jerry Parr, head of the Secret Service detail, shoved President Rea-
gan into the black Lincoln limousine and told the driver to head for the White House. Parr radioed ahead. Shots have been
but the president was not
hit.
About
fired,
he
that time, the president
said,
began
coughing up blood. Parr immediately ordered the driver to divert
to
nearby George Washington University Hospital.
The
car arrived there about 2:35. Flanked by Secret Service agents,
the president walked into the
Once
ER
his
own
power.
however, his legs gave way and he suddenly collapsed.
inside,
With the help of in the
emergency room under
agents, a
paramedic carried him into
a private suite
and gave him oxygen.
Meanwhile, David Gergen burst into shots had been fired, but in those
first
my
office
with the news that
confused moments, neither he
nor anyone else we could find knew exactly what had happened or
whether the president had been injured.
Ed Meese
joined
jumped
shooting, he had
This was the
Brady and found
me
first
at least
in
Now
Deaver
called. After the
and followed the president.
contact between the hospital and the White House.
one agent had been
a small bullet
lost
office.
into a limousine
hit,
Mike
said,
and doctors had
hole in the president's coat. Dr. Daniel Ruge, the
White House physician, was had
my
an enormous
also
on the
amount of
line.
blood.
He
told us the president
The bad news was
getting
worse.
Meese and fore
we
left,
I
I
agreed that we should get to the hospital ASAP. Be-
received a phone call from Secretary of State Al Haig.
I
)AMES
144
*
told
him what
RAKfR.
A.
Ill
knew and
I
said
was on
I
my way
to the hospital. Vice
President Bush was in Texas. Haig said he would set up a White
command
post with key cabinet
members
Weinberger, Secretary of the Treasury
William French Smith, rity
Adviser Dick Allen.
and he said he would
Haig arrived
CIA I
call
Director
told
about
When we
six blocks
Don
Regan, Attorney General
Casey, and National Secu-
my
Haig he would be
point of contact,
the vice president.
Meese, Speakes, Lyn Nofziger, and hospital,
— Secretary of Defense Cap
Bill
White House
at the
House
away
—
I
a
few minutes
after 3:00 p.m.
were already on our way to the
siren wailing, lights flashing.
arrived the president
winked
from behind
at us
his
oxy-
gen mask. "Who's minding the store?" he asked. His greeting to Nancy was
"Honey,
just as light:
I
forgot to duck," a line borrowed from Jack
Dempsey. But there was nothing funny about the way he looked.
He
didn't appear to be in danger of dying, but his appearance shocked me. In
my two-plus months on the job,
ident's vigor, a lifestyle.
had been impressed with the pres-
testament to his natural good health and active outdoor
Now^ he was ghostly
Speakes wrote in ing to lose him.
The
I
his
pale.
"Doctors believe bleeding to death,"
notebook. "Can't find a wound. Think we're go-
Touch and
doctors worked
go."
fast.
They soon found
of the president's chest under his
in the side
for certain:
Ronald Reagan had been
was lodged
in his left lung,
after the shooting,
shot.
the wound, a small
Now we
knew
bullet, flat as a
dime,
left
The
slit
arm.
which had collapsed. At
3:25 p.m.,
he was w.
For one thing, there was no way to set
by the US. Constitution.
A
and
its
unique interplay of public
Still,
law.
day one. eyery network was carrying angry interviews about
was genuine.
this
manv
local
relations,
the butterfly ballots and other real or imagined voting problems.
of
either
near-perfect illustration of the dynamics of the
Florida election dispute, with
On
a
demanding
quicklv and correctly threw the plaintiffs out of court.
the cases offered
politics,
in Florida,
Palm Beach County or
in
allocation of the votes.
Gore
ever hit the tarmac in Tallahassee, local
Fm
The Democrats' purpose.
Bush-Chenev victory and Even though
local
terrlv cases. Bill
Democrats clearly orchestrated
sure, but
In fairness, both sides organized rallies
of the protests.
protests.
I
believe,
bv the courts.
set the stage for intervention
Democrats, not the Gore campaign,
riled
the but-
Daley Warren Christopher, and others publicly em-
November
10.
I
a rule
On
illegal.
spoke about the butterrlv ballot and. to use a
phrase from an old lawyers' joke.
There's
and
was to delegitimize the
braced the charge that the Palm Beach County ballot was Friday
Some
I
pounded the
of law to be followed
in
all
law.*
elections.
The
state
of
Florida has established legal procedures to design, approve, publish,
and
if
need be
to protest ballots before the election.
ballot was designed
do you win on vour
pound
side,
a case.:
pound the
the table.
The
bv
When tacts;
a
The
butterfly"
Democratic elections supervisor. She ap-
the law
is
on your
side,
pound
the law;
and when neither the law nor the
other side was pounding the table,
ber 10 onward, we pounded the law.
in
my
when
facts are
opinion.
the facts are
on your
side.
From Novem-
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF proved tion.
it.
The Democratic
Party did not question
And we have
The
with us here today
you would
statutes if
rules and, again, the
Our lawyers have confirmed
not complain
like to
is
is
by the way, that says you
some
unjust, in
but
ing,
what the rule of law
dures, and if
we purport
campaign would request
a
if
you
limitations. It
change the rules
after
we have no
law,
when they hurt us.
warm-up
when
9,
same prin-
away without pay-
under the rule of
to live
"Butterfly ballots" was a
November
injustice to
all
game was
debt
a
is
of deadlines and technicalities and proce-
choice but to respect them, even
Thursday,
the
by the statute of
sense, for a deadbeat debtor to get
is full
is
go to court to collect
can't
after the deadline set
The law
the event.
the
before
good or bad. This
would be an even greater
it
the legality of this bal-
playing by the rules as they existed
your lawsuit
Democrats did
have them.
played, then living with the results,
file
in the
copies of the relevant Florida
.
.
butterfly ballot cases illustrate
about, which
ciple,
.
375
*
before the elec-
it
This butterfly-type ballot was used in recent elections
same county and under the same
lot.
POLITICS!"
bout.
The main event
started
on
Daley announced that the Gore
Bill
hand count of
ballots in
Palm Beach County
and three others: Volusia, Miami-Dade, and Broward.* Obviously, Al
Gore
didn't invite
me to
represent
to play
Monday morning
quarterback, but
to seek
manual recounts
in four heavily
than
sixty-seven counties was a big mistake.
all
erwise effective public relations slogan
I
him
in Florida or
will say this: his decision
Democratic counties rather It
undermined
—"count every
vote"
his oth-
—and gave
us the moral high ground on that issue.
There was debate
members ties
believed
or for a
full
in
we should
call for
later joked that after arriving in Florida,
ties
.
.
.
and four
hand recounts
in
pro-Bush coun-
my opinion,
statewide hand recount, but these folks, in
were not seeing the big picture.
*I
Some team
our camp on how to respond.
no unities
1
First off, political strategists in the
I
learned that the state has
s
i
x
r \
three coun-
w
|AMES
+
(.
BAKER,
\
me
stare ach iscd
III
that there weren't
pect to get a bounce. Secondly,
many
where we could ex-
places
worried about the fact that most of
I
those counting the ballots were Democrats. At the very least, there
would
be, as
put
I
it
to the press, "the
and most important reason
final
was that recounts are for
We were still
losers,
for not seeking a recount, however,
and we had won.
ahead, unofficially, by 300 votes
tions supervisors
the mandatory 10,
Even though two-thirds of the
over."
it's
when
November
statewide machine recount ended on Friday, position was, "Hey,
The
opportunity for mischief."
were Democrats,
state elec-
Bush-Cheney had
told reporters,
I
my
and
prevailed. All that was left was to count the overseas ballots, and they traditionally favored Republican candidates.
"We
will vigorously
op-
pose the Gore campaign's efforts to keep recounting over and over un-
happens
til it
to like the result,"
In answer to a question,
reminded reporters of another close
I
to the
upon
a recount,
thousand votes or so down
what would be good
come back
in
And he
said,
moment
in a
seats, squinting, trying to
tiny rectangles of paper
to
our
changed
beginning to end
to President
'No
went forward.
That's not
Human vote coun-
light,
twisting in their
read the minds of voters based on whether
were dangling or hanging or dimpled or preg-
in the
—what we
in
for this process.
middle of the counts.
Texas would
call a
It
a hit off.
As noted
Ohio would have moved the turn just under 3,700 votes in
in
state to the 1
lawaii.
chapter one,
a shift
Ford column, but
At
was chaos from
"goat rope."
to protect against the excesses of creative counting,
'My memory was
Ford
legal efforts to block the re-
There were absolutely no uniform standards
times, the rules
when I was
for the country.'"*
began holding machine ballots up to the
nant.
of 1976,
because he was only some seven
Ohio
counts, but, as everyone knows, they ters
memory
room and many, many people were arguing
that he should insist
I'll
said.
drawn back
race. "I'm particularly in the
I
we had
To
try
senior
of fewer than 5,600 votes
we would
also
in
have needed to
"WORK HARD, STUDY. AND KEEP OUT OF
—
people
POLITICS!"
including John Bolton and Frank Donatelli
—
377
*
sitting in the
chad rooms for days and days. This
is
where Katherine Harris, the elected secretary of
Florida (and a Republican), evision viewers. office
a familiar figure to
Each county was supposed
on November
hand recounts
became
one week
14, exactly
just getting
to certify
state
America's
its
of
tel-
results to her
after the election.
With the
under way, however, the four counties ob-
viously could not meet that deadline.
nounced on November 14
Under
legal pressure, she an-
Bush-Cheney
that
postponed formal certification to November
led by 300 votes, but
17, subject
only to count-
ing the overseas ballots and to the possible acceptance of late returns that could be legally justified.
Supreme Court ordered ing
its
Two
days
later,
hand recounts could continue, pend-
that the
decision on whether they were legal.
simply given up, so
however, the Florida
we were down
By
then,
Miami-Dade had
to three counties.
Shortly after arriving in Florida, Zoellick, Allbaugh, and see Katherine Harris. She
hominem
attacks
would soon be subjected
to
some
went
I
vicious ad
by both the Gore team and members of the
Secretary Harris was obviously very bright, but
I
to
press.
sensed that she was
uneasy about the position into which she had been forced by circumstances, almost to the point of being paralyzed.
the law required, and
we made
to
meant sooner rather than
and
later.
in a specific
For her
own
manner, which
sake,
we
vised her to get the best legal help she could, which she did.
stand that
Gore
do what
the case that the law required her to
certify the election at a specific time
basically
She wanted
representatives also visited her to
make
also adI
under-
their case, as
was perfectly appropriate.
The
next stop was the Florida
tee ballots
had come
votes. Oral
arguments were
down In
the next day.
It
in
Supreme Court. By
then, the absen-
and the Bush-Cheney lead had grown to 930 set for
November 20 and
the opinion
came
was an outrageous piece of judicial overreaching.
complete disregard of the statutory law of Florida and of Article
Section
1,
II,
of the United States Constitution ("Each State shall ap-
178
+
M
A
|
A
S
I
point, in such
Electors
.
RAKER.
Ill
Manner as
"),
.
.
.
the Legislature thereof
direct, a
Number
of
the court extended the deadline set by the legislature
ongoing recounts
for the
may
November
to Sunday,
26, twelve
days after
the deadline set by Florida statutes.
"For the
wrote
first
time since his arrival
Baker "looked
later,
age as he read a statement attacking the
his
court's decision." Absolutely.
Robert Zelnick
in Tallahassee,"
I
was worn out, angry, and worried.
Today, Florida's supreme court rewrote the legislature's statutory system, assumed the responsibilities of the executive branch, and
sidestepped the opinion of the
weeks
after the election, that court has
vented
new system
a
now be
not
court as the finder of
trial
for
surprised
if
fact.
Two
changed the rules and
counting the election
results.
One
in-
should
the Florida legislature seeks to affirm the
original rules.
The
court said
technical reliance
it
was guided by "the
upon
will
of the people, not a hyper-
statutory provisions." That's the sort of lawyer
sounds impressive until you think about
talk that
sion of "the will of the people" on this subject, after
enacted by lawmakers elected by the people. liance
had
upon
just
ladies
statutory provisions"
is
—
trampled into the dust
and gentlemen,"
dle of the
game or
When
was
I
I
change the
game
treasury secretary,
another
We
tinued after
I
together at In 1994,
my
Washington
ranch
in
was the statute
"hyper-technical re-
name
for is
what
this
court
simply not
rules, either in the
I
became
who
friends with
fair,
mid-
in 1993,
Texas and
at
Lawton
Chiles,
chaired the Senate Budget
both loved to hunt wild turkeys.
left
best expres-
has been played."
the Democratic senator from Florida
Committee.
all,
the rule of law. "It
said, "to
after the
And
The
it.
Our
friendship con-
and we would sometimes hunt
various places in Florida.
Lawton was elected governor of
Florida.
He
defeated Jeb
"WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF
who was making
Bush,
campaign
—many thought which
cial Security,
is
run for the
his first it
office.
was too negative
POLITICS!"
Lawton ran
a
379
*
tough
—focused mostly on So-
a federal issue, not a state issue. After that,
anybody
wasn't particularly popular with the Bushes for
it
to be friends
with Chiles, but the Chiles-Baker relationship had been struck up long before Jeb ran for governor, and
On
one
trip in Florida,
it
survived.
Lawton and
were joined by
I
who
friend Dexter Douglass, a silver-haired lawyer ernor's general counsel.
Dexter was
versationalist. In short order,
him.
One was
that
one of
five
however, that
I
didn't think any
very, very simple.
told the
I
think he
more about
I
believed, was to go over
Dexter Douglass story
eral lawsuit. "If
we
In
it.
its
2000,
legal strategy,
head.
in the first
my brain
meetings with
why I thought we needed
don't get into federal court,"
I
to
file
said, "we'll
a fed-
be
as
as a doornail."
Florida was a state
and that the federal courts would be reluctant to intervene, but
insisted
Bush.
November
to deal with the Florida
Some of them argued with me. They thought issue
may have recom-
Bush-Cheney
the
The only way
trust in Florida to help explain
dead
con-
was to recommend candidates to Lawton for ap-
memory helped shape
Supreme Court, I
lively
of the seven justices on the court.
At the time,
which was
humorist and
Democrat, big time. The other was
pointment to the Florida Supreme Court.
mended
served as the gov-
learned two important things about
I
that he was a liberal
his jobs
a colorful
his close
we
He
motion
try anyway.
I
also
recommended
agreed, and on Saturday,
in U.S. District
manual recounts.
We
Court
in
that course to
November
Miami
1
1,
filed
our
for an injunction to stop the
argued that the recounts violated both the due
much
latitude to the
counting the ballots and because
have their votes counted It's
Governor
Ted Olson
process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth
because they gave too
I
in
the
all
Amendment
men and women who were
Florida voters were entitled to
same way.
important to understand that our purpose
in
going to the federal
380
[AMES
BAKER.
A
courthouse was nor
from being changed by standards, which
licans.
took I
Our
to overturn the election.
purpose, rather, was to
Bush-Cheney victory by stopping the
preserve z lawful
We
Ill
a subjective
recount system without uniform
we
believed was both
of
flak for tiling
a lot
election results
wrong and
some of
the lawsuit,
got a real earful, for instance,
when
unconstitutional.
called
I
from Repub-
it
mv
friend,
former
Missouri senator Jack Danforth, to ask him to be our lead counsel federal court. Jack
spectrum and has
well liked and well respected across the political
is
a
was
a
former
man Dick Cheney had recommended
running mate, and an ordained Episcopalian
would lend
He
reputation for integrity.
a spotless
Missouri attornev general, \Y*s
in
priest.
as
thought he
I
instant stature to our federal case.
Jack was vacationing stead of a yes,
I
in
Cancun when
I
asked him to sign on. In-
got a lecture, the essence of which was:
vou go
if
to
court and lose, you're going to ruin Bush's career; he's young enough to
run again sometime, but not
When
dential election in court.
Austin,
we decided
Our ber the
first
to
do
1th Circuit
judge ruled against
The
didn't
in
recommended
I
On Novem-
us.
Two
we appealed
days later 1
to
court up-
" that
recounts would continue.
come
as a surprise.
had not exhausted our remedies
The
1
1th Circuit said
in state courts and,
beginning, had not demonstrated
We
Cheney
Supreme Court.
to the U.S.
Court of Appeals, and on November
These defeats
ble injury.
when
a presi-
a superlative job for us in the federal
two successful appeals
held the lower court.
just
reported this to Bush and
shot at the federal courts went nowhere.
13, a district 1
I
seen as having challenged
to look elsewhere. That's
Ted Olson, who went on courts, including
if he's
with the recounts
a substantial threat
of irrepara-
were disappointed, of course, but our case had been
missed without prejudice, which meant we
still
we
had
a foot in
dis-
the
federal courthouse door.
Three days
the Florida
later,
ments on the recount
vember
21
opinion
I
issue.
Supreme Court conducted
oral argu-
This was the hearing that led to the
No-
The
rirst
have alreadv described
as
outrageous.
WORK HARD. STUDY ...AND
KEEP OUT OF POLITICS'
few seconds of the Gore-Lieberman oral arguments were
-
fairly
381
mem-
orable to me.
members of
"Mr. Chief Justice,
who
the speaker today the state of
was
It
a
New
will
argue the case for
Mr. David Boies from
routine introduction, except for one thing.
who
sat at the table
with Boies,
referred to as Boies's right-hand man, was
He
was introducing
he had helped place on the court.
body
else's
I
The man who
who was sometimes
none other than Dexter
new Yankee
his
tices
friend to the very jus-
felt like a
stranger at some-
family reunion.
already said
I've
us,
here to introduce
York."
introduced Boies,
Douglass.
Tm
the court,
all I
need
to say about the Florida court's decision
to extend the deadline for the recounts to
November
26.
1
resisted the
temptation back then to assign political motives to the seven
and
I'll
resist it
now.
assume they honestly believed they were doing
I
the right thing, which just
wanted.
What they
really did
happened
williger,
quickly
I
to be
what Gore-Lieberman
by changing the rules
game, however, was to give our side
Supreme Court.
justices,
a
new and
in the
middle of the
stronger case for the U.S.
met with Ginsberg, Olson,
Carvin, and others to decide what to do next.
Zoellick, Ter-
Some
of them
were not optimistic that the Supreme Court would take an appeal of the Florida decision, and, in any event, estimated our odds of winning at
no better than
recount
suit,
fifty-fifty.
some
Maybe we should
rive
certification.
keep going with the
suggested, to avoid putting the high court in the pos-
ture of overruling a state court.
were only
just
The
calendar was also a factor. There
days until the Florida Supreme Court's
Was
it
realistic to
listened, then
I
liked
a
the recount
decided we should go forward. For one thing.
our chances. For another, we simplv needed
light,
If not,
decision could be issued.
possible to get into federal court.
green
for
expect the U.S. Supreme Court to grant
our petition, hear arguments, and rule that quickly?
would be over before
new deadline
and on November
Once
22,
again,
to trv in every
Governor Bush gave
I
way us
a
our lawyers asked the US. Supreme
•
(
\
I
Ml
S
A
.
B
AK
R
t
.
Ill
)ourt to review the Florida
Supreme Court's
had violated
a federal statute
the election,
we
cle to
decision.
The
state court
by changing the deadline for certifying
argued. In doing so that court had also violated Arti-
of the U.S. Constitution, which gives state legislatures authority
II
determine how presidential electors are chosen.
We
argued
also
and random counting rules violated the due
that the selective recounts
process and equal protection clauses.
On November 24 colleagues
—
—
to the surprise of
the high court agreed to hear our case.
Marx
paraphrase the famous Groucho
we now had a
many, including some of
whether we wanted
to decide
court that would have us.
two days away, and
line
it
to
word,
I
To
have anything to do with
The November 26
was beginning to look
Supreme Court add
what?
about club membership,
deadline was as if
now
we would
ahead when the recounts we4*e completed. What could U.S.
Now
my
only
still
be
a victory in the
One
to a certified victory at the ballot box?
argued: legitimacy.
We presented Governor Bush with a memorandum listing "reasons for
case."
Among
lose the case after eking out a
narrow
dropping the case" and "reasons for continuing the
the reasons for dropping: "If
win
in the vote count,
Gore
we
will
be seen
as scoring a big victory,
w hich T
momentum and legitimacy to his contest challenges courts." Among the reasons for continuing: "A Supreme
he will use to lend in Florida
Court win might remove the
basis for Gore's election contest
thermore, as long as the case
is
likely to
pending, the Florida Supreme Court
word:
to continue.
Why?
legitimacy.
On November 26, as the
is
be more careful in contest proceedings."
Governor Bush quickly decided he wanted us
One
Fur-
winner by 537
Secretary of State Harris certified Bush-Cheney votes. In Tallahassee
governor to claim victory and
call
we
on Gore
to
drafted a speech for the
end
his fight. In Austin,
however, the Bush team reportedly thought the language "too arrogant."
Governor Bush delivered
the votes are counted,
it is
a kinder, gentler version.
time for the votes to count," he
"Now said.
that
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF In Winning Florida, here's
press that
how
Zelnick describes
POLITICS!"
my
same evening: "The speech may have been
remarks to the
'too arrogant' to
be delivered by the next president of the United States, but, with modifications
slugging
it
seemed
it
tough old
just right for a
383
*
a
few
political strategist
out in Florida but wishing he were off somewhere abbrevi-
ating the lives of pheasants."
Gore did not accept the
Unfortunately, Vice President
and concede. In
sults
certified re-
speech on November 27,
a nationally televised
he vowed to press onward. In what surely was the one of the oddest re-
marks of the thirty-six-day dispute, the
man who had
asked for selec-
recounts in just four heavily Democratic counties said, "That
tive
we have asked
since election day: a complete count of
in Florida."
We
count of
the votes" was just a slip of the tongue.
all
were
pretty tired by then, so
changed the
Certification
had now
all
officially
this
the votes cast
all
maybe "complete
George W. Bush
legal landscape entirely.
won. From
is all
moment, Gore-Lieberman were no
longer protesting the election count; they were contesting^ certified election
and seeking to overturn
it.
This created two enormous problems for
would be much
the Democrats. For one thing, the burden of proof higher, requiring evidence of fraud or
or of
some monumental
change the statewide
some other
serious
wrongdoing
irregularity or inaccuracy significant
results.
The second problem was
Supreme Court's extension of the recount deadline
Both camps and
all
to
November 26
December
eral "safe harbor" deadline for settling the
States
1
in
2 to
Supreme Court heard our job.
the Reagan and Bush administrations
tices
were appointed.
been
distracting.
The next
meet
names of
Olson argued the case and did an excellent been
left for
the
courts were working on the assumption that
the election had to be resolved by
The United
to
that the Florida
had chewed up so much time that there weren't many days contest.
enough
a statutory fed-
Florida's electors.
case on I
stayed away.
when some of
My presence was unnecessary, and
Some might even
day, distinguished
December
it
I
1.
had
the jus-
could ha\ e
argue, inappropriate.
and folksy Circuit Judge \. Sanders
184
+
|
AMES
RAKt
\
Sauls kicked off
a
R.
Ill
three-day quickie
Ciore contest. Boies gave
That same
day, the U.S.
to
win cases
filed in
December
issue,
And
21.
4,
Judge
without excep-
Supreme Court vacated
Supreme Court decision of November soon
eon County to hear the
but on
his best shot,
it
I.
Gore-Lieberman on every
Sauls ruled against tion.
trial in
the Florida
elsewhere,
we were
Florida courts by the Democrats to challenge
absentee ballots and overseas ballots. For a couple of days, Bush-
Cheney was running
the table.
But the Democrats Florida tices
refused to concede, and once again the
still
Supreme Court saved
their bacon.
On December
8,
the jus-
voted 4—3 to reverse Judge Sauls's decision and ordered some-
thing that Gore-Lieberman had not even asked
recount of so-called undervotes
—
for, a
statewide
manual
those ballots the machines regis-
tered as not having voted for any candidate for president. This decision will be reprinted in law books for decades to
come
as
an example
of what appellate courts are not supposed to do. Wearily, wearily, wearily
I
trudged to the microphone to explain,
yet again, that the Florida court had overstepped
many
time by (among
its
boundaries, this
other things) overruling Judge Sauls's findings
of fact that there was no evidence of fraud or other serious wrong-
Law
doing. Appellate
101 says appeals courts are supposed to deal
—except
with the law, not
in rare instances
—with
the facts, which are
settled in lower courts. In a scorching dissent, Florida
Chief Justice Charles Wells ex-
plained the true nature of this opinion. turn this case to the either
[trial]
as
it
majority's decision to re-
court for a count of the undervotes from
Miami-Dade County
law of Florida
"The
or
existed on
all
counties has no foundation in the
November
7,
2000, or at any time until
the issuance of this opinion," he wrote.
Amen,
brother. That's the sort of thing
we had been saying
since
November. "I
have
process
a
deep and abiding concern that the prolonging of
in this
.
.
.
judicial
contest propels this country and this state into an
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT unprecedented and unnecessary constitutional Wells
OF POLITICS!"
*
385
Chief Justice
crisis,"
said.
my
There's no point in
saying
much more about
the decision, be-
cause the U.S. Supreme Court promptly stayed the Florida court's or-
then vacated
der,
December
By
12.
it
in
Bush
Gore,
v.
the famous late-night decision of
7-2 vote, the high court held that the recount or-
a
dered by the Florida Supreme Court was unconstitutional because the lack of uniform counting rules violated the equal-protection clause of
the U.S. Constitution. Let that sink
Seven out of nine
in.
justices
agreed
who
say the
with Bush-Cheney on the issue of constitutionality. Critics
case was "really 5-4" are talking about a second vote on a subsidiary
remedy
matter, the
—what
do about the Florida Supreme Court's
to
outrageous decision. Referring to December
12, the federal statutory
safe harbor deadline, a majority of the court said, us,
and there
is
no recount procedure
in place
"That date
is
upon
under the State Supreme
Court's order that comports with minimal constitutional standards." It
was
over.
Yet again, the law was on our side. votes than the other side
The next
day,
flew back to
I
ous fatigue, dropped by
and
— 537
staffers flocked
my
down
to
*One
subject
tion."
A
I
I
thought
it
chose not to write
legislature simply could have
going court
battles.
There was
my end
of legal research on
it.
of the hall to welcome
lose?"
much about
a lot
made a slate
in this
that
someone
12,
fairly seri-
I
replied.
chapter
under the
is
me home.
asked.
"Every day."
the so-called "nuclear op-
U.S. Constitution, the Florida
of electors and put an immediate end to on-
of talk about this possibility, and
On December
had more
still
Baker Botts. Dozens of lawyers
was possible,"
named
we
Houston and, despite some
office at
very strong argument can be
yet again,
to be exact.*
"Did you ever think you might "Every day
And
the Florida
House
we
did a
fair
amount
actually approved a slate of
twenty-five pro-Bush electors, but the Senate never acted. I
don't think
by legislative
fiat
Governor Bush would have authorized
us to trv to win Florida's electors
rather than through the votes of the people of Florida.
Having
popular vote by more than 500,000 votes, he understood very well how hard
been
to
govern
if
he won the White
1
louse that way.
it
lost
the
would have
186
t
AMES
|
RAKL
A.
Florida was
R.
II
an unsettling experience for the American people.
hope we never have
to
go through anything
like that again.
I
was
It
equally unsettling to the world at large. As the legal battles dragged on, I
received telephone calls from several present and former prime min-
whom
had worked
of
isters
and foreign ministers with
state.
"What's happening to your country?" they asked. "Can't you
even conduct an election?" In part
was also
this
I
was simple
curiosity, but there
whiff of anxiety about the uncertainty of
a
as secretary
who would be
president of the sole remaining superpower.
"What's happening," is
a
I
replied, "is that
our system
is
working. This
very emotional issue for the American people, but on both sides,
think,
we
are handling
And whatever For
street."
case, I
were
a
else
few
this to
meant what
it
things
with dignity and pursuant to the rule of law.
may be happening, we do
callers,
added
I
not have tanks in the
might have been the
a zinger: "as
have happened in some other countries." I
said about dignity. In a dispute as important
contentious as Florida,
some
I
would be
it
was inevitable, given
human
and
nature, that
said outside the boundaries of civility
and that
other things would be done that, in hindsight, might have been done differently.
What
is
striking,
however,
is
how few
those incidents were
and how quickly they have faded from mind.
That tone was
set early.
Two
days after the election,
Warren Christopher. As we touched that a settlement could be negotiated.
and the other was bound to
lose.
experienced negotiators. But
ducted
in
I
met with
gloves, neither of us suggested
One
candidate was bound to win
There was no middle ground, even
we agreed
that the contest
for
would be con-
an honorable and dignified way on both sides. That's what
both sides did, by and large, and
I
salute Chris
and
his colleagues.
Al
Gore's gracious concession speech deserves special acknowiedgment. It
helped our nation accept the legitimacy of the outcome.
One
great benefit of having
done things
in the right
way and
in ac-
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF cordance with the rule of law
won
Al Gore, had he to accept the
—
is
— and
that the
it
POLITICS!"
would have been the same
on.
Some
didn't,
Even the Florida Supreme Court
in a little-noted
ment of
set in motion.
December
a specific,
for
of course, but that
was also inevitable, given the intensity of feelings on both
it
387
American people were more willing
outcome and move
about the process
*
finally
"Upon
sides.
had second thoughts
reflection," the court
wrote
22 opinion, "we conclude that the develop-
uniform standard
to ensure equal application
and to
secure the fundamental right to vote throughout the State of Florida
should be dress
A
it,
left to
the
body we believe best equipped
and ad-
to study
the legislature."
bit
more of
Florida recount exercise
After
all
and the
that sort of judicial restraint early on,
would have unfolded very
differently.
the visiting lawyers, political operatives, and reporters
had packed up and gone home, two different media-sponsored organizations conducted statewide recounts of the Florida ballots. Here's
what the New York Times reported on November
A
12, 2001:
comprehensive review of the uncounted Florida
year's presidential election reveals that
won even
if
ballots
statewide manual recount of the votes that the Florida
Even under the
to
Gore pursued
—
filing suit to force
dominantly Democratic counties lead,
the
Supreme
go forward.
strategy that Mr.
the Florida standoff
last
George W. Bush would have
Supreme Court had allowed
the United States
Court had ordered
from
at
the beginning of
hand recounts
in four pre-
—Mr. Bush would have kept
according to the ballot review conducted for
a
this
consortium of
news organizations.
In a separate study, the
Miami Herald and USA Today szxd
recount called for by the Florida Supreme Court's
cember
8
had been implemented
—
final
the opinion the
that if the
opinion of De-
Supreme Court
388
JAMtS
*
RAKIR,
A.
111
declared unconstitutional lead to
more than
— Bush-Cheney would have widened
1,600 votes from 537 votes.
I'm sometimes asked
if
I
think
I
tarnished
my
reputation by going
into the trenches of the Florida election dispute. This
gesting that
maybe Bob
"diminished
my
My
answer
political life
their
is
way of sug-
a
Strauss was right, that going to Florida had
aura as a statesman."
is
that Florida was a unique and historic event in the
of our nation, and I'm proud to have been able to play a
was tough on both
sides,
but defending the rule
of law and preserving a legitimate victory in
a presidential election
successful part in
it.
It
are important and satisfying tasks. Politics and public service are sides of the
same
you do
itics if
coin.
it
There
is
two
nothing disreputable about doing pol-
with dignity and play by the rules.
It is,
after
all,
through politics that our leaders achieve the right to practice public policy or statesmanship.
One
of the big lessons of Florida
the rules in place on election day.
A
is
corollary
those rules, you should try to change
We can
that candidates is
that if
must abide by you don't
them before the next
always do better next time. That's one reason
I
like
election.
agreed to serve
with former President Jimmy Carter in 2005 as cochair of a bipartisan
Commission on Federal Election Reform. More on
that in the next
chapter.
Election 2000 also generated a lot of talk about doing away with the Electoral College and electing our presidents by popular vote.
That
will
never happen, and
it
shouldn't.
The
Electoral College was
part of the grand bargain by which the Founders induced the states to give
up some of
States.
As part of that compromise, the small
their sovereignty
and become part of the United states
won
dispropor-
tionate influence in the U.S. Senate (each state, regardless of size, gets
two senators) and
in electing
our presidents. The Founders wanted
our presidents to have broad appeal among political majorities in a
handful of big
many
states.
Even
states, if
not one-sided
you disagree with
the theoretical and historical arguments, however, there
is
no practical
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF way
to get rid of the Electoral College.
POLITICS!"
That would require
*
389
a constitu-
by
a significant
number of
also learned a
few lessons
in humility, thanks to their
tional
amendment
which
ain't
ratified
the small states,
gonna happen.
The media
erroneous election-night
calls
on Florida. The
call for
Gore was made
before the polls had even closed in the Florida panhandle, which
strong Republican territory.
home
stayed
Most fair-minded people would agree
Bush-Cheney
that this hurt the
is
ticket.
Some
potential voters simply
heard the race in their state was over. Given
after they
the obvious importance of Florida in the Electoral College and the closeness of races in Iowa,
—
within one percent
it is
New Mexico,
Oregon, and Wisconsin
may have
influenced the results in those
The media
exercised
more caution and
dential election.
mount,
it's
fair to ask
Amendment
restraint in the
what we might do within the
to avoid adverse effects
ing of results in future elections.
One
2004 presi-
limits of the First
from early or erroneous report-
— have closed — probably
The most obvious answer
journalists to call the races until all the polls
unconstitutional.
states.
memories fade and competitive pressures
as
Still,
all
also reasonable to speculate that the early,
call
erroneous
—
to forbid
is
other possibility might be for the states to
arrange polling schedules so that voting would end everywhere at the
same
time. But even that
would not prevent early birds from
calling
the whole thing, based on exit polls, or prevent erroneous calls based
on erroneous
exit polls, as
may
down
just boil
brace
to
also
It's
fewer than
ter,
and
on their part to
let
need
to
keep
a
a
conundrum.
will recognize
It
and em-
our elections play out
with more than 105 million ballots decided by
thousand votes
think
we
it.
sense of perspective about Florida. Having
in
one
state
was
our election laws and voting systems. I
a real
the right thing to do, and they ought to do
a presidential election
flaws in
It's
without doing anything that would undermine the integrity
of the process.
We
in 2000.
hoping that journalists
a special obligation
naturally,
happened
will.
But
if
that ever
a rare
event that exposed
We can
certainly
happens again,
I
do bet-
suspect that
tM
S
•
BAKER.
Ill
no matter what reforms we have made, the losing side than
a
thousand votes
complain about.
to
\
s
:em
is
will find
more
or ever will be
perfect. Finally, the biggest lesson
Despite
all
the turmoil, as
I
of Florida was that the svstem worked.
told the foreign leaders, there
•nd no tanks in the streets. transfer of
power
We
for granted, but
faith in the rule
The Bush-Kerry close
of
ri-
Americans may take the peaceful
measured against the standards of
history, Florida testifies to the strength
and our
were no
of our constitutional democ-
law.
presidential race of 2004 was close, but not as
—thank heavens—
as 2000. Still,
when America went
election night, Senator Kerry had not conceded.
would win the presidency. There was
to
bed on
Whoever won Ohio
talk that the
Democrats might
protest the vote in that state, which the networks had called for Bush. I
was on the way to the dentist the next morning when
from Andy Card, President Bush's White House chief of stopped. "Please, Andy,"
I
thought, "don't ask
me
to
I
got a call
staff.
My heart
go to Cleveland."
SEVENTEEN
MR. PRESIDENT THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME I'VE DONE THIS"
"Mr. Secretary," non Jordan I've
to see if
asked
Andy Card, "would you mind
calling Ver-
he would encourage Senator Kerry to concede?"
known Andy since 1979 or
when he signed up
1980,
to help or-
ganize Massachusetts for George H. W. Bush's
first
presidential run.
He
still
in his early thir-
was
ties.
a
Republican state legislator back then,
Andy came
work, telling
it
to
like
Washington it is,
and
mid-1980s and through hard
in the
fierce loyalty,
Reagan and Bush 41 White House
staffs to
climbed the ranks in the
become
secretary of trans-
portation. In
November 2004 he was White House
dent George
W Bush, the same
gan and Bush.
I'd
and regarded him fective
worked with him as a friend.
and had President Bush's
had taken
my
I
once held for Presidents Rea-
a lot
He had
the office extended longer than
fifty
office
full
a
chief of staff for Presi-
over the years, admired him,
low-key
style,
confidence.
my own
but was very ef-
When
four-plus years,
I
his
tenure in
joked that he
place as the longest-serving chief of staff in the past
years, except for Eisenhower's
disgrace) and Nixon's H. R.
Sherman Adams (who resigned
Haldeman (who ended up
in prison).
in
192
•
|
AM
in
III
known Vernon Jordan
I've also
shaker
BAKER,
a
s
I
Washington with close
friendship with
Bill
our
try not to treat
won
nor Clinton
long time. He's
a
mover and
the Democratic Party, a deep
ties to
We both
Clinton, and a wonderful sense of humor. political adversaries as
enemies. Right after Gover-
the 1992 election, Vernon
came
He and
about the presidential transition.
talks
a
to
my
house to
start
are both past presi-
I
dents of Washington's Alfalfa Club, the only function of which
is
to
hold one dinner each year to poke fun at ourselves and our national leaders.
September 2004, Vernon and
In
negotiated the terms of the
I
Bush-Kerry and Cheney-Edwards debates. Both of us had experience at this,
and our
phone. Going
talks
in,
were amiable and
the biggest issue was
always, however, almost tention.
Would
be located?
all
how many
sit
or stand?
Would
debates to have. As
Where would
the podiums
there be warning and stop lights
keep the candidates within their time
tially didn't
tele-
would ask questions? Would the candidates be per-
mitted to address each other? to
done mostly by
other details of the event were also in con-
the candidates
Who
efficient,
limits? (Senator
want them. His fallback position was that the
Kerry
ini-
should
lights
not be visible to the television audience.) I
proposed the following to Vernon: "You're gung ho for three de-
bates,
and we would probably prefer two, since our candidate
dent and has
is
I'm absolutely convinced that
a lead in the polls.
we can
say we'll do only two and won't have to pay a political price. But to
know
if
presi-
I
want
your side would be willing to give us everything we want on
format, subject matter, duration, warning lights, and so on, if the pres-
ident were to agree to do three."
Vernon's
first
reply was, "Well,
I
don't know." But after
we had
feinted back and forth for several days, he said, "Yeah, we'd be willing to
do I
that."
proposed
this idea in a
meeting
in the
White House residence
with the president, Karl Rove, and Karen Hughes.
not eager to do three debates,
initially,
The
president was
and Karen favored
just two.
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF
POLITICS!"
)9
+
i
President Clinton had given Bob Dole only two, which would have
been good precedent three
we could
if
is
not the
member times when I was darn make up
He
time
done
I've
my candidate
glad
I
supported
I
said. "I re-
we wanted.
first
poor performance
for a
But Karl and
to more.
get everything else
"Mr. President, this
to
no
for saying
this,"
had another debate
in an earlier one."
we
listened, then agreed. "Okay, if
get everything
we want on
the other issues."
As
turned out, the third debate was President Bush's best perfor-
it
He
mance.
hit a
home
things will turn out.
After Vernon and the bar of
Our
pened
But you never know in advance how these 7
thought our bargain was
I
worked out well
tainly
tinis.
run.
this time,
I
had
tied
but
up
it
a
good one, and
could have bitten us in the
all
the loose ends,
we
repaired to
conversation drifted back to 2000.
in Florida,"
we
"It's
too bad what hap-
Then we
agreed, perhaps for different reasons. if
either candidate,
Bush or Kerry,
lost the
be appropriate for him to ask for recounts in one or two states than the recounts mandated by state law7 in the Electoral College?
I
—
pop-
Would
ular vote and also lost the electoral vote by a narrow margin?
ate,
tail.
New York's Waldorf-Astoria to seal the agreement with mar-
began to muse. What
come
cer-
it
it
—other
to try to reverse the out-
didn't think that
would be appropri-
nor did Vernon. At that point, of course, we were
just
two guys
nursing our drinks, not representatives of our candidates.
Which It
brings
me
my telephone
was Wednesday morning,
presidential election.
I
was on
November
my way
call 3,
from Andy Card.
2004, the day after the
to the dentist.
To
all
appear-
Bush-Cheney had defeated Kerry-Edwards by healthy margins
ances, in
back to
The networks had
called the
they were right this time. George
W wound
both the popular and electoral votes.
election for the
up with
GOP, and
50.6 percent of the popular vote (Kerry took 48.1 percent)
and
286 electoral votes to Kerry's 252.
On Wednesday cede.
1
le
had
morning, however, Senator kern had yet
his eves
on Ohio and
its
twenty electoral votes.
\\
to
con-
hen the
194
•
|
AMES
BAKER,
A
I
I
I
counting ended that morning, the president was leading there by about
36,000 votes.
1
The
uncounted provisional in
senator was said to be holding out hope that
ballots could give
him the
turn would give
him the Buckeye
Electoral College and the presidency.
Provisional ballots are those cast by voters
pear on the registration
estimated the
number
as
high as
1
error.
had been
verified
The
and
it
the public face of the
Wednesday morning. "We
exam-
for
top state election
official
would be November
tallied. If
to wait out that process before conceding,
Andy Card was
—
75,000 (which later turned out to be
about 20,000 too high). Under state law, fore these ballots
whose names do not ap-
the local polling stations
rolls at
because of an administrative
ple,
which
State,
13 be-
Senator Kerry wanted
we were
in for a long wait.
Bush-Cheney campaign on Bush has won
are convinced that President
reelection with at least 286 electoral votes," he told supporters, but
"President Bush decided to give Senator Kerry the respect of
time to reflect on the results of
Andy's
me
call to
his candidate to
to see if
I
more
this election."
would ask Vernon Jordan
concede was clear evidence that
encourage
to
in politics as in diplo-
macy, there are back channels. "Sure,"
down by
him
said, "I'll give
I
telephone.
When
I
a call. It
took a while to track Vernon
reached him, he was on the eleventh tee
Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters tournament. didn't say he
cion
would or would not
that he either
is
called President
Bush
weighed to
talk to
in or
concede
at
Senator Kerry, but
Ohio
—
almost
lost the
19,000.
suspi-
about
1
1:00 a.m. Eastern time.
right thing to do. Senator
popular election by almost three million votes and
after the provisional
1
He
was about to when the senator
That concession was absolutely the Kerry had
my
at
and overseas
ballots
There was no plausible way
for
were counted
him
to
—by
have reversed
the outcome.
George large part
it
W Bush won the 2004 election was
a
referendum on
terrorist attacks of
September
for a
number of
reasons. In
his leadership in the aftermath 11, 2001.
I
of the
also believe the debates
.
"WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF
POLITICS!
-
395
*
helped him, on balance. Another big reason was simply that our side
much
did a
better job of organizing and getting our voters to the polls.
Turnout was more than 122
up about
million,
16 percent from 2000,
and the sixty-two million votes cast for the president broke the prior record by about eleven million. certainly didn't see this coming.
I
On
When I
Houston
arrived back in
that afternoon,
results of several exit polls that didn't look
mentioned
my
later that day,
turned out to be.
left
The more
—
character and each of it.
fourth
name
to that
Early in his
things change
whom
list,
first
left
.
it's
convenient for him (and
We
indeed they
as
.
working
for three great
—each
in far better
a
more
man
a
shape than he
it
I
came
to
usually
White House.
I
discuss whatever
George
W
T .
Washington, and
is),
he asks that
I
Bush asked I
do.
When
drop by
for a
usually stay about thirty to fortyis
on
his
mind
—sometimes
foreign
or economic policy, sometimes politics, sometimes personnel.
me
to be candid
sensitive to critical
and frank, and
comment
is
I
am. This idea that he
despite what a lot of pundits
self,
not as a conduit from the president's father or anyone I
is
He
overly
not accurate, as far as I'm concerned.
And
what
of
limited role.
administration, President
him know each time
private visit at the
our nation
although in
to let
wants
I
pleasure of later years has been adding a
me
minutes.
was given the
for the president.
Ford, Reagan, and Bush 41
An unexpected
found
In-
and before long Dick Cheney was on
full-time public service in 1993 after
American presidents
five
good
I
me know the exit polls were wrong,
the telephone to let
I
Wash-
in
concerns to Margaret Tutwiler. She happened to talk
Lynne Cheney
to
was
I
Howard Hughes Medical
ington, D.C., for a board meeting of the stitute.
election day,
may
imagine,
I
always speak for
my-
else. Finally;
learn in confidence in those visits to the Oval Office stays in the
Oval Office.
On
a
couple of occasions
I
have been asked by the president, or by
196
the a
\
BAKt
IAMI-S A.
+
R.
Ill
on the president's behalf, whether
ice president
full-time position in the administration.
all-consuming these kinds of jobs case was the same:
my
know how demanding and
life
I
do not think
my
however, so
are,
am extremely honored by
"I
age and stage of
I
this
would consider
I
is
reply in each
the suggestion, but at
something
Discussing the details of these inquiries would break
should do."
I
my
rule about
respecting presidential confidences. addition to negotiating the ground rules for the debates in the
In
2004 election, request
—
a
I
have taken other special assignments
at
the president's
diplomatic mission to former Soviet Georgia,
win forgiveness of
Iraqi debt,
and service
as
a
mission to
cochair of the Carter-
Baker federal election reform commission. At the request of members of Congress and with the approval of the White House,
agreed to cochair
a bipartisan
study group to conduct
looking assessment of the situation in Iraq. In addition, dential delegations to the twenty-fifth anniversary
movement
the Solidarity
in
recently
I
forward-
a I
led presi-
commemoration of
Poland and events commemorating the
tenth anniversary of the assassination of Israel's prime minister, Yitzhak
Rabin.
Eduard Shevardnadze was foreign minister of the Soviet Union during most of my tenure as secretary of state. We worked side by side as the Berlin
Wall
fell,
Germany was
reunited, Eastern
Europe and
Central Asia were released from Soviet domination, and an international alliance
the
formed
to liberate
Cold War ended more
derly fashion than
honored place \\
hen
it
bounded by
it
Kuwait from
quickly,
more
Iraq.
Thanks
to
peacefully, and in a
otherwise might have. For
that,
Eduard,
more
or-
he will have an
in history.
was
all
over, he
went home
to
Russia, the Black Sea, Turkey,
His countrymen
called
him back there
Georgia
—
a
small countrv
Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
after their
experiment with
freedom dissolved into chaos and internal violence. The elegant and
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF soft-spoken
man known
to his
countrymen
POLITICS!"
397
*
"Grandfather" or the
as
"Silver Fox" had a reputation for honesty and hard work, and, serving as acting
chairman of the
stability.
Three years
Eduard
elected
later
he quickly restored
Georgia adopted
new
a
a
degree of
constitution and
president.
my
one of
In
state council,
last acts as
1992 to show support for
my
secretary of state, old friend.
A
I
flew to Georgia in
war was
civil
still
could hear gunfire from the government guesthouse where
which had been the home of Joseph
I
I
stayed,
KGB
infamous
Stalin's
raging.
chief,
Lavrenty Beria. Tens of thousands of Georgians rallied in Freedom Square, and
my
walkie-talkies
amid
all
diplomatic security agents nearly swallowed their
when Eduard and
I
went down
the burned-out buildings. Things were
to address the
crowd
more peaceful when
I
visited again as a private citizen in 1994.
The Shevardnadze economy showed
the
years in Georgia were mixed, at best. At times
signs of
life,
but Eduard had to fight hard to pre-
serve the territorial integrity of Georgia against tremendous pressure
from Russia and other neighboring countries. Eduard never succeeded in eradicating corruption
gun
as a Soviet
—
a fight that, in a twist
apparatchik in the 1960s, also without
In addition, an estimated 260,000 their
homes by violence
ethnic discord.
young
in outlying regions,
it
all,
Europe
much
success.
Georgians were driven out of
And thousands more, many
adults, fled to
Through
of history, he had be-
much
of
it
sparked by
of them well-educated
to find work.
Eduard was
steadfastly pro-Western,
United States reciprocated with economic
aid,
and the
diplomatic support,
and low-level military support. In 1997, he visited the United States (and the Baker Institute). "Georgia's future security,"
I
wrote
at
the
time, "is important to America's security" because Georgia occupied a strategic location
between the
Sea and international markets
No
vast oil
and gas resources of the Caspian
in the West.
wonder, then, that the United States cared what happened
Georgia's tumultuous parliamentary elections of
in
November 2003 and
J98
•
|
AM
is
BAKER,
A
III
the presidential election that
would come early the next
year. Liberal
reformers had substantial political support for taking Georgia direction, but they feared that irregularities that
past
my
visit
when
old friend to impress
elections be free and
appointed
On
efits.
To
upon him how important
it
was that the
the flight to Georgia in early July 2003 on one of the jets, I
to
I
was
envoy (SPE), without salary or ben-
worked out
a set
White
of election guidelines
"Scorecard for Georgian Elections"
it
me
lend authority to the undertaking,
as a special presidential
House's Air Force called
fair.
in
victory.
White House and State Department asked
the
new
had been evident
Georgian elections would deprive them of their
That's
in a
—with my
—we
traveling team,
Elizabeth Jones, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs,
Matt Bryza from the National Security Council and Julie
Fisher, the State
Department's desk officer for Georgia.
We
joined on the ground by the U.S. ambassador, Richard Miles.
we
other things,
were
Among
called for equal access to the media, independent
election observers, and most important, perhaps, the rejection of vio-
lence by It
all sides.
was not pleasant to
and we knew that
ness,
tell
an old friend
fair elections
how to run
his nation's busi-
would not necessarily go
As always, however, Eduard was gracious and did the
his way.
right thing.
"America has been providing Georgia with invaluable assistance since the very
first
day of
its
independence," he would say
fore [has] the moral right to give us friendly advice."
signed the guidelines, as did the opposition. As far as
government implemented the guidelines, except that
were out of
its
"and there-
later,
I
He
quickly
know, Eduard's
in those provinces
control.
That November,
exit polls
showed
that the opposition
had won,
but for several days the election commission refused to certify the results.
Tens of thousands of Georgians took
to be
known
as the
Rose Revolution. Just
as
to the streets in
he had done
at
what came the end of
the Cold War, Hduard refused to use force to preserve the old order.
He
held out
a
few days, then, facing the inevitable, he resigned.
"WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF Less than a year
been married
later,
he
lost his
fifty-three years.
is
writing his memoir.
my heart for this man
warm
him many
times, as a friend, that
spot in
and
life after politics
should not stay too long. Sadly,
am
I
+
199
beloved wife, Nanuli. They had
Today he
have a big
POLITICS!"
his family.
I
I
still
had told
was good and that he
afraid, that
what he
is
did.
But
he will be treated well by history for his refusal to support the use of force to keep the empire together
when he was
foreign minister of the
Soviet Union.
Less than two weeks
after the
Bush announced that
had accepted another assignment
presidential envoy, this
I
Shevardnadze resignation, President
one concerning
Iraq.
as special
"Secretary Baker will re-
port directly to
me
governments
the highest levels, with international organizations,
and with the
at
Condi
first
the
and reduction of
White House announced on December
5,
Iraq's
2003.
came from
administration contact about this mission
Rice, then the president's national security adviser, in October
2003 while
I
was
at
my Wyoming
U.S. -led military coalition first
work with the world's
will lead an effort to
Iraqis in seeking the restructuring
official debt,"
The
and
same
ranch. Earlier that
had invaded and occupied
Iraq.
year, the
A necessary
step in rebuilding the devastated country was to get rid of the bil-
lions of dollars
of
Iraq's
debt to other countries.
Saddam Hussein's government had borrowed from other governments the people of Iraq
—an estimated $120
would ever be able
tanks and missiles, billions
erning
elite.
more
After debt repayment, no
Much
Weimar Republic permanent
after
a
World War
instability in Iraq.
more
of
and luxuries
money would be
humanitarian relief or to rebuild schools, hospitals,
and other infrastructure. And
more money
billion or
to repay.
for palaces
far
it
—than
went
for
for the govleft
over for
utility systems,
financially crippled Iraq, like the I,
would almost certainly guarantee
One more
point:
from
a U.S.
every dollar of debt relief would potentially be one
perspective,
less dollar that
400
lAMl-s
*
BAKER.
\
I
I
I
the American taxpayer might have to be asked to pay toward reconstruction.
Mv
debt-relief mission covered only government-to-government
(or sovereign) debt, not the billions
more
that Iraq
owed
to private
companies or the reparations the Security Council had ordered Iraq to pay Kuwait after the reprise of
mv
first
Gulf War. The idea was
tin-cup tour in the
tal to capital soliciting
of 1990, when
fall
I
I
would do
a
went from capi-
I
pledges of financial support for
paign to liberate Kuwait. This time, however,
governments
that
a
military
cam-
would be asking
to write off their Iraqi debts.
Condi suggested "For this to work,"
that
I
operate through the Treasury Department.
replied, "I have to be seen as a representative of
I
my office, if
the president." That
meant
White House,
needed to report directly
that
I
to a cabinet officer,
that
and that
I
I
had one, had to be to
in the
W Bush, not
George
should meet with prime ministers and
other foreign heads of government, not with their finance ministers. All this was agreed to,
and
I
was again appointed
dential envoy. This time, however,
the
White House
before taxes.
I
also
as its
was actually put on the roster of
I
lowest-paid employee at one dollar per year,
had to take
With me standing by
as special presi-
in the
a
drug
Oval
test,
which, fortunately,
Office, the president then
I
passed.
telephoned
Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder, and other government leaders
and asked them
The
president and
act words, but in
to see
me. I
my main
also talked
about strategy.
I
don't recall the ex-
point was that this would be a delicate mission,
view of the opposition of many creditor nations
many, and Russia
—
in particular
was no reason to think they were
to
judgment," years,
allies,
in a
I
said.
however, we can't
mood
to
let that
do us any
we're going to rebuild Iraq. So
I
favors.
we were
treated
disappointment cloud our
"These alliances have meant
and now we're up against
France, Ger-
Operation Iraqi Freedom. There
"Regardless of our disappointment with the way
by longtime
—
a situation
a lot to us
through the
where we need them
want to be able to go
to
them and
if
say
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF that we're reaching out."
my
The
president agreed, and
POLITICS!"
I
later
*
used
101
this in
talking points with foreign leaders.
On Monday, December able to the to France,
15,
an Air Force 757 from the
White House picked me up
Germany,
Italy,
Great
Houston
in
Britain,
and Russia.
fleet avail-
for a four-day trip I
was delighted to
get one of the big birds, usually reserved for the vice president, the
secretary of state, or the secretary of defense.
communications, and most of
for staff,
Gary Edson, deputy nomic
affairs
deputy
the National Security Council,
me were
all
of
whom
press
spokesman from
offered superb support.
we are reaching
out
Our
countries have
and asking you
build their country. These debts can never be repaid.
ply accept that reality
and move
What the president seeks
tial reduction in settle this
your
on,
which will
is your
lift
had disagreements
to help the
Iraqi people re-
By forgiving them, we sima dark shadow from Iraq's
agreement to the principle of a substan-
We
country's debt in Iraq.
also seek your
commitment
thing
I
would not
do, however,
is
talk
My job
numbers. The details was to create
tum by winning commitments on very generous words level that
would
at
momen-
the political
translate into very large numbers at the technical level.
meetings with President Chirac and others went remarkablv
well. In a joint statement,
reductions in the debts
do the same. Great
France and
owed them by
Germany pledged
"substantial"
Iraq and urged other nations to
Britain and Italy, both coalition allies, also gave
their support. Russia agreed to consider the matter. Later that
Japan raised the bar by agreeing debts.
to
matter quickly, in 2004.
could be settled by finance ministries.
My
assistant sec-
strategy was simple. The president values our historic alliance and
about Iraq, but
One
the indispensable
Clay Lowery, deputy
McCormack,
grateful that you have received me.
future.
of
and deputy national security adviser; Larry Greenwood,
retary of the treasury; and Sean
is
facilities
assistant to the president for international eco-
assistant secretary of state;
Our
had excellent
sleep, that vital friend
all,
the successful diplomat. Traveling with
It
China refused
to
be pinned
month,
to forgive the "vast majority" of
down
its
publicly, but privately assured
402
+
me
of
AM
I
I
s
a "big,
BAKER,
\
I
I
I
On
big reduction."
a later trip to
the Middle East, Qatar
and the United Arab Emirates quickly signed on. Because of special circumstances, however, Kuwait (reparations) and Saudi Arabia (a dis-
come
pute over whether payments were loans or grants) did not terms, and last
ongoing.
I
I
heard negotiations with these two countries were
by
also talked to leaders of several other countries
to
still
tele-
phone.
By December 2004,
a
year after
we
started, the Paris
Club
—
a
con-
sortium of nineteen industrialized countries that have worked together since the 1950s to help over-indebted countries to an across-the-board reduction of a
was
a
been
new record told,
United
minimum of 80 percent, which
for that organization.
Some
was 67 percent.)
(The previous
States, for instance, forgave
single nation,
it
was certainly one of the
Abd al-Mahdi,
my
point of view,
from
called it
also
it
I
every dollar Iraq owed us
was not the largest debt-relief operation
Adil
high,
creditors wrote off even more.
billion. If this
ter,
—had agreed The
—
$4.1
in history for a
largest. Iraq's finance
minis-
"the second liberation of Iraq."
demonstrated
have
how much good
And
the de-
veloped nations can accomplish when they work together.
As
I
was
for service
putting this book to bed in early 2006, another opportunity
on Iraq came
study group on Iraq.
Our
my
way.
I
was asked to cochair
assignment: to
make
a
forward-looking as-
sessment of the situation there.
The group was formed
members of Congress, but
White House welcomed
the
to help with travel, access to
who
a bipartisan
at the it
urging of
and agreed
documents, and other assistance. (Anyone
has read this far knows
I
would not have taken
this
assignment
without White House approval.)
My who
cochair
chaired the
is
former congressman Lee Hamilton,
House Foreign
Woodrow Wilson
Affairs
Committee.
a
Democrat,
He now
heads the
International Center for Scholars, which will assist
with the project, along with the United States Institute of Peace, the
"WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF Baker
Institute, the
Center
for Strategic
POLITICS!"
403
*
and International Studies, and
the Center for the Study of the Presidency. I
is
My hope
don't have any illusions about the difficulty of the task.
that
we can develop
insights
and advice that
be helpful to the
will
administration and to Congress, and that will benefit our country.
me,
this
study group has
commission a set
in 1983.
much
the
same mission
That group worked out
To
as the Social Security
a bipartisan
consensus on
of commonsense policies that helped Congress and the adminis-
tration put aside considerations of political advantage
best for our country
my prayer, is
on
a
very
that the Iraq
difficult
and do what was
and contentious
My hope,
issue.
Study Group can do something
similar.
In the 2000 Florida presidential election recount dispute,
I
objected
strenuously to changing the rules in the middle of the game, not to the idea that election reforms might be needed. But those reforms should
come by
legislative action
between
elections,
I
believed, not by letting
courts rewrite the rules while the votes were being counted. In late 2004
form. tional
The
I
was challenged to put up or shut up on election re-
came from Ken Mehlman, head of
call
Committee. After the 2000
election, a
the Republican
Na-
commission headed by
former presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford had recommended
a
package of election-law changes, some of which were enacted by
Congress
in 2002.
commission
to
Now
new
President Carter wanted a
bipartisan
push for additional reforms, and unfortunately, Presi-
dent Ford no longer traveled.
This was not something
was eager to do, but
The commission would be
consider
it.
anything
official,
I
I
a private
told
me
told
I
would
undertaking, not
later,
it.
"Because," Karl
"President Carter will find a Republican
be willing to serve, and we want someone on our side rolled."
Ken
and we were winning elections, not losing them, so
wondered why the administration cared about
Rove
I
who
who won't
will
get
KM
|AMtS A
+
still
I
White
hadn't
BAKI
R.
made up my mind
louse dinner
I
Bush's sixtieth
Ill
January 2005 when
wedding anniversary. President Bush 43
being willing to do
attended
1
a
honor of George H. W. Bush and Barbara
in
when he pulled me
the issue for me, however, for
in
sort of settled
aside and said,
"Thanks
reform commission with
this federal election
President Carter." "You're welcome, Mr. President." I'm glad
I
Working
accepted.
turned out to be
a pleasure.
We
cochair with President Carter
as
have had our
ferences in the past, and I'm sure we'll have a
man
and
of integrity
fair elections
who
and policy
political
more
in the future,
dif-
but he's
deserves credit and respect for promoting free
around the world, personally and through
his
Carter
Center. In 1990, for instance, he worked with our Republican adminis-
Nicaragua that replaced
tration in connection with the elections in
Daniel Ortega with Violeta Chamorro, ending more than violent conflict in that Central Carter's moral authority, results
We
I
American
decade of
But for President
nation.
doubt that Ortega would have accepted the
and stepped down. held hearings
the Carter Center.
at
American University, the Baker
make
the-sky recommendations. That didn't happen.
September 2005, and
it
was
a
and
President Carter and
I
The
report
in the fairness
wrote, "and while
to address the
bunch of
a
pie-in-
came out
good one.*
"Americans are losing confidence
we need
Institute,
was concerned that the commission would turn
I
into a philosophical debating society, then
in
a
problems
Our
." .
we do not
.
goals
of elections,"
face a crisis today,
were
to
improve the
administration of our elections, enhance their integrity, and increase voter participation.
The commission had four,
*My
I
think,
assistant
Chronicle.
I
lis
eighty-seven recommendations.
were asking voters to present
on the project was John Williams, writing
skills,
the commission staff had
a
former
to
big
driver's licenses or other
political reporter tor the Houston
practical experience covering elections,
a lot
The
do with how well things turned
out.
and hard work with
WORK HARD STUDY
AND KEEP OUT
405
OF POLITICS'
photo IDs when they show up to vote, improving our system
for reg
tering voters, turning elections over to nonpartisan administrar
and requiring electronic voting machines to print paper records that can be audited.
The commission
do more
also asked states to
and to supply IDs without cost
ter potential voters
for
to regis-
people
who
lacked driver's licenses. States should take responsibility for the accuracy their voting
lists,
we
said
—
should be linked together through
would need
tive voter
do
local officials a
it
now
and integritv of
— and
all
state lists
national computer, so a prospec-
to register only
one time.
Other recommendations included four regional presidential maries:
request that the media wait until voting ends in
a
all
pri-
forty -
eight contiguous states before projecting the results anvwhere: and the
enfranchisement of ex-felons
who have done
their time, except regis-
tered sex offenders and those convicted of capital crimes. That last
one was something it
All in
be
its
spirit
all.
the
a positive
In:
would not have proposed myself, but
accepted
Commission on Federal Election Reform turned out
experience
—
practical in
and approach, successful
President George
5,
in its
W Bush
its
aspirations, bipartisan in
outcome.
also asked
me
dential delegation to the twenty-fifth anniversary
the Solidaritv
movement
old acquaintances to reflect -till
I
of the overall package.
as part
to
I
work
What
a
commemoration of
pleasure
it
was to renew
Lech Walesa, Bronislaw Geremek, Vaclav Havel
on how the
at
in Poland.
to lead the presi-
spirit
in peaceful
.
of Solidarity had transformed Poland and
democratic movements
like the
Rose Rev-
olution in Georgia, and to read to the assembled dignitaries President Bush's letter of greeting.
Later that vear.
I
also led the presidential delegation to the cere-
monies commemorating the tenth anniversary of the assassination of Israel's
prime minister. Yitzhak Rabin.
more emotional, because Yitzhak
—
If
anything, this event was even
architect of the
(
h
accords, ad-
K)6
JAMtS
*
RAKh
A.
R.
Ill
vocate of peace, Nobel laureate at his
Mount
grave on
Herzl
— was
also
in Jerusalem
my
friend.
The ceremony
reminded us
had done and, even more, what he might have done
if
all
of what he
he had not been
cut down. I
saw and
old days
visited with
—among them,
many
acquaintances and colleagues from the
Ariel Sharon,
jamin Netanyahu, and Eytan Bentsur.
Ehud Olmert, David I
Levy, Ben-
had dinner one evening with
Olmert, Condi Rice, and Sharon. "Tell the prime minister,"
Ehud, "that
this
is
the only time I've ever
announced the creation of
mark
to
a
new
come
settlement."
to Israel
Ehud
I
joked to
and he has not
translated
Prime Minister Sharon, who smiled and replied
my
re-
in English:
"That's because I've used that trick before."
The
irony, of course,
is
now become
a'
he would be disabled by
a
process, had
winged chariot
.
.
that Sharon,
who long
peacemaker himself.
resisted the peace
How
sad, then, that
severe stroke two months
later.
Time's
EIGHTEEN SINGLE BLUEBELL"
"A
It's a
tradition
in the
news business
to prepare obituaries for
prominent people before the event, and reporters interview stories ready ahead of time. That's lit
up
in early
Now
years.
Nancy
lost
calls.
I
why my office telephone
June 2004. Ronald Reagan had been
word had spread
that
hour, the
my memories list
had nothing
was
it
Ronnie and our nation
Journalists wanted
Hour by
also like to get their
lost
of the
its
man and
greatest presidents.
reaction to his death.
of press inquiries grew, but
to say
One
of
give past-tense interviews about
my
for almost ten
matter of time before
just a
one of
ill
I
didn't return the
rules, rarely violated,
anyone who
is still
alive.
is
not to
To me,
it
seems inappropriate.* President Reagan's illness had cut him off from his friends long before death took his body. For years, however, iting
Nancy most every time
I
was
in
*In the years before President Reagan's death,
the can, but onlv because
served the president
I
I
had made
a point
of vis-
Southern California. Seeing
her,
put one or two retrospective inter* lews
Nancy approved of mv doing
so.
along with others
in
who had
4
8
AM ES
|
even for
\k
Ill
few minutes, was
a
and
spect,
BAKER.
A
it
last
in
to
spirit.
came three days before
February 1994 gala
a
— probably
honor.
in his
just social chitchat
his
don't re-
I
—but he was
His political soul mate, Margaret Thatcher, spoke that
spirits.
and he always delighted
night,
of communicating love and re-
conversation with the president
what we talked about
great
my
always refreshed
eighty-third birthday at call
my way
her presence.
in
"It is
an honor and
a joy
be here with vou to celebrate the forty-fourth anniversary of your 1
thirty-ninth birthday,' she joked
A
bit
more than
eight
months
later.
President Reagan supplied
a
taped message for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Baker Institute.
excitement of the moment.
In the
to
failed to notice
I
what
now
is
me. His speeches usually soared, even for routine events.
daw however;
his
words fluttered
Exactly sixteen days
later,
on November
5.
1994. he
"When cluded.
could spare
the Lord calls
"I will
its
Saturday June
I
I
now
I
only wish there
that
may
be."
he con-
begin the journey that will lead
2004, Margaret Tutwiler telephoned to say
5.
He
took consolation
was ninety-three.
knowing
in
Nancy's, had ended, and that he was in
Now
he wrote,
life."
the president had passed away.
dened, but
"I
that
this painful experience."
me home, whenever
future.
my
into the sunset of
On
this
leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and
eternal optimism for
me
Nancy from
announced
feel just fine/
I
but he understood the burden his family would bear. I
On
to the earth, never quite taking wing.
he suffered from Alzheimer's. "At the moment,
was some way
evident
could
talk, so
I
went
to
my
I
was deeply sad-
that his suffering,
and
a better place.
office at the
Baker Institute and
gave interviews until nine or ten that night, then got up early the next
morning
for a
couple of Sunday
Each contact with
talk shows.
porters was coordinated through the White House, at I
repeated the Reagan story to
America's pride guile
.
.
.
.
.
.
all
made everybody
big-picture president
.
.
.
who
feel
its
cared to hear
good
.
.
.
re-
request.
"Restored
it.
completely without
stuck to his principles
.
.
.
changed
— AND KEEP OUT OF
-WORK HARD. STUDY the world."
And Nancy
"has handled these
POLITICS'
409
*
years with
final difficult
dignitv and grace."
a
mentioned
also
I
more
civil
that the
Washington of Ronald Reagan's time was
place than today. Political adversaries then were not
treated as personal enemies.
The
president could right
Tip O'Neill over public policy then that evening
Early
and share
a
sit
day with
all
down with him
over drinks
caught
Washington
laugh.
Wednesday June
9,
Susan and
I
with George and Barbara Bush on the \\ "hire fetch the forty-first president and his
first
ride to
a
House
airplane sent to
lady That afternoon. Presi-
dent Reagan's coffin arrived from California and was pulled slowly up Constitution Avenue to the U.S. Capitol on
lowed by
a
horse-drawn caisson,
a riderless horse.
Shortly after George. Barbara. Susan, and
we went by coffin
—
Rotunda
the Capitol
to
I
arrived in Washington,
pay our respects. The flag-draped
brightly spotlighted, framed bv a military
honor guard
alone in that vast space on the same catafalque
President Lincoln. In ident Dick "If
a
ceremony there
am
I
few hours
a
moment went unrecorded"
a cynical,
— and
the vision and will of Ronald Reagan that gave
shamed the oppressors, and ended an
evil
the steps of the Capitol afterward.
wept.
when Susan and
I
went
I
rested
Vice Pres-
gentle
man
or cruel, or selfish word, the
powerful figure
a
as a
—
used for
told
earlier.
Cheney had eulogized President Reagan
Ronald Reagan ever uttered
turmoil
fol-
in history
hope
"It
was
to the oppressed,
we walked down
empire." As
My
—
emotions were
to sleep that night in the
still
in
Lincoln Bed-
room, guests of the forty-third president. As thousands of mourners streamed through the Rotunda to pay their respects the next
Barbara on
a visit to
Nancy
am
sure, but the fact
her.
Nancy was
a
day Susan and
is
at Blair
that she
I
accompanied George 41 and
House.
We
said
her love and devotion were
a
the right thine-.
I
comforted us more than we comforted
source of strength for her Ronnie.
nied him to Washington one
all
last
time
— and
later
And
as she
accompa-
back to California
source of strength for us
all.
HO
*
\M
I
s
I
BAKER,
\
The agency Washington,
in
I
I
I
charge of state funerals
a unit
is
the Military District of
of the U.S. Army, which worked out the details
with the family well ahead of time.
Mike Deaver had coordinated
much of
the planning for Nancy. Everything was prearranged, tightly
scripted,
and beautifully done. The staging would have delighted the
former
actor,
drama,
this
ting his
On
I
He
think.
one about
marks one
was playing
a
leading role in a vast national
remembrance, and heroism, an old pro
love,
hit-
last time.
Friday, Susan
and
traveled in the president's motorcade from
I
the
White House
We
entered in a Secret Service "security package" after most others
including
was
a bit
all
to the National Cathedral for the
former presidents except 41
memorial
—had been
seated,
officiated.
The
Sermon on
upon
a hill
text of the
the
homily
for President
Mount, "'You are the
cannot be
ing city on a
hid,'" Jack said.
light
Reagan was based on
of the world.
A
city set
hill."
learned
ident for eight years,
I
anyone
in all
encountered
kindness [and]
I
eulogies. "As his vice pres-
more from Ronald Reagan than from
my years of public life,"
he
said. "I
learned
also learned courage."
Margaret Thatcher, present
for the funeral service but not well,
spoke by prerecorded tape. While "others hoped,
at best, for
an uneasy
won
the Cold
cohabitation with the Soviet Union," she said, "he
War
minister,
"For him, America was the shin-
George H. W. Bush delivered one of the
I
which
embarrassing.
Former senator Jack Danforth, an ordained Episcopalian
the
service.
— not only without
firing a shot,
but also by inviting enemies out
of their fortress and turning them into friends."
As the former
British
prime minister's
distinctive voice filled the
cathedral, she sat quietly, head bowed. In the chair immediately to her right was
one of the friends she had
in
vited (like her) as a special guest of the
"For the
last
ness," she said.
years of his
life,
mind, Mikhail Gorbachev,
Reagan
Ronnie's
"That cloud has now
lifted.
family.
mind was clouded by
He
is
in-
himself again
ill-
—more
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF POLITK himself than
any time on
at
former president
—
we may be
deep
love and affection, and
in the
sure that the Big
who remember Him."
Fella Upstairs never forgets those
The outpouring of
For
this earth.
411
*
S!'
respect, for this
ceremonies and on the street
—was
over-
whelming. His supporters had always loved him, but now everyone, cluding some of his old detractors, had those of us tegrity,
and
come
who worked with him knew about his
performance
now
many
admitted the obvious
credit,
world for the I've
had
—
that he
a lot to say,
power of the medium
and public
owe my career
life,
but an event
to unite
I
in politics
also
campaign chairman
How
eight years?
me
was
owe
I
for
two
fortunate
life
president and
a great
it
my friend George
to President Reagan.
political rivals as
enough
Who
else
own judgment,
would
to hire the
White House chief of
to serve this
wonderful
I
and
I
tried every
man
for
want
day to be worthy
loved him dearly. I
told
Nancy
at Blair
House
After everyone else had said their goodbyes,
for
to tell
you one more time,"
I
said,
the day be-
lingered a
I
"how
bit.
appreciative
I
having had the opportunity to serve the president."
"We're very grateful," she replied, did for us." I
of
and public service to
into his administration,
That's one of the things
I
one demon-
My life was forever changed by his one generous decision
of that honor.
am
like this
our country around shared
have had the confidence, the comfort in his
"Nancy,
to their
his passing.
H. W. Bush, but
fore.
And
had changed the nation and the
experiences, this time in celebrating the
mourning
as a person.
his
pro and con, about the impact of television on
strates the
to invite
had abhorred
better.
politics
staff?
whom
and commentators,
journalists
American
I
his character, his in-
could never bring themselves to dislike him
that he was gone,
something that
as president.
Even members of the media, many of policies,
to realize
in-
left
the
room
in tears.
my
hands
in hers, "for
what vou
412
*
JAMES
A.
BAKER.
After the memorial
I
I
service,
I
my
waited for
ride in a
group
at the
side entrance of National Cathedral, along with President Carter and
Rosalynn, President and Senator Clinton, Senator Kerry, and others. think
George and Barbara were
there, too.
I
I
was talking with Rosalynn
when someone grabbed me from behind, turned me around, and gave
me
a big
hug and
kiss.
My
osculatory partner was none other than
Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.
She and her
first
husband, Senator John Heinz, were friends
of Susan's and mine before his death in
1991 air crash. This was the
time we had seen her in years, and she was
first
though he didn't
know
me
a
as vibrant as ever. Al-
me, John Kerry was also very
kiss
the incident had been caught on camera until
about
friendly.
I
didn't
my friends kidded
it later.
After the ceremony, George, Barbara, Susan, and
Houston. Forty-one was turning eighty, and
him was scheduled
for Saturday night in
a
I
rushed back to
long-planned party for
Minute Maid
Park.
The
next
he went skydiving over the Bush Library in College Station,
day,
Texas
own
—
a stunt that
made me wonder whether he was aching
for his
funeral!
A friend
later told
me
he was fascinated by the aftermath of Presi-
dent Reagan's funeral. Cameras followed some dignitaries
as
they
left
the cathedral, and he was struck by the sight of former national lead-
and world leaders setting off down the sidewalk by themselves,
ers
without fanfare, destined in
all
likelihood to fade into the crowd.
When I was President Reagan's chief of staff back in the early eighties, I saw my counterpart from a former adI
was not surprised by
ministration walking
this.
down Pennsylvania Avenue. Once he had been
the center of American public self
— no reporters, no
security,
life.
at
This day, however, he was by him-
—
no trappings of power
just a solitary
"WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF man, unnoticed, alone with
me
served to remind
his thoughts.
—my
after,
413
*
that mental picture
of the impermanence of power and place.
Three things helped me
my
family,
spotlight
Ever
POLITICS!
grounded during
stay
and
friends,
my
faith. I've
my
years in the
my
talked about
family throughout the book, and will return to that subject. But for
my
friends,
of course
—and
George H. W. Bush, but
in particular
also
Gerald Ford, Rog Morton, Dick Cheney, Stu Spencer, Mike Deaver,
—most of
and Bob Teeter
this
book would have been blank pages.
have only alluded, however, to the role of about I
and
I
want
had been
churchgoer and
a
first
time
I
one
transcript for this
Many believe at least,
is
faith
is
a regular participant in
spoke openly about
tional Prayer Breakfast in 1990.
Of
all
small-group
the speeches I've ever given, the
the most requested.
more
difficult for
those in public
life.
For me,
the exact opposite was true. Living in the centrifuge of poli-
tainly exciting and, in
many
"Power tends
power corrupts
Lord Acton
I've felt the
absolutely,"
temptation myself, and
In addition, temporal
power
January 1993 and became
life
was cer-
ways, satisfying. But power can also be
intoxicating and addictive.
I
more
my faith was at the Na-
encouraged, even demanded, spiritual growth. That
staff
to say
this.
worship, but the
tics
faith,
I
is
it's
to corrupt,
and
said,
I
and absolute
think that's true.
unsettling.
fleeting.
a private citizen.
cleaned out
I
my
desk in
Like the lonely chief of
had spotted on Pennsylvania Avenue so many years before,
all
my titles now had "former" in front of them. As my public prominence diminished,
I
also discovered that
I
could stand on busy street corners
and walk through airports without being recognized. This was ing in a way, but also
Power has
its
—
truth be told
satisfactions,
among them.
It is
God, not by our actions here on
tionship with
And
have to work
disquieting.
but inner security and the deepest kind
of personal fulfillment are not
meaning.
—
for
at
it.
me,
liberat-
at least, a life
of
faith
only through
earth, that
life
does nor conic
a rela-
has real easily.
I
4 14
*
(AMIS
One
BAKER,
A
III
blessing of faith
events of your
When
life.
you can see God's handiwork
that
is
was secretary of
I
the
in
state, for instance, a great
revolution swept Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. As the Berlin Wall
were toppled, the Soviet Union collapsed,
dictators
fell,
and communism was consigned to President Reagan's "ash heap of history,"
beliefs
role of
of
it
was hard not to see the profound influence of the religious
of those
who were
human agency
this revolution, I'll
but
never forget
freed from tyranny.
I
do not discount the
or the powerful economic and political causes I
believe
it
also
my September
had
a spiritual source.
Wyoming
1989 meetings in
former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze.
He and ended I
our very productive round of negotiations with an exchange of gave him cowboy boots.
He
gave
ing the people. "You see, even
me an enamel
we communists
with
gifts. I
picture of Jesus teach-
are changing our world-
view," he said.
He
was
right.
Communism had
and treated individuals
as servants
lution that swept Eastern
with
it
a
resurgence of
God
denied the very existence of of the
state,
but the political revo-
Europe and the former Soviet Union brought Individuals were affirmed as children of
faith.
God, each equally worthy of
respect, free to choose,
and responsible
for their choices.
Vaclav Havel, then president of Czechoslovakia, said democratic revolution was sion, humility,
a
moral event, restoring the
his country's
faith,
compas-
and forgiveness that communism had opposed.
It
was
no accident that the churches of Eastern Europe played such an important part in these political changes. Despite decades of oppression, the people of
God
maintained their integrity
and guardians of the dignity of individual
There was
a lesson for the
Walesa, the hero of
away from said,
"we
a free
of the faith
men and women.
United States
in these events.
Lech
Poland, once said, "Americans were drifting
spiritual values as they
will
as custodians
become
richer."
"Sooner or
later,"
he
have to go back to our fundamental values, back to God,
the truth, the truth which
is
God." This
is
a useful
reminder,
I
believe.
"WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF that the great political
POLITICS!
experiment of the United States was, and con-
Kennedy
tinues to be, a great spiritual experiment as well. President
had
mind,
this in
think,
I
when he
these words: "here on earth God's
My but
instinct I
as a
closed his inaugural address with
work must
young man was
to go
truly be our own."
alone.
it
I
hard enough,
if
I
you could do
meant never admitting you needed dured
The
truth, however,
is
that
other. Friends are especially I've written
about
me
there with
at
as
we
do
can't
you worked
pain,
it
you en-
need each distress.
Stuart, to cancer
My friends helped save my life. There
when
They were to help
our
And there to stand with
Su-
last days.
scared, confused.
we put two
We
alone.
important in times of personal
her bedside during the
—heartbroken,
me
san and
you were
yourself. Self-reliance
you suffered
how I lost my first wife, Mary
she was only thirty-eight.
four boys
help. If
if
friends,
you had problems, you solved them.
If
it.
it all
If
life.
you prepared carefully enough, and
believed,
my
loved
was slow to accept their help in getting through
strong enough,
415
*
families together at a very difficult time in
the lives of our seven children.
My public career was a monument to the friendships the way.
people
I
also
with me.
in this
together. That's
book, and
In the end, however,
they can do for
company we
formed
team, and their judgment,
a
us.
I
why
I
much of what
have mentioned so
wish there was room to mention
we do not choose our
They
are the people
we
many of
many
others.
friends because of
love and trust, and
what
whose
enjoy.
My other anchor Means
We
hard work, and loyalty were responsible for
we accomplished them
made along
developed close relationships with many of the young
who worked
creativity,
I
Baker, taught
has always been
me
my
family.
My
mother, Bonner
—by precept and example— many of
the
\
al-
*
4 11)
|
AMES
why
my
dedicated
I
Ill
guided me.
that have
lies
BAKER.
A
always treasure her memory. That's
will
I
book, in part, "to
first
whose love and support gave me wings
The
my
whose belief
God,
in
same name
as
to
do well
me
remarkable
a
means
it
such accomplished men. From childhood, I
w as r
also given the love
Without
in life.
this legacy,
I
I
to carry
was sim-
and support to allow
doubt that
I
would have
ever had the education, the experiences, or the confidence life
grand-
of James Addison Bakers
hard to explain what
It's
my
great-grandfather,
and hard work gave
integrity,
ply expected to succeed.
me
wonderful mother,
fly."
father, the three generations
heritage that inspired me."
the
"my
other dedication went to
and
father,
to
my
my
public
demanded. I'm not sure
I
did as well for
grandfather did for me.
young
I
worked hard
child-rearing to
in
Mary
I
my own
loved them
my
children as
r
big-firm law practice and
Stuart.
father and
when they w ere
dearly, but
all
my
left
We were a happy family, but
most of the I
wish
I
had
spent more time with the boys.
One their
my
of the biggest mistakes in
mother
was.
my
life
was not telling them how
Another was surprising them three years
marriage to Susan.
My
for all of
them
—
later with
knew one another
four and Susan's three
beforehand, so that helped with the blending, but
ill
it
was
a
rough time
losing one parent through death or divorce, dealing
with the disloyalty (from
a
of the remaining
child's perspective)
parent's remarriage, then sharing that parent's attention with other
children.
The to be a
family
burden
name
for
that was such an asset to
my children. They w ere the
tinguished family, with a father whose papers.
It
proved
generation of a dis-
name was
often in the news-
was natural for them to wonder,
would ever be good enough. "Why
me sometimes
fifth
r
can't
I
suspect,
we
just
be
whether their best a
normal family?"
one child wondered aloud.
Some their teen
in
our family struggled with alcohol and drug abuse during
and early adult years.
We
had the resources, thank God,
to
I
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT OF we
help them find the treatment they needed, and
how
-
POLITICS!
are very
417
*
proud of
they have put their problems behind them.
who
was Susan
It
ran the car pools to four different schools and
countless after-school activities, bought the groceries, kept the chart in the kitchen to determine which teenager got the station
which it
wagon on
and explained why Daddy wasn't home. The way
night,
was time to get up
many mornings was when I heard
knew
I
the whack, whack
of her knees hitting the floor to pray for our family.
The
joy of
my
life is
that those prayers
were answered.
When
family gathered for Thanksgiving about eight or ten years ago,
everyone to say in one sentence what they were thankful
I
want to say
and proud
I
to
am
our children
—
for the
to be their father
In mid -May of 2002,
1
world to hear
They were descendants of Mary Jane
a large family that
into a small
with axes and
can
still
has
its
w eed
trimmers, and there
saw the gravestone of our
it
I
—amid
common
And
it
I
We
a lot
of fresh work
thirteen small
mv
Ameri-
—
visit
great-great-grandfather, Elijah it,
and
my
cousins had
forest.
told this story in a
commencement speech
University of North Alabama in Florence. history,"
first
and produced
to decorate the site for
from the encroaching
Later that day,
had never met
a James Carroll
Baker, 1792-1845. Hunters had recently found
reclaimed
I
Baker, a sister of the
opening that showed evidence of
r
—how thankful
roots around Florence, Alabama.
pushed into the ground
flags
"I'm
found myself tromping through the woods of
James Addison Baker, who had married
came
for.
and stepfather.
northwestern Alabama with a group of distant cousins before.
asked
I
my sons said, "that my parents didn't give up on me."
one of
thankful,"
our
told the graduates. "It shapes us.
It
"We
are
all
at the
embedded
in
defines our opportunities.
challenges us."
The
first
James Addison Baker and four brothers
left
Alabama
the early 1850s and planted themselves in Huntsville, Texas.
in
James
4 18
+
|
Baker's
A
M
I
first
A
S
III
soon met and married Rowena Crawford, the principal
of the Huntsv ancestors
RAKER,
wife had died early, and he was probably looking for a
He
fresh start.
.
ille
wound up
in
Texas.
an interesting story, one
It's
how my Baker
(Texas) Female Academy, and that's
I
have heard repeated
all
my
My
life.
family scrapbooks contain old handwritten genealogies that trace our
some branches even
history back to Elijah Baker (and trace back), but I've never really I
been much of
take from family history
The
past lives in us and
we
of Diplomacy,
Politics
and
toil
I
What
did not invent ourselves. as a nation, the benefi-
and
on these same values
sponsibility, in turn, to pass
In The
we
are, individually
of untold generations of love and
ciaries
genealogy buff myself.
a
the idea that
is
further
sacrifice. It is
our
re-
to future generations.
wrote that President George H. W. Bush
characterized our friendship "as a big brother-little brother relationship." "I think that's a fairly accurate description,"
"and one that Well,
my
this
I
said in the book,
consider quite a compliment."
according to genealogist William
George and makes
I
I
Addams
Reitwiesner,
are not brothers; we're long-lost cousins. Reitwiesner
claim on a
Web
staff ran across while
site
—"Ancestry of George W Bush"—
doing research for
this
book.
The
that
site traces
the Bush family history to colonial America and beyond. At the end
of his genealogical database, Reitwiesner reports that two of George's
remote ancestors are lived in
also
mine
—Richard Cocke and Mary
Henrico County, Virginia,
in the 1600s.
One
Aston.
They
son (Richard, Jr.)
was George's ancient grandpa, and another (William) was mine. I've
no way
always been suspicious of far-out claims of kinship and there's for
me
to say that the
to judge the accuracy of Reitwiesner's work, other than
bottom of
his
twelve-generation chart of
consistent with Baker family records. sources, and he said
My
staff
asked him about his
two of Captain James A. Baker's
aunts) had joined the Daughters of the
my ancestry is
sisters
(my
great-
American Revolution, "and
"WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT
OF POLITICS!"
419
*
their lines take Mr. Baker back to pre-revolutionary Caroline County, Virginia.
From
tion to the
there," he said,
then, that
can say
is
fect story that
Maybe
I'll
drop
rained on
It
I
a distant cousin
led
plan to believe
Jefe
and
me
my
close friend,
is
2004 that
I
first
Sam Houston,
served as
such
a per-
ain't so.
it
its
in Huntsville,
James Addison the general
who
—
after
president, then
first
Com-
and governor. The Texas Historical
as U.S. senator
my
was supposed to
Oakwood Cemetery
mission had authorized a marker for I
in
great-grandfather, the
won Texas independence,
—
my
someone proves
until
it
buried, along with his friend
annexation
of
into politics and public service?
November day
the cold
Texas. That's where is
the connec-
saying cousin*
start
give an outdoor speech in the
Baker,
make
easy to
Bush-Baker family connection
that the I
am
man who
tennis partner, the I
trivially
Cockes and Astons that the Bushes descend from."
Is it true,
All
"it's
my great-grandfather's grave,
was invited to attend the ceremony to
install the
and
marker and say
a
few words. Susan and
under
a
I
got out of our car and started walking to the cemetery
dripping umbrella,
tractive gentleman,
when we were stopped by
who approached from
a very
tall, at-
the other direction.
I
had
never seen him before.
"How do you
do, sir?"
he
said,
extending his hand.
"My name
is
James Baker."
*I
am
less
confident
in,
but intrigued
by,
the possibility that
with
Thomas Jefferson.
not
genealogist) noticed that one branch of
to
a
In
my
Richard Bland and Elizabeth Randolph. This
least claimed, for
many
years.
My
son's maternal grandparents. If first
it's
common
also share
my
ancestry
researcher (who
is
ancestral family, the Blands, traced back is
researcher said
something it
my
family has known, or
appeared plausible
beth Randolph was the daughter of William Randolph and
cousin of the
I
reviewing the Bush-Baker connection,
to
him
at
that Eliza-
Mary Isham, Thomas Jeffer-
true, the sixtv-tirst secretarv of state
would be
a
distant
one
1
42
|AMES
*
RAKER.
A.
Ill
"That's interesting,"
playing along.
said,
I
"My name
is
James
Baker, too."
know," he replied.
"I
"I
have followed your career for
long time.
a
I'm your cousin."
name was James
His
most of brother,
his life in
Los Angeles.
Wendell Baker, who
still
wasn't sure whether to take
I
uine
in their assertion
my
introduced
Though born
He
nearby, he had lived
them
to his
my
remarks
children and other relatives if I
seemed gen-
seriously, but they a
few minutes
who were
later,
I
present at the
myself were serious,
I
introduced
"just-discovered cousins."
—handsome
James Otis and Wendell Baker
men
—smiled
as the
crowd turned
African-American
to identify them.
woman warned me to be careful. "That Wendell
Afterward, a is
me
quickly introduced
lived in Huntsville.
of kinship. In
Then, not quite knowing
event.
my
Otis Baker.
Baker
an agitator," she whispered.
"What are It
these called?"
was Sunday, July
3,
2005, and
southwest of Huntsville with
just
I
was driving through the woods
my newfound
cousins,
and Wendell, eighty-two. Out the window,
eighty-six,
James
Otis,
spotted a
I
beautiful flower.
"They're called bluebells," Wendell
"May
I
said.
pick one?"
"Pick as
many
as
you want."
Jesse Baker was James's and Wendell's father, and their family
owned Road"
the sandy-soiled acreage and the old
— where
cousin.
Andy had had
woman named Emma third cousins.
place
—
off "Baker
Jesse and his wife, Fannie Willis, had farmed and
reared their children. Jesse's father was first
home
still
Andy
a relationship
Curtis,
Baker,
my
grandfather's
with an African-American
which made James and Wendell
my
"WORK HARD. STUDY... AND KEEP OUT They had ing
me
told
about
November when
"Andy" was
They
first
I
nickname
a
also invited
descendants.
I
me
I
421
*
that rainy day the preced-
met them, but they mistakenly thought
Robert Baker,
my grandfather.
brother of
a
to attend the biennial reunion of Jesse Baker's
accepted, and that's
woods with them on Susan and
for
Andy and Jesse
OF POLITICS!
how I came to be
riding through the
hot Sunday afternoon in July, eight months
a
had arrived
Wendell's
at
home about
an hour
later.
earlier,
along with two of our sons, John and Mike, and Mike's daughter Mary.
my Houston
(Some of
Baker cousins showed up
later.) It
was
a lovely
The
brick residence on a large green lot shaded by towering pines. living
room
portraits,
walls
were covered with scores of family pictures
wedding pictures, graduation shots
ingjesse Baker in a
graphs of I
my
suit, tie,
grandfather
and
hat. It
—including one of
to
a smil-
was similar in style to the photo-
when he was young.
had had the family connection researched, and
had learned
—formal
explained what
I
I
James Otis and Wendell. "Your great-grandfather was
Gabriel Baker,"
I
told them. "Judge James
were sons of Elijah Baker, whose grave graduation ceremony
at
I
Addison Baker and Gabriel
saw when
the University of North
I
went
Alabama
to speak at a in 2002.
My
great-great-grandfather, Elijah, was also your great-great-grandfather."
Gabriel had a son year before the Civil
twenty-three
War
I
said.
He
was born
in 1864,
one
ended, and he would have been about
when Jesse was born
by Dr. Bernadette University,
named Andy,
in 1887.
According
Pruitt, a history professor at
Andy acknowledged
his son,
to research
Sam Houston
wanted him
to
done State
have the Baker
name, and (by one account, which Wendell disputes) helped provide for Jesse until adulthood.
(I
have no way of knowing
the question of support, but
When
I
hope Andy did
who
is
right about
that.)
he grew up, Jesse farmed cotton and vegetables with mule-
and cut pulpwood and timber,
drawn plows, bought and sold
land,
James Otis and Wendell
"Everybody worked
told me.
summer. He'd buy the land
just to get the trees off
of money, the bank wouldn't bounce
ir.
for
my dad
And
if
in
the
he ran out
his check."
^^Mh
422
JAMES
*
BAKt
A.
R.
ill
Jesse had eleven sons and daughters, they told me.
who married
bert,
knew
ally
She worked
her.
husband
lived with her
"We laughed about
woman named
for
Mackie. As
a boy,
in a
I
know who
she was," Wendell
it."
have known about Jesse because Andy
who was
know whether Mackie's employment was merely
don't
One
thing's for sure,
however: no one ever told
my generation of Houston cousins
anything about
this
me
a
his
co-
Andy
incidence or happened because she was married to a grandson of Baker.
actu-
house behind the Captain's
buried in the same cemetery plot with Captain Baker,
cousin.
I
grandfather, Captain Baker, and
Bakers "didn't
My grandfather might well is
my
Houston
in
The Houston
residence. said.
a beautiful
One was Her-
or others of
other branch of
our family.
At the reunion, had changed since 1
I
my grandfather's day,
890s, Captain Baker
what
tablish
is
couldn't help thinking about
and
how much
for the better. In the early
and other Houston leaders wrote
now Rice
things
a charter to es-
University as a first-class institute for the
"white inhabitants of Houston and Texas." That kind of overt discrimination seems foreign to us now; but evidently what the founder, William
went
trustees
to court in 1963
it
was standard back then and
Marsh
Rice, dictated. University
and got the
racial restrictions elimi-
nated.
Wendell and Jesse told
me
with pride about their accomplished
family and in-laws. Teacher. Lawyer. Judge. Social worker. Entrepreneur.
Health inspector. First African-American deputy sheriff
Harris County. Mathematician. Jazz prodigy.
Vice president
at
Disney-ABC
Network budget
officer.
Television Group. Marriage to a son
of James Lawson, the intellectual architect of the nonviolent rights
movement. (Lawson
and he
is
Wendell As
the one
who
"is
the
added cheerfully
—
taught Dr. King the power of nonviolence,"
being an agitator
that
civil
guy who got Mandela out of prison
said.)
tor Wendell's
in
—"and
stemmed from
a
troublemaker, too," he
civil rights
work, including the
"WORK HARD, STUDY ...AND KEEP OUT registration of black voters
and the peaceful
throughout East Texas
racial integration
Wendell explained
of
take
in the early
Sam Houston
We're taxpayers. We're
a
said,
I
*
423
1960s
State University. 'I
have
'We've been good
citi-
his motivation this way: "I said to myself,
served in the army to defend America.' zens.
OF POLITICS!
productive family. Hell, I'm not going to
it.'"
One
of his most fascinating stories was
movement
in 1961 to
how he helped
lead a
throw African- American support to Republican
Anglo Democrats had
senatorial candidate John Tower. Conservative
locked African Americans and Mexican Americans out of the party,
according to Wendell, and anointed a candidate he and other minority leaders regarded as a racist.
We put John Tower in there," he said. And afterward, "calling Tower was just like calling my brother. He'd pick up the phone and say, 'What do you want?' We got blacks appointed to "Boy,
all
sorts I
we wiped 'em
of
told
out.
offices."
Wendell and James Otis about having the support of several
African- American leaders, including Barbara Jordan and Mickey Iceland,
when
vative
I
ran for attorney general as a Republican against a conser-
Democrat
in 1978. "Barbara Jordan,"
Wendell
said wistfully.
"She understood."
Wendell then passed around What One
Man
appendix
"Make changes, but use
at the
end
the system to do
his book, If
a fascinating
with his aphorisms.
filled
it."
It's
Not Me, Who?
"Compromise, but never
get nothing." "Results count; excuses don't!"
In telling these political yarns,
likelihood that sides of
copy of
Accomplished in His Battle for Equality.
read, including an
when you
a
we had
Wendell and
I
were not ignoring the
spent most of our political careers on different
many important
issues.
We were just doing what we should have
done, which was to start our relationship on the basis of what
common,
not what
we might
in
disagree about. At our ages, we'll probably
never get around to the other stuff anyway, and
whether we do.
we had
it
doesn't
much matter
We did our part. The rest belongs to younger generations.
1
24
•
|
AMES
James Otis
sat quietly
while his younger brother told political sto-
On
You straightened out
way
the
now
read
it
married,
I
inscription off
home of one
dear while
was wonderful.
itself
talk to
Baker's gravestone.
I
best will bless
life shall last."
He
never
he displayed an old disk harrow, I
mile or so away
a
at
hill
from the main road. Out
symbol of
a
front,
his family's heritage.
barbeque was sizzling on big cookers, kids were
arrived,
running everywhere, and probably 150
and studying
was held
It
of Wendell's sons, Bruce, in and around a beautiful
hardwood-shaded home down the
a large
relatives
were swapping
board that displayed their family
me
Otis and Wendell introduced last living
and
told them. Jesse was his only child.
The reunion
When
Andy
"They who knew him
memory
his
to go
had stopped by the family cemetery
I
to his grandchildren.
name and keep
the
know how
"I'll
things."
to the reunion,
Houston and copied the
his
should have run for president.
I
you, you did a good job," he said. "You
people.
in
III
interjecting only once that
ries, tell
BAKER,
\
to their sister, Leola.
history.
stories
James
They were
the
branch of
my
children of Jesse Baker.
The day brought a swirl of emotions. A year ago, family was
unknown
to
me.
with open arms and sweet
Now
Susan and
spirits. I
I
this
were being accepted
was profoundly moved by
this ex-
perience and pleased to have had the opportunity to learn about them
and to reminisce with them about our mutual great-great-grandfather.
James Otis quietly shared memories of Baker relatives came fit
by,
into the family, and
Jokes were
told.
one by one,
welcome
Children ran
us.
his
beloved wife with Susan.
to shake hands, explain
We
how
they
posed for group photographs.
past, kicking
up dust and wondering who
these old people were. In these ways, two families acknowledged and
embraced each
other,
Reverend Chris
becoming one
Bell, a
family, quietly
and happily.
great-grandchild of Jesse Baker, blessed the
meal. "Holy Father," he said, "thank you for another opportunity for
fun and fellowship, and for way.
.
.
.
Bless this food, Father
all
those
God,
who have come such
that
our bodies. In the name of Jesus, Amen."
it
would be
a
a
long
nourishment to
"WORK HARD, STUDY... AND KEEP OUT Our
hosts
pushed us
to the
head of the
stacked our plates with brisket, sausage, toes, onions,
enjoy our
line,
*
425
and Susan and
I
potato salad, beans, toma-
and sliced bread. Then we went inside Bruce's home to
feast. In
gle bluebell.
ribs,
OF POLITICS!"
her lovely strawberry blond
hair,
Susan wore
a sin-
APPENDIX "Item
When
One on Our Agenda Was
resigned from Treasury
I
in 1988,
the Dollar"
mv
dent said three of his second-term economic
letter to the presiu
initiatives
will
be
widelv judged to have lasting significance." One, of course, was tax re-
new system of
form. Another was a
ordination
we
set in
motion.
And
between Canada and the United
States. I've
Xow
two items on that
international
list,
want
the trade agreement with Canada.
day
to say a
described the tax reform
few words about the other
economic policy coordination and I'll
also discuss Black
October 198" when the stock market
in
economic policy co-
the third was a free-trade agreement
battle in chapter ten.
I
multilateral
write about these issues because today
we
fell
face
Monday,
508 points.
many
I
that
want
to
of the same chal-
lenges to U.S. and world prosperity that confronted us in 1985-1988.
Our answers for
to those
problems then.
I
think, hold important lessons
what might be done today.
The nation,
first is
a
of these subjects, international economic policy coordi-
good-government catchphrase
some
people's eyes to glaze over
stand
its
importance caused
U.S.
It
that,
shouldn't.
unfortunately causes
The
failure to
under-
policymakers to pull up the draw-
APPFNDIX bridges after
World War
We
I.
nomic problems elsewhere
tried to insulate
in the
*
42
7
America from eco-
world and keep whatever growth we
could generate to ourselves. But those policies did exactly the oppo-
we had hoped.
of what
site
International trade and capital transfers
dried up, and with them, economic growth.
The
isolationism and pro-
tectionism of that era actually helped cause the Great Depression
and arguably
set the stage for
World War
II.
In other words,
we
got
it
wrong. After World
War II,
however,
we
got
would cooperate
up the
International
dollar was
pegged
the dollar.
Soon
(GATT)
ments provided I
Victorious in war once
to gold
it
alone. Instead,
Under our
to rebuild postwar economies.
forty-four nations signed the Bretton
Trade
right.
United States decided not to try to go
again, the
ting
it
Woods agreements
leadership,
in 1944, set-
Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The and other world currencies were pegged to General Agreement on
thereafter, the
Tariffs
and
was put in place to promote free trade. These agreefoundation for postwar global prosperity.
a
wasn't worried about another Great Depression
oath of office in February 1985. successful war
we
on
inflation
American economy
afire.
The Reagan
—down
As the
economy. What concerned
me
economy
how
took
I
my
tax cuts and the Fed's
10 points since 1980
U.S.
was
when
—had
set the
grew, so did the world
to maintain this prosperity in
the face of unsustainable, and growing, global economic imbalances.
We
confronted an overvalued dollar, measured against other curren-
cies,
and
a trade
imbalance that favored the Japanese, Germans, and
other trading partners at the expense of U.S. manufacturers and exporters. litical
These two economic problems,
problem
each time
—
Honda
in turn,
a protectionist fever in
or Mercedes
had created
a big
po-
Congress that grew hotter
won another customer from
the Big
Three or another pop economist wrote about the inevitable triumph of Japan,
Inc.
Would we
post- World
War
retary) and
I
I
era?
return to the failed go-it-alone policies of the
Dick Darman
(at
the time, deputv treasury sec-
quicklv concluded that the best way
— and perhaps
the
Hi
428
*
API FN 1
only way
—
I)
IX
problems was
to solve these
to
work more closely with the
finance ministers and central bankers of other major economies.
Item one on our agenda was the
For years, relative world
dollar.
currency values had been set by the market. Sometimes they fluctuated wildly on the foreign exchanges. This
ments, companies, and investors to
could do everything in
exchange
rates.
right,
And
made
make long-range
deficit
in the
United
plans.
A
business
then be ruined by a sudden overnight
move
the disparity between the strong dollar and
weak foreign currencies gave foreign competitors companies
govern-
difficult for
it
States.
and sparked demands
a
big advantage over
This contributed to our growing trade
import quotas, and other
for high tariffs,
protectionist measures.
An
analogy
may
nation's history,
help explain the problem. In the early days of our
we had
a
the Continental Congress,
multitude of currencies bills
—paper
issued by
printed by the states, notes from private
banks, even foreign bills and coins. Shopkeepers had to be mathematical
geniuses to price a loaf of bread.
The
dollar eventually prevailed,
thanks in no small part to the work of Alexander Hamilton.
have
vest in markets
the
currency that makes
a single national
from Maine
is
with no internal currency
no practical way
— and
—we knew we could move
I
stability,
and
in-
risk.
was not advocating doing
in that direction if
we could
the relative values of the major national currencies.
achieve that
sell,
to establish a global currency to
provide the same benefits worldwide so
easy to buy,
to California, with perfect confidence in
medium of exchange and While there
it
We now
stabilize
The only way
to
however, would be to coordinate the underlying
economic fundamentals of the countries that issued these currencies.
And doing
that
would
policy coordination
require, in turn, a process for
among
those countries. That process
created, beginning with the Plaza
*A good account of Yoichi Funabashi.
this
macroeconomic
can be found
in
Accord
Managing the
is
what we
in 1985.*
Dollar:
From
the Plaza to the Louvre,
by
APPENDIX
The
Reagan administration's policy toward the dollar was
first
variably described by
commentators
currency wander where but, fair or not, the in
adopted
it
will.
a
strategy.
jobs.
Don Regan on
sell
His focus
secretary, to find a
now
as
was more
way
There
is
to
change
truly only
to beat
White House chief of and
less
got
staff,
economic.
way
else.
to
do
that.
however,
I
would
had traded
I
rather than treasury
He agreed that we had
we were
And we
The
also
president liked the
in a position to
didn't.
A
stroyed or diminished the effectiveness of what
Chairman Paul
it,
back the protectionist sentiment in Congress and
without telling anyone
we
we needed was
Remember, he and
idea as well, and with his approval
course,
all
the idea.
that our plan offered the best
Of
one decision-maker
sure
we
as
we
this policy,
To make
political
our
letting
from 1981-1984
as acute
branch of the U.S. government, so
an okay from the president.
—
in-
I'm not sure that's a fair description,
problem wasn't nearly
top-down
in the executive
have to
"benign neglect"
as
To win White House support
1985.
429
+
leak
go forward
would have de-
we were
planning.
needed the support of Federal Reserve Board
Volcker. At
one of our regular weekly meetings,
him what we were considering. He had been on record
I
told
since early
1985 in favor of correcting the overvalued dollar, so he liked the idea,
but he questioned whether
change
its
I
would be able
to get the administration to
dollar policy in such a fundamental way.
the view, which
I
He
was strongly of
shared, that the dollar's decline must be orderly, not
precipitous.
Treasury then made quiet contacts with the finance ministries of the four other major currency countries
On
and France.
were
hearing about what
summer of
skeptics, but as the
ize that
act
first
first,
we were
serious.
Our
—Germany, Japan,
the
we were considering
they too
1985 wore on, they began to real-
leverage with
the protectionists in Congress
them was
that
if
we
would throw up trade
White House, Treasury, and Congress, demanding to save
them from
that
didn't
barriers.
Auto makers and other industries were pounding the desks
done
UK,
at
the
something be
foreign competition, and Congress was listen-
430
*
ing.
By
that
we were
PP1 N Dl X
\
late
To our our
side,
staff,
summer, top foreign economic
officials
had begun to see
serious.
great relief,
we kept
news of these quiet contacts never
the circle very tight
—
the president and his chief of
the Fed chairman and his top assistant, and at Treasury,
David Mulford
Darman, Margaret
(assistant secretary for international affairs),
Tutwiler (assistant secretary for public
On
leaked.
and me. Our foreign
affairs),
now was
counterparts evidently did the same. All that was needed
a
face-to-face meeting of the finance ministers and central bank gover-
nors of the
five
countries to agree on the actions to be taken by each
toward coordinating their underlying economic
That came on September
policies.
Gold Room of
22, 1985, in -the
managed
York's lovely old Plaza Hotel. All participants had secretly in that
New
day because
York for the Sunday afternoon meeting. financial
markets would be closed.
press until the meeting was under way. in droves.
to arrive
We
picked
didn't tell the
alerted, they
showed up
The room was packed.) By the end of the day, we had agreed
on what came
to be
nique described the
The
(Once
We
New
U.S. current
known
as the
risks to the
account
Plaza Accord.
world economy
deficit together
The
if
burdened countries would be unable
real
is
now
not resisted, could
lead to mutually destructive retaliation with serious
world economy: world trade would shrink,
commu-
in these words:
with other factors
contributing to protectionist pressures which,
even turn negative, unemployment would
public
damage
growth
to the
rates could
rise still higher,
and debt-
to secure the export earnings
they vitally need.
Ministers and governors "stand ready to cooperate
courage" exchange-rate adjustments, the masterful use of understatement,
it
communique
in a
closely to ensaid.
added that "exchange
play a role in adjusting external imbalances."
was never used, but
more
The word
And
in a
rates should
"intervention"
separate document, a "nonpaper" that was not
A PPE N D
made
public, participants agreed to sell dollars
cies to adjust the relative values
*
X
I
4 31
and buy other curren-
of the currencies
—
that
is,
to lower
the value of the dollar against other currencies.
The
results
were spectacular. Despite strong resistance from
traders,
the dollar dropped against other currencies, quickly and substantially,
but in an orderly way. In his January 1986 state of the union address, President Reagan signaled our satisfaction with the Plaza Accord and
our commitment to continue working with our trading partners to bilize
exchange
sta-
rates.
Plaza was about
more than
just
currency adjustments.
It
also estab-
lished the principle (and for a while, at least, the practice) of multilat-
States
undertook
other things, the United
to control the fiscal deficit, Japan agreed to stimulate
domestic demand and open it
Among
economic policy coordination.
eral
would reduce the
size
its
of
borders to more imports,
Germany said
public sector and remove "rigidities"
its
(read, "excessive regulations") that inhibited the labor
markets, and
signatories
all
Critics say the
pledge. All
United States
can say
I
promised to
is
that
we made
did our best to implement
it.
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings
Act,
federal spending.
In
fight protectionism.
reneged on
later
straints that
made
practice. Just fect,
our
December
it
which slowed the
put
all
growth of
also fell short is
that
we were
on all
their
trying
to political con-
the desirable policies fully into
because implementation of the Plaza Accord was not per-
however, does not
was clearly successful in
rate of
Each country was subject
difficult to
deficit-reduction
the president signed the
Other signatory countries
policies.
its
the promise in good faith and
commitments. What was important, however, to coordinate
and capital
mean
that the
agreement
itself
was not good.
It
in forestalling potential protectionist legislation
Congress. In early 1986,
tion of
Treasury even pushed for international coordina-
monetary policy
resisted.
They
them what
didn't
to do.
to drive
down
interest rates. Central bankers
want finance ministers, mere
Some understandings were
politicians, telling
reached, however, and in-
APPENDIX
432
began to
terest rates
fall as
central bankers responded to calls for coor-
dinated action. In time, concerns
grew that the dollar might have
fallen too far.
This led to the Louvre Accord of February 22, 1987. While Plaza
onetime agreement
a
to deal with a specific set of circumstances.
Louvre was more ambitious.
It
aimed
to institutionalize the process of
coordination of economic policies to stabilize world currencies within an agreed, but unpublished, set of ranges. Like Plaza,
work out common
the
of 198",
fall
worked. Deputy
meet monthly, rinance ministers
rinance ministers began to quentlv. to
it
policies,
less fre-
and the dollar headed north. Bv
publiclv referred to the possibility of looking at "a
I
basket of commodities, including gold." to stabilize our currencies on
aomists called "purchasing power parity."
the b
The
of macroeconomic policy adjustments often are not
many months. Bv
risible for dericit
— which
Talk
communique had
economic system
in the global
zero.
the Plaza
198". however, the U.S. current account
Co:
in
died away bur
it
—had begun
After
momentum
I
countries involved, but that left
Treasury
in 1988, the
for a short time, then fell
largely
economic
it
reached
difficult
policj
is
po-
no reason not to make the
process continued of
its
own
dormant. In President Clinton's
second term. Robert Rubin briefly revived the East Asian
In 1991.
it.
economic
Multilateral coordination of
effort.
fall.
The Reagan economic boom continued.
subsided.
and the world economy grew with
litically for all
to
^ting trade barriers never completely
tei
_
cited as evidence of trouble
it
ci
to deal, successfully, with
and sadly the process
.
ended with the Reagan administration.
The need
deficit that
profile I
economic policy coordination todav
more acute now than
anything,
~.
for aggressive
it
N
worried us so
much
in
in
The
1985.
1985 was only
reached 6.4 percent. Even China issets
—shades of
"Japan. Inc."
is
—
L
current account
S.
2."
percent of
GDP
starting to bid for high-
and.
all
too predictably
protectionist sentiments are strong and growing in Congress.
current account dericit together with other factors
is
now
The
U.S.
contributing
APPENDIX to protectionist pressures which, if not resisted, could lead to
433
*
mutu-
with serious damage to the world economy:
ally destructive retaliation
world trade would shrink, real growth rates could even turn negative,
unemployment would would be unable
rise still higher,
to secure the export earnings they vitally need.*
Furthermore, the United States start
paying debt service on
words, for the
and debt-burdened countries
its
now, for the
time, about to
first
net investment debt position. In other
time we have
first
is
investment abroad than
less total U.S.
foreign investment here. If something isn't done, that net debt service
payable to China, Japan, and other creditor countries billion a year in another
$200
terrible cost to
unacceptable. national
problem,
this
a U.S. recession,
as
I
other
is
see
is,
One
is
at a
of course,
economic policy coordination, which could over time reduce
The United
now
are not
States today has a policy, not quite "benign neglect,"
of hoping the dollar will
Our
it.
through another round of aggressive inter-
imbalances. Unfortunately, the prospects for coordination good.
approach
which would come
both the U.S. and global economies, and
The
will
couple of years.
There are only two ways out of through the mechanism of
—
fall,
but not saying or doing
much about
it.
trading partners appear to be less interested in currency stability
than in maintaining their trading advantages against the United States.
view the dollar
Also, they generally
as
too weak, not too strong
exactly the reverse of 1985. Finally, there
Europe and elsewhere This
is
We
on many
in
issues.
should not be indifferent to these
risks
economy, nor should our trading partners.
The third major gan's
widespread resistance
to following U.S. leadership
not a happy picture.
to the global
is
economic accomplishment of President Rea-
second term, after tax reform and international economic policy
coordination to defeat protectionism and stabilize exchange
'In case
you didn't catch
old Plaza Accord. Sadly,
it,
I
it is
lifted this
rates,
sentence word for word from the twent\ -one
even more true today than
it
was then.
was
\c.ir
4J4
the
A
*
N D
P IM
I
X
Canada-United
on January
1,
its
Trade Agreement.
removed many trade
1989, and
United States and it
States Free
largest trading partner.
It
went into
between the
barriers
More
effect
important, perhaps,
served as a model for the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), which went
into effect five years later
and made Mexico,
Canada, and the United States the world's largest trading bloc*
The
agreement with Canada was the election of
catalyst for the
conservative government headed by Brian
Mulroney
a
1984. Like
in
President Reagan, he passionately believed in free trade and had the political
courage
to erase tariffs
in the face
and other barriers to the movement of goods between
Canada and the United to the vision, courage,
Trade
States.
and
liberalization
economics.
It
The
ultimate agreement was a testament
political will as close to
is
of these two great leaders.
accepted gospel
as
anything in
holds that free trade between any two countries makes
both more prosperous, even cally,
of significant domestic opposition to try
however, free trade
is
one
if
is
dominant
always a tough
benefits are diffuse (everybody shares to
sale.
in all sectors. Politi-
The
reason
some extent in
is
that the
the general in-
crease in prosperity), but the costs are specific and painful (some industries and labor groups invariably suffer
when import
tariffs
and
quotas are removed). Beneficiaries of trade liberalization are usually quiet, but victims rail
scream and politicians
listen,
which makes
it
easy to
against free trade (as Ross Perot did in the 1992 presidential elec-
tion). That's
why
the General
Agreement on
efforts to liberalize the
World Trade Organization Countries impatient with
Tariffs
(WTO) this
and Trade
(GATT)
have stretched over
and,
the
many decades.
European Community (forerunner of
references are Free Trade: Risks and Regards, edited by L. Ian
MacDonald, and
Building a Partnership: The Canada- United States Free 'Frade Agreement, edited by
Kreinin.
later,
slow pace have independently formed
regional trade blocs, such as the
'Two good
world trading system through
Mordechai
APPEN
Dl X
435
+
the European Union) or signed bilateral trade agreements, such as the
one Prime Minister Mulroney and President Reagan wanted.
The agreement almost
and more than once on the verge of complete col-
tracted, painful,
began
lapse. Initial talks staff
and went on
night,
October
ment w as T
3,
1984 w hile r
in
was
still
White House chief of go before the mid-
1987, deadline for submission to Congress, no agree-
in sight.
under
set
ized the negotiations. If
we met
"fast-track" legislation that author-
the deadline, Congress
up or down on the agreement
with amendments. If
good
I
for years. Still, with just days to
The deadline was
vote
we missed
as a
it,
w ould have T
whole and not pick
apart
it
as dead.
over as point deal
is
man
for U.S. negotiators
at all possible, get
it!
gotiations. "This
was
a critical
knew we needed someone
The
next day
a high-level
sisted
we
meeting
and gave
staff,
move
with
in itself,"
Baker to make
like
me
a
With only two days
Derek Burney, Mulroney's chief of
a
plan for resuming ne-
in the
Treasury conference room.
as
deputy secretary of the
I
negotiations in
my
career, but
as old controversies
ones brought to the
table.
was ably
who by
then
I
have partici-
few that compared
w ere fought one T
as-
treasury. (Peter
complexity and contentiousness with these. There was a
and lightning
"We
later.
happen."
served as president of Michigan State University.)
many
telephoned
left, I
Burney wrote it
to take
simple mandate:
throughout these negotiations by Peter McPherson,
pated in
me
started through the agreement, point by point, in
had replaced Dick Darman later
to
however, the agreement was as
As the deadline approached, President Reagan asked
if a
were pro-
didn't happen. Negotiations
last
lot
in
of thunder
time and new
Meanwhile, teams of lawyers
in
another
building were sweating over language to satisfy Canada's biggest sticking point
—
a
mechanism
to enforce the
before the deadline, Burney and
I
agreement. In the
worked out the
last
hours
final details in
mv
office.
Successful negotiation requires
a
sense of political limits. For this
MDIX
I
agreement, that mean: sensitivity to the political dynamics
Canada and the United
States,
are varied and vocal, and
both
in
two democracies where interest groups
power
divided and diffuse.
is
I
spent
a lot
of
time gauging congressional opinion and cultivating bipartisan support
from friends of free trade on Capitol
on the a
political constraints faced
no-no
Canada
in
to give
Hill.
I
also
us.
seemed
up trade and investment
but to the Canadians, "culture" was that whatever they
nallv told them,
you what to
is
more
wanted
seeing too
Even
principle was okay
verv elastic concept.
Getting the agreement
ri-
tell
about what was culture and
Canadians are
many American movies
me
I
It
— automobiles!" That seemed
less elastic
today, however.
was
barriers designed to
The
a
it
to protect, they called culture.
cultural in the United States
wasn't.
educate myself
for effect than anything, "Fine, okav, let
encourage them to become
what
to
by the Canadians. For instance,
protect their culture against Americanization.
with
had
still
"protected" from
or sitcoms on television.
ratified in the U.S.
Congress was no picnic,
but the Canadian ratification right almost brought
down Mulroney's
government. National elections were called
and only
partv
won could we he
One litical
thing that
courage
alization.
down
in
I
will
certain that our deal
in 1988,
would
after his
stick.
never forget about President Reagan
is
his
po-
going on the offensive on trade and investment liber-
Remember
that at the
same time we were seeking
to
knock
trade barriers with Canada, powerful protectionists in Congress
were threatening punitive
legislation against
our major trading part-
ners. Instead ot plaving defense,
however. President Reagan snatched
the ball and ran the other way.
We
turned the debate from narrow
questions of advantage for one industrv or another and from near-
xenophobic attacks on our trading partners our national
a
huge success. Trade between Canada and the
United States more than doubled
in
The
broader questions of
interest.
The agreement was
fect.
to
result:
in
the decade after
higher economic growth, more
both countries.
jobs,
it
went into
ef-
and better wages
APPENDIX
The
Canada
deal with
also
prepared the wav
tor
NAFTA,
•
a
4
M
trade
agreement that today covers more than 425 million people. After
George Bush
41
became president
in
1989, he
worked with Prime
Minister Mulroney and Mexico's President Carlos Salinas to bring
Mexico
into the trade zone. Negotiations
went more quickly
this time,
primarily because of the lessons learned in the Canadian round. President Bush signed the agreement in
December QQ 2. "We've commit1
ted ourselves to a better future for our children and for generations yet
unborn," he
The
said.
next administration inherited the task of winning congressalute President Clinton for having the political
sional ratification.
I
courage to do
despite strong opposition from labor unions and
so,
other constituencies within his
own
partv.
teen days before Congress would vote
ganized
a
bipartisan
House East Room.
I
show of support
Nobel
NAFTA
laureates,
In
my
task ...
as close to
is
NAFTA
state, five
.
.
NAFTA
or-
White rive
other former treasury secretaries,
and Paul Yolcker. Former presidents Bush,
accepted gospel
as
I
said, trade liber-
anything
in
economics.) 1
said,
Working together on
a bipartisan basis,
"Our
we must expose
fact-fudging, the fearmongering, the prophets of protectionism are playing
fif-
persuade Americans that they have nothing to fear from
to .
Q0 3,
for the trade pact in the
remarks to the distinguished attendees that day, is
1
up or down, he
Ford, and Reagan issued statements of support. (As alization
2,
attended, along with former president Carter,
other former secretaries of eight
On November
the
who
on the doubts of the American people." The House passed
by 23-1-200 and the Senate by 61-38, with Republicans pro-
viding more votes than Democrats.
Over the
past decade,
NAFTA
has been
a
resounding success
Trade among the three signatory countries has more than doubled.
The economies cent and the cent. L.S.
of Mexico and Canada ha\ e grow n more than 30 per-
economy of
the United States has
Wages and productivity
are
up
in all
grown about 40 per-
three countries. The strong
economic expansion of the 1990s owes
a
great deal to
NAFTA,
I
438
APIU N
+
X
and the trade pact clearly helped Mexico weather
think, crisis,
HI
consolidate free-market reforms, and strengthen
What we Trade Area
America
in
still
however,
lack,
for the
Americas
the long-dreamed-of
is
—
after
in
December 1994 to announce
trade area that stretches from Alaska to Argentina."
place by 2005, he said.
America endorsed the
More
democracy.
FTAA
— Free
NAFTA went into effect,
prospects looked good. President Clinton convened the
Miami
currency
uniting South, Central, and North
one trade zone. Immediately
the Americas in
its
a
first
Summit of
plans for "a free It
would be
in
than thirty heads of state from Latin
went home
plan, then
to wait, expectantly, for
negotiations to begin.
What
President Clinton lacked, however, was the same fast-track
authority from Congress that had
gan and Bush to put
made
in place the
two
it
possible for Presidents Rea-
earlier trade agreements.
He
could have gotten that authority in 1995. Unfortunately, however, he waited until 1997 to ask for
By
it.
then, opposition within his
own
party had hardened. Lacking critical support from Democrats, Presi-
dent Clinton became the turned
down on
first
president since President Ford to be
a fast-track vote.
He
tried again in 1998, but
seem-
ingly not wholeheartedly. His personal troubles had erupted earlier that year.
The House would
that year
and he apparently hesitated
the run-up to the
midterm
vote on an impeachment resolution later to alienate fellow
Democrats
in
elections.
President Clinton's decision not to go for fast-track authority in
1995 was arguably the biggest mistake of his presidency.
Why?
cause nothing would have done more for economic growth for
all
Bethe
countries of this hemisphere, including the United States, than to have
been part of tunity
a free trade
we had
agreement
to get there at that
for the Americas.
time was
lost.
many
America while Uncle Whiskers
on the
sitting
the oppor-
Now Asians and Euro-
peans are cutting free trade agreements with is left
And
countries of South sidelines.
This
is
a
real tragedy.
George
W Bush has resumed the movement toward hemispheric
APPENDIX trade liberalization with the Central
Free Trade Agreement of 2005.
My
America-Dominican
139
*
Republic-
former adviser, Robert Zoellick,
queued up
that project as U.S. trade representative in the forty-third
president's
first
term. In the absence of real progress on liberalization
won
of world and hemispheric trade, he also
agreements with rocco and
number of
a
x\ustralia.
We've
bilateral free-trade
also signed deals recently with Chile, Peru,
and Colombia. Unfortunately, however, the all-important just a
dream, not
As
have
I
said, the U.S.
stabilization of the dollar.
In
One came on
all
my
economy exploded
ever, that
I
trip.
decided to do
me
to
19, 1987. I
had never taken
Things were going so well
just that
when
in 1987,
the king of Sweden, Carl
hunt elk with him.*
week
before, although
as particularly serious at the time.
the late-August peak in 1987, the
From
On
before
I
left,
it
I
18.
didn't regard
the end of 1984 through
Dow Jones
gained a stunning 127 percent. Since then,
figures set
a
how-
was scheduled to depart for Stockholm on Sunday, October
The Wednesday
and
There were some dark days along the way,
Signs of trouble appeared the
them
to tax cuts, tax reform, free trade,
years of public service before then,
Gustaf, invited I
into a frenzy of growth
"Black Monday," October
boondoggle overseas
real
FTAA is still
a reality.
under President Reagan, thanks
however.
Mo-
U.S. trading partners, including
Industrial Average had
had been drifting down.
the downtrend accelerated as bad trade
Congress to talking about protectionism.
Thursday,
White House.
I
tried to
calm the market
in a press briefing at the
We weren't about to go into a recession,
I
said,
but
I
com-
plained about the plans of the Bundesbank (Germany's equivalent of
our Federal Reserve)
to hike interest rates.
clined again.
'\\ liar
the
Swedes
call "elk,"
we
call
"moose.
On
Friday, the
marker de-
440
APPhlsmiX
*
Before
my Sunday
departure,
Bundesbank. "We
criticized the
I
appeared on Meet the
will not sit
back
Press.
Again
I
country and
in this
watch surplus countries jack up interest rates and squeeze growth
worldwide on the expectation that the United States somehow follow by raising
its
interest rates,"
I
said.
Then
boarded
I
a
When
head.
my official host, the Swedish minister for finance, met me at the foot of the stairs. His face was white as
landed,
I
Kjell-Olof Feldt, a
plane and
my
flew to Europe, visions of majestic Swedish elk playing in
will
snowcapped
glacier
on
a
"The market closed down
mountain peak, and he could hardly speak. frvel"
he
said.
I
was puzzled. What's wrong
with a five-point drop in the market? "No, no!" he
The Dow Jones
Industrial Average
"Five hundred!"*
said.
had dropped 508 points
one
in
excruciating day, losing about 22 percent to close at 1738, the secondbiggest one-day percentage decline in history.
went
I
my room
to
in
the government guesthouse for visiting dignitaries and started work-
ing the phones. that
my
staff
remember had
White House
all
the details, but
frantically
UK, and
been trying
to get a briefing
who had succeeded Don Regan
officials at
told,
don't
Treasury
called the
Baker,
I
I
quickly learned
to reach
me.
also
I
from former senator Howard
as chief
of
staff.
I
also talked to
Treasury and the finance ministers of Germany, Japan, the
—
if
I'm not mistaken
—
France. This was a global
and we had to consider the possibility that
After spending the entire night on the telephone,
it I
was
crisis,
was
I
just beginning.
flew to
London
the
next morning and caught the Concorde home.
Back
in
Washington,
I
went
straight to a
meeting
in
my
office at
Treasury with Alan Greenspan, Howard Baker, George Gould (our under secretary for domestic finance), Robert Zoellick (Gould's assistant the time), and others.
ning to
stabilize,
but
By
we
then,
it
appeared that the markets were begin-
couldn't be sure they wouldn't drop again.
*Almost the same thing happened to Alan Greenspan when he landed a speech.
diately
Over the summer, he had succeeded Paul Volcker
hopped
a
at
plane back to Washington.
as
The
in Dallas to deliver
Fed chairman. Alan imme-
APPfcNDI
most important
who headed
lan,
we
thing,
the
New
441
York Stock Exchange
at the time,
to let trading
did a great
resume without
We all agreed that it was important to inject huge
getting out of control.
amounts of
*
decided, was to reassure investors. John Phe-
emergency procedures
job by instituting
X
liquidity into the system,
and
this
is
exactly what Alan then
did and would continue to do. Alan also issued a statement that affirmed the Fed's "readiness to serve as a source of liquidity to support the eco-
nomic and
financial system."
This permitted investors to borrow to
cover their positions, which prevented a cascading series of defaults that
could have brought
down banks and investment houses.
In addition, the
president issued a statement to reassure the public.
There was one more aftershock then the tle
crisis
ended almost
—an
8 percent
as precipitously as
drop on October 26
it
had begun, with
lit-
impact on either exchange rates or long-term economic growth.
hurt
of people,
a lot
clearly,
It
and raised disturbing thoughts about
where the economy might be headed. Despite Black Monday, however, the
Dow Jones ended
went on
to post solid gains in eleven of the next twelve years.
I'm not sure late.
The
Brady
to
why
Black
Monday
2
head
me
percent gain for the year, then
occurred and won't try to specu-
president appointed former
New Jersey
a task force to investigate the
headed Dillon Read, ceeded
1987 with a
a
meltdown. At the time, he
prominent Wall Street
as treasury secretary.
mentioned several contributing
The
senator Nicholas
firm,
and he
later suc-
task force report in January 1988
factors,
including overvaluation of the
market, a negative investor psychology that took root the preceding
week, concern about our tectionist legislation
had
just
okayed
by computers cialists to
in
in
worries about pro-
legislation
(Ways and Means
eliminate the tax deduction for interest on
corporate takeovers), automatic program trading
the big investment houses, the failure of market spe-
serve as buyers of last resort for securities they managed,
and capacity problems the
deficits,
and trade
and antitakeover
a bill to
borrowed money
fiscal
Hood of
sell
at
orders).
the exchanges (they simply couldn't handle
442
A
+
P P
The
ND
fc
I
X
many and exchange contributed to the
gered
my
report also mentioned
What
it.
statements
I
I
rates.
I
still
sell-off,
and
remarks to the press about Ger-
my
have difficulty believing I
absolutely don't believe they trig-
said then wasn't substantially different
had made to the
wouldn't say the same thing.
press. Still, if
One
remarks
lesson
I
had
I
learned
at
from other
do
to
it
Treasury
over, is
that
even the most innocent remarks about the dollar or other economic sues could provoke investors to
A number
buy or sell, almost
I
is-
blindly, in response.
of market reforms were installed after Black Monday,
including restrictions on program trading and "circuit breakers" to halt trading
the market.
and allow investors to cool off
They seem
after significant
to have helped. In addition,
I
believe our ongo-
ing efforts to stabilize the dollar probably prevented the
crisis
ing worse. While the dollar lost value during this period,
way and did not plunge with the
orderly
drops in
it
securities market.
from be-
did so in an I
think this
helped restore confidence. We've had several other significant one-day sell-offs
—including two 500-plus-point drops
two 600-plus drops
in the early 2000s,
the market reopened after 9/11
of
total
in the late 1990s
and
one of which came on the day
—but nothing
like 1987, as a
percentage
market value.
The
big lessons,
I
think, are that
we
survived that dark day, that
it
didn't trigger a depression (or, for that matter, a recession), that the
economy was healthy and kept growing without and that the market recovered and prospered
significant
as investor
confidence
returned. P.S.
I
never did see the king of Sweden,
much
less
an
damage,
elk.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing
a
book
—
I
learned with
with Work Hark, Stud) cially for
.
.
.
7
and Keep
someone whose
and relearned
.
out of Politics:
writing' career
matic statements, and points
lists,
—
is a
team
sport, espe-
was long on contracts, diplo-
and short on writing
for a general
audience.
My
quarterback was collaborator Steve
sional writer
searched for hours,
my
and editor with fourteen other books story from public sources and
and churned out
voice.
He may
nois),
and
client, a
a
be
a
My writer,
first
drafts that
Baby Boomer,
a
Sharon
book was getting
my
He
re-
interviewed
me
to his credit.
riles,
then edited into
my own
to
Illi-
tine job for his
or the great plea-
know Steve and
assistant
Hancock. Darrell originally authored
later chapters
talent, this
And one
former policy
of
this
his wife,
and speech-
rirst
drafts or
book and helped research and
check the entire manuscript. Without and
profes-
a
Fitter.
second collaborator was Darrell
is
Yankee by way of Fvanston.
septuagenarian Texas Republican.
main of the
1
my
Steve
Democrat, but he did an honest and very
sures of working on the novelist
Fitter.
his expertise,
book would not have happened
tact-
judgment, advice,
444
ACKNOWl
+
Neil Nyren
[Hi
E
M N 1
S
I
Putnam did
at
his usual
expert job of editing and was
my
particularly generous in his understanding of
work
plete the
And of telling
as rapidly as
my
course,
me when
I
I
inability to
com-
had originally agreed.
editor in chief was Susan, never shy about
got something wrong, ever helpful in suggesting
ways to improve the book. Margaret Tutwiler offered invaluable advice,
as usual,
reading drafts of chapters for accuracy and refreshing
including
my memory
of
events.
was fortunate that Dick Darman was willing to review parts of the
I
me
manuscript and help things that
I
had forgotten.
prolific writer himself,
many
in
confirming
facts
and reminding
me
of
My great friend Otis Carney, a talented and
reviewed
much
of the manuscript and offered
helpful suggestions, in spite of the fact that he was
ill
with ter-
minal cancer.
Many
people consented to be interviewed by
my
collaborators,
beginning with President George H. W. Bush and including Robert
Mosbacher, Stuart Spencer, Peter McPherson, Gary Edson, Preston
Moore, Caron Jackson, Peter Roussel, Frank Donatelli, Anna Theofilopoulou, and James and
My researchers and
I
Wendell Baker.
also relied
on
zine articles, and newspaper accounts of lic
service,
many of which
A number book
are
number of
a
my years
mentioned
in politics
to
maga-
and pub-
in the book.
of people constantly encouraged
—too many
fine books,
me
to write this
mention here. The recurring theme of their argu-
ments was: you've written about your State Department experiences as a statesman,
and
but you've also had other experiences in public service
in politics that
very few other people have had; you need to write
about those. Susan was one
David Paton,
my
college
who encouraged me
roommate and
to write.
lifelong friend.
were Ed Djerejian, founding director of the Baker wife, Franchise, files
and
who
in selecting
also assisted Steve
Two
others
and
his
in accessing
my
Institute,
and Darrell
photographs for the book.
Another was
ACKNOWLEDGMINIS
*
My staff— Charlotte Cheadle,John Williams, and Catherine of Baker Botts too, did Joe
—contributed
Barnes of the Baker
stored.
I
my
my
Jr.,
Barnett, and
Dan
Mudd
University's Seeley G.
and public service papers are
political
also received valuable assistance
dell Baker,
Bob
attorney
Dan Santamaria of Princeton
Manuscript Library, where
So,
Institute.
Others who were helpful were Linke and
Duke
ways too numerous to mention.
in
445
from Fannie Richard, Wen-
Wistar Morris of the Miller Center of Public Affairs,
Maggie Cryer, formerly with the Baker
and researchers Anne
Institute,
Hong, Alexandra Joseph, Cornelia van Amerongen, Marina Powell, and Jessica McBride.
Every memoirist to kiss
and
suppose, faced with the question of whether
For me, the answer was easy:
tell.
principles by which
H.
is, I
I
would not
I
gained and held the trust of Gerald Ford, George
W Bush, Ronald Reagan, George W Bush, and many
which
I
served them.
I
III,
quotations in the book
Politics
III,
in
in his
mind. a
of Diplomacy, by con-
detailed transcripts and notes taken by State Depart-
ment stenographers.) Although some quotations be word for word,
was
served, and
came from my memory, not from
written record. (Most quotations in The
came from
I
and by
might turn on them
old age must have another James Addison Baker,
trast,
others,
love and respect the presidents
anyone who thinks James Addison Baker,
Many
violate the
I
believe
all
in this
book may not
of them convey the substance of what
said.
To
the trout, quail, and turkeys
had to work on
this
book when
I
whose
everyone says
this,
but
I
fenses.
They
are,
me I
for those that
I'll
in
I
in the field
be back.
certainly
have mentioned above for their help book, and blame
were spared because
might otherwise have been
or on the stream, go forth and multiply. Finally,
lives
mean
it:
Credit those
keeping errors out of
may have
assure you, unintentional.
slipped through
my
I
this
de-
INDEX
Abd al-Mahdi, Abrams
tanks,
The Acting
Annan,
Adil, 402
Abortion, George H.
W Bush and, 104-5
352-56
Kofi, xvi,
Aquino, Corazon, 286, 290 Arab-Israeli peace process, 302—4
269n
President, Schieffer
and Gates, 125n
Arms-for-hostages deal, 202-3
Acton, John Emerich, Lord, 413
Armstrong, Anne,
Adams, Sherman, 391
Aronson, Bernie, 342
Advertising
political,
56
23, 53
Arthur, Chester, 41
Afghanistan, 306
Ashmun, Man,', 85 "Ask George Bush"
Agnevv, Spiro, 19,24, 145
Aston, Mary, 418
Advisers to presidents, 29, 128-31
Agronksy
&
Co.,
SI
Ailes, Roger, 238, 247, 265;
243, 267,
Airplane
Atlantic Monthly,
and 1988 campaign,
93
and Stockman, 166-67
Clement, 10
Attorney General (AG), Texas, campaign
272n
travel,
Attlee,
telecasts,
for,
73-77
1980 campaign, 88
al-.\ssad, Hafez, 303
Attorneys, responsibilities
Albania, 292-93
Atwater^ Lee, 124, 238, 267-68, 356; and 1988
Alcohol,
9;
Baker and, 20-21
of,
341
campaign, 243, 252, 2~2n
Alfalfa Club, 392
Auth, Tony,
Algeria, and Western Sahara, 353
Azar, Alex, 370
Allbaugh.Joe, 357, 358, 366, 368, 369-70, 377
Aziz, Tariq, 297-98
2
1
Alldav, Dossy, 21 Allen, Richard, 113, 130, 132n, 139, 140, 144, 147,
Background checks, 24
194, 196
48
Al Smith Dinner, 116
Backgrounding, 170, 193
Alzheimer's disease, Reagan and, 234 American people, and terrorism, 305-6 American Textile Manufacturers Institute, 34
Bailey,
Andersonjohn,
Baker,
Bonner
Baker,
Bonner Means (mother), 4-5,
85, 88,91,92, 111, 120-21, and debates, 112-13, 114-15, 116
125;
\ndersun. Martin, 111,113,134, 180
Andrews, Kurth, Campbell 13-14, 72,76,84,
& Bradley
Doug, 64
baker, \ndv,
death law firm,
420-2
I ;
gravestone inscription,
424
of,
(sister), 4, 14
165, 415
285
Baker, Bruce, 424
25
Baker, Doug(son), 14,22, 57n, 224, 155
16;
448
IND1X
*
Baker, Elijah (great -great -grandfather), 7,417, '
Baker, Fannie Willis, 420
Graeme
Baker, John (son), 14, 22, 261 n, 355, 421
(granddaughter), 22
Baker, Leola,
I
Inward, 53, 62, 83, 85,
majority leader, 88, 91, 92, 99;
Baker, James
440; as
14, 238,
1
>80 campaign, 86, 87,
c
34;
1
1
and Reagan administration, 181
Addison (great-grandfather), 7-8,
419
339, 417-18, 421; grave of,
Bakerjames Addison "Captain"
(grandfather),
8, 10,
261,
338; and law school, 12
32-39; first 1 1
crisis
Baker,
Mary Jane, 417 Mary Stuart McHenry,
338-41; and Carter,
firm,
Commerce Department, management
29-30,
plan, 148; death of
wife, 15-17, 20-21; as debate negotiator,
1-21; and family, 3-9, 415-25;
of,
15-1
7,
politics, 18, 19;
Baker,
Attorney General campaign, Texas, 73-77;
19-20; and
code name, 284n
Mike
12,
14-15, 140;
20, 261, 278, 415, 416;
and
Susan Winston and, 21
(son), 14, 22, 32, 355, 421
Baker, Robert, 421
retirement, xvi-xvii, 336-38, 341^45;
and Baker Botts law
74, 74n, 77n,
84, 160, 215, 21 5n, 305, 327, 334, 337, 340;
Baker,
activities since
III:
Mary (granddaughter), 421 Mary Bonner (daughter), 22,
death
Baker, James Addison, Jr. (father), 5-7,
Baker,James Addison,
Baker,
Baker,
Baker,
3-4,7,338,344,346,422
1
424
Baker, Mackie, 422
Baker, Herbert, 422 Baker,
7
Baker, Joanne, 21
Baker, Gabriel, 421 Baker,
Bakerjane,
Bakerjesse, 420-22, 424
418, 4:i
first
meeting
Rowena Crawford (great-grandmother),
418 Baker, Susan Winston, 21, 25, 49, 72, 79, 84, 121, 192, 215, 236-37, 278-79, 280, 311, 333, 334,
340, 366, 415;
and Baker
birth of daughter, 74n;
relatives,
421-25;
and chief of
staff job,
127-28, 154; and Clinton, 314-15; code
name, 284n; and election of George W. Bush,
with Ford, 31; and friendship, 415; and
George H. W. Bush, 17-20, 52-53, 79-96,
359-60, 362; and Enron, 344; and job change,
239-41, 286; grandchildren
209, 210-11; marriage of, 21-22,416-17;
of, 22;
influences
on, 24—25; and Iraq, 299-302; job change,
move
199-202, 210-1
236-37; 1988 campaign, 275, 276-77; and
1;
and Kissinger,
12-14; Marine Corps service,
51;
law career,
11-12;
xiv,
move
opposition of,
to
to,
122-24, 198-99, 264—66; parents
45-47; philosophy
of,
149-50; and
PFC, 39-41, politics,
24-25, 72, 278-79; The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution,
War
& Peace, 1989-1992,
280, 285, 296n, 298,
345^6,
xiii,
Reagan
272n,
365, 418; and
speaking engagements, 343; and Tipper Gore, ranch, 260-61
Man Accomplished in His Battle for Equality, 42 3 Baker Botts law
firm, xvi, 7, 10, 12-13, 76,
Barak, Ehud, 277n Barnett,
Bill,
337-39, 346
Barnett, Bob, 272n
attempt, 142-50, 160-62; and Reaganomics,
Barr, William, 329
188-89; religious
Barrett, Laurence, Gambling with History,
of
state,
faith, 41
3-15; as secretary
141n, 205, 279-314, 319-21; special
Bartlit, Fred,
370
assignments, 396-406; and Stockman,
Baseball commissioner, 206
165-69; and tax reform, 219-34; and 2000
Bates, David, 84
election battle, 363-90; as Treasury secretary,
Bayh, Birch, 85
2
14-34, 241^12, 426, 439-42; as White
House chief of
staff, xii,
122-41, 150-64,
Beck, Phil, 370 Begin,
Menachem,
193
169-71, 196-99, 212-13, 21 5n, 312, 322-34;
Behind the Scenes, Deaver,
Wyoming
Bell, Chris,
ranch, 260-61; youth,
Baker,James Addison, 1-2;
George
III,
xiv,
6
presidential campaigns,
W Bush's campaign, 357-60;
1
2
5n
424
Bell, Griffin,
370
Bennett, Tony, 235-36
1976 campaign, 54—72; 1980 campaign,
Bentsen, Lloyd, 20, 77, 81, 273-74
100-121; 1988 campaign, 240-77; 1992
Bentsur, Eytan, 406
campaign, 309-33
Beria, Lavrenty, 397
Baker, James Addison, IV (Jamie), 12, 22, 24, 32,
83,224, 311, 313, 338,341, ^55
Bakerjames
Otis,
419-24
338-11
Banowsky, William, 30
public service career, xv-xvi; and Reagan,
and Reagan assassination
Wyoming
236-37, 327; and
Baker, Wendell, 420-24; If Not Me, Who? What One
presidential candidacy, 349-52; and press, 63;
108, 407-12;
and presidential candidacy,
350, 351-52; Rabins and, 304;
inauguration, 140; Reagan funeral, 409-10; and
Washington, D.C, 32-33;
4—6; personal qualities, 25; and
Washington, D.C, 32-33; and music,
politics, 74, 78;
marriage, 12, 21-22; Middle East diplomacy,
302-4;
to
Berlin Wall,
fall of,
Bevan, Aneurin, 10 Bevin, Ernest, 10
286, 290-91, 294, 414
118-19
I
Birnbaum, Jeffrev, Showdown
process, 303-1; Baker and, 25, "2.
at Gucci Gulch:
Lawmakers, Lobbyists, and the
L
nlikely
X
It
*
1
W,
)
199,
debates, 1988, 272-75; and 175,
2 J5
economy
173,
321-22,439; eightieth birthday, 412;
Black, Charlie, 87,252, 523
foreign policy, 279-309; and independent
"Black Monday," 439-42
counsels, 204; and Iraqi invasion of Kuwait,
294-99; Lukens and, 123; 1980 campaign,
Tony, 300
Blair,
1
237-38, 280, 28 v 418-19; and CIA, 52-53;
Triumph of
lax Reform, 218n, 22}, 221 Birthday party,
NDI
79-96; 1988 campaign, 238-54, 262-77;
Bland, Richard, 419n Blue Smoke and Mirrors,
Germond and
1992 campaign, 309-33; personal
Witcover,
89n
characteristics, 240; as president, xv, 200,
Boards of directors, service on, 339-40,
275-77, 278, 303n, 307, 395; and Reagan
343-44
assassination attempt, 144, 145-46, 149, 161;
Boies, David, 369, 370, 371, 381, 384
at
Boland Amendment, 203
Texas, 335; sixtieth wedding anniversary, 404,
Boll Weevils, 174, 177, 178-79, 184, 355
sons
Boltenjosh, 368
taxes, 233; as vice president, 98-99, 132n,
Reagan's funeral, 156, 409-10; return to
and Soviet Union, 288-90; and
of, 355;
Bolton, John, 368, 377
157-58, 193, 195, 243-4; vice presidential
Bond,
candidacy, 104-5
Kit,
43
Bond, Rich, Bradley
84,
Bill,
Bush, George
86
W,
xvi, lOn, 185, 245, 251, 256, 334,
350, 355-58;
219, 222
campaign,
Brady,Jim, 135, 152n, 161; and assassination attempt, 142-43, 147
and Baker, 362; Congressional
78;
and debates, 392-93; election 363-90, 393-95; as
as president, 361,
Brady, Nicholas, 96, 238, 242, 441; and Quayle,
governor of Texas, 357; inauguration
24"
as
president, 362; and Iraq, 300-2, 399-402;
Looking Fonvard, 89n; Marilyn Quayle and,
Brady, Sarah, 152n
Breaking the Deadlock, Posner, 362n
318n; as president, 395-96, 405; presidential
Breen, Jon, 89-90,91
campaign,
Woods agreements, 427
Bretton
183;
investigation,
1
18-19
and trade
355, 367, 379
Bush, Marvin, 355
Briscoe, Dolph, 75, 77
Bush, Neil, 355
Briscoe, Frank, 19
Bush, Prescott, 75n
Bnstow, Darvl, 370
Bush Library Foundation, 256n
Britain,
Brock,
German
and
Bush
unification, 291
99
Bill, 76,
liberalization,
Bush, Laura, 356
Reagan and, 156
Briefing material,
357-60; and Social Security,
Bushjeb, 311,313,
Bridgelandjohn, 370
book
1,
taxes, 233;
438-39
Brezhnev, Leonid, 162-64
Briefing
and
v.
Gore decision, 361, 385
Business,
government regulation, 32
Broder, David, 94, 319-20
Butterfly ballot lawsuit, 374-75
Brokaw, Meredith, 260
Butz, Earl, 59, 67
Brokaw, Tom, 72, 260, 273, 305
Brosnahanjames, 330 Brountas, Paul, 271-72
Cabaniss, John, 41, 338
Brown,
Cabinet meetings, 130, 136
Pat, 39
Cabinet members, 221; and presidential
Bryza, Matt, 398
campaigns, 242n; selection
Brzezinski, Zbigniew, 37, 131
Budget, balancing
Budget
of,
173-74; Reagan and, 176
deficits, 186, 187,
189
administration,
1
Calendar, secretary of state and.
Burch, Dean, 102, 108. 116
Callaway, Bo, 39
Burchrield, Bobby, J70
(
Burney, Derek, 435 17, 81, 102,
and Quayle, sixtieth
Bush, Bush,
1
red,
J18; Reagan's funeral, 409;
92 96, 262
lerben Walker,
», 77,251,
riii,
533, J47, 150,413;
mi,
l
7-20, 24,
acceptance
speech, 1988, 255-59; and tab-Israeli peace
campaigns
Campaign contributions, return of, 75n Campaign laws, post- Watergate, Campaign managers, 57 58,83 34, Baker as,
84 I
-
Campaign, tor Attorney General, rexas See also Presidential
215, 240, 276, 279, 333;
wedding anniversary, 404
George
Reagan
Caldwell, Ernie, L50
Bullock, Bob, 557
Bush, Barbara,
of,
39
(
econom) 434-36
lanada:
Cancer.
Man
77 of, 4 $7;
trade agreement,
Stuart Baker and, 15
l"
45
INDEX
*
Cannon, Lou, a
I
98,
1
19; President
Reagan:
The Role of
°°n, I99n; Reagan: His Rise
i/c/inn;
;is.
Carl Gustaf, King of Sweden, 439 ar
1
le
\
iroup,
(
I
louse
416-17; Reagan
14, 22, 32,
Chiles, Lawton, 327, 378-79
Cardenas, Al, 367
"
White
28. See alto
and, 160
Card, \nd\, 390,391, 393, 394
C
22~
Children: of Baker,
99n
133-34; Regan
$91; protection ot presidency,
Power,
to
w
(
George H. W. Bush
Ihina, relations with, 34;
341—42
i,
24;
and,
Reagan and, 109-10
Carmen, Jeny, 90 Can; Waggoner, 19
Chiracjacques, 400,401
Carroll, James, 417
Christopher, Warren, 334, 364-65, 366, 374, 386
Carruthers,
Christian prayer group, 327-28
Bill, 64, 93,
1
14,
Churchill, Winston, 286
16
1
CIA
Amy, 107-8 Carterjimmy, xvi, 37, Cartel;
52,
81,85-86, 136, 137, 172,
209, 271, 289n, 325, 347, 350, 351, 388, 412;
Baker and,
19-20; and debates, 65-68,
1
107-8, 113,
1
15-20; election
Civil rights
campaign,
of election, 120; and
55; loss
Clark,
54—72, 101, 111;
1,
and Baker,
126, 132n, 192, 193-97, 199;
Bill,
200-201
437; and Nicaragua, 205;
presidential campaigns,
movement, Wendell Baker and,
422-23
election reform, 403-5; financing of
NAFTA,
W
Bush and, 52-53 Cicconi,Jim, 73-74 Citizenship, responsibilities of, xvii
and
of, 71;
George H.
(Central Intelligence Agency),
Clarkjoan, 192 Clements,
Republicans and, 53
77-78
Bill,
Carter administration, 132-33, 171
Cleveland, Ohio, Carter- Reagan debate, 115-20
Carter-Baker federal election reform commission,
Clinton, William Jefferson "Bill," 45, 81, 133, 178, 244, 251, 314-15, 350, 351, 362-63, 392,412;
396 Carter, Rosalynn, 412
debates, 324—326, 393; draft avoidance,
Carvin, Michael, 370, 381 Casey,
Bill,
329;
100-101, 102, 122, 139, 140, 144; arms-
for-hostages deal, 202; Debategate, 118-19;
1980 campaign, 109,
1
1,
1
14;
1
and Reagan
xv,
333-34; and
and Foreign
Policy,
Haig, 140,
Clinton, Hillary, 333, 362,412
Cocke, Richard, 418
"Cedar Revolution," 302 Central America, issues
Cocke, Richard, Jr., 418 of,
Cocke, William, 41
148n
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), George H. W.
Bush and, 52-53
Cold War, 286-92; end
Violeta, 292n,
Change:
law practice, 340-41;
in
404
Command
294, 396
presence, 285
Commander in chief, U.S. president as, 251 Commerce Department: Baker and, 29-30,
Foster, 63
Chapoton, Don, 220 Character, questions
of, 331; as
campaign
issue,
and Chinese
textiles,
388,
Commission on
Chemical Weapons Convention, 351
Common
361-62, 395, 409; advice from,
1
37-38; and
Bush administration, 281-82; election as Ford's chief
Gulf War,
of
staff, 28, 31,
of, 363;
62, 63, 68, 70; personal qualities, 31;
and tax
reform, 231 l.\
198, 212;
as, xii,
414; failure
Competition, George H.
1
12
36-37 of, xv,
292
W Bush and,
18,
94
Compromise, Reagan and, 125 311, 331
Conable, Barber, 185
Confirmation hearings, 215-17;
as secretary
of
280
Congo, 307
White House, Baker
Communism,
state,
nne, 359, 395
of staff,
Presidential Debates,
situs picketing,
Compton, Ann,
35-36; and
298; and 1976 campaign, 58, 59,
52, 120,
403-5
Cheadle, Charlotte, 340
Cheney, Richard, 168, 169, 192, 256, 317, 358, 359,
32-39;
34
Commission on Federal Election Reform,
310 Chase, Chevy, 44
Iheney,
of, xv,
Collins, Marvin, 20
in politics,
243-44,317,332
Chanock,
Coe, Doug, 328 Coelho, Tony, 256
Chamorro,
Chief
437; 1992
campaign, 309-12, 316, 322, 324, 330; and
Clinton administration, and Iraq, 299
148
Caveney, Red, 93
(
358; inauguration of,
NAFTA,
Somalia, 307; and taxes, 230
administration, 201 Caveat: Realism, Reagan,
and economy, 189, 438; and George H.
W Bush, 53n; Gore and,
31,
124-25, 169-70,
122-11, 150-64,
170-71, 197-99, 215n, 267, 322-34; Card
Congress,
U.S.:
Baker and, 154, 282; and federal
deficit, 322; as,
and
Reagan and, 137
Iraqi invasion
of Kuwait, 297;
INDEX Congressional Black Caucus, 177
*
451
assassination attempt, 142, 143, 146, 160; and
Congressional hearings, 225-26
Reagan's funeral, 410, and Stockman, 167-68;
Congress members, and president, 154—55
and
Connallyjohn,
24, 53, 54, 62, 77,
79-80, 86, 106;
presidential campaign, 87, 91-92
as,
111-21
Debategate, 118-19 Debates, televised, 56; 1976, 63-68; 1980, 87,
Connally, Nellie, 79 Conservatives: and Baker, 37n; and Kissinger,
27-28
89-91, 107-8, 112-20; 1984, 207-9; 1988,
271-75; 1992, 324-26; 2004, 334, 392-93. See
Contrast ads,
266
political,
Conventions, major-party,
also 52. See also
Democratic
Convention; Republican Convention
Conway,
television, 267
Debate negotiator, Baker
Defense Department, and
Iraq, 301
Defense spending, 187
341
Bill,
Television
Defense, Reagan and, 107-8
Cooley, Denton, 15
Deficit reduction, 177,431
Cooper, Virginia, 340
Deficit spending, 322
Corruption, in Soviet Georgia, 397
Delaney, Thomas, 143
Council on Foreign Relations, 300
Delegates: entertainment
of, 45;
hunt
for,
Cox, Archibald, 38
Democratic Convention, 1988, 255-56
Crane, Phil, 85, 91
Democratic Party: Baker and,
Crawford, Rowena, 418
Democrats: and economy, Reagan
The Creative Balance: Government,
Politics,
and the
Individual in America's Third Century,
Credibility, in campaign, 47-^48
values, global,
Emma, 420
Curtis,
Pam, 123
1
74,
177-79, 183-84; post-election battle, 2000,
364-90; press
314
as,
Department of Foreign
Affairs, 281
Depression, economic, 427
Cronkite, Walter, 96, 103
Curtis,
Texas, 18-19
era,
Dent, Lynn, 284
management, Reagan administration, 148
Currency
15; in
Dent, Fred, 25
Richardson, 38
Crisis
39-40,
41-46,47
Country music, 236
428-33
Deregulation, Reagan and,
Des Moines
1
76
86
Register,
Dewey, Thomas, 58 diGenova, Joseph, 329 Diplomacy, 282-84, 285; lighter moments, 296n
Daily Oklahoman, 35-36
Daley,
Bill,
Directorships of companies, 339—40, 342—43
365, 374, 375
Dallas Morning News,
1
.
Discipline, personal, 25
Columbia, location
District of
97
Edward
Danforthjack, 380,410
Djerejian,
Daniel, Price, 77
Djerejian, Francoise, 348
P.,
of, 2
14
304n, 348
Daniel, Pricejr, 75, 76-77, 78
Dobler, Conrad, 32
Darman, Dick, 134-35,
Dole, Bob, 53, 85, 238, 245-46, 351, 372;
change, 208-1
1;
347;
and Baker's job
and Bush administration,
and international trade, 427-28,
321, 323;
campaign, 91
430; and 1988 campaign, 252, 253, 272; and
Dole, Elizabeth, 135, 177,246
Reagan administration,
Domenici, Pete, 176-77, 245, 327
162, 181, 207, 209,
211, 220—21, 223; and Reagan assassination
Donatelli, Becki, 74n
attempt, 146; and Stockman, 166; and tax
Donatelli, Frank, 74n, 377
Donoho, Denise, 35
reform, 226, 227 l)a\
debates, 393; 1976 campaign, 62, 65; 1980
KdmundJ., 75
is,
Douglass, Dexter, 379, 381
Dow Jones
Davis, Sammy.Jr., 250
The
Deadlock:
Inside Story of America
Washington Post
staff,
's
Closest Election,
Duberstein, ken,
362n
Dean, John, 67
26S-69
Deaver, Mike, 109, 122, 139, 140, 192-93; and
chid
Scenes, I25n;
75
of staff.
125-27; Behind the
and economy, 187; and 1980
Dulles, John Foster,
xii
Duncan, Charles, M6, '•>'
Dunlop, John,
administration, 130,
l)u Pont, Pierre "Pete,"
1
Jl,
151-53, 160, 171,
1
' .
:oi -2,208-9,211- 12, and Reagan
W7
Duncan, John, 22 \ 226
campaign, 111, 114; and Reagan
I
65
66, 276;
debates, 271-75; presidential campaign,
Deaver, Carolyn, 192
as
1
Dukakis, Michael, 102,238
Deardourff, John, 69
Baker
Industrial Average, 439—41
Draft avoidance, Clinton and, 329
l)u\al, Mike.
58,63,64
154,238
452
INDEX
*
Eagleburger, Lawrence, 284, 320
63-68; and election reform, 403; loss of
hurly Bird,
election, 44-45, 71-72; nomination, 1976, 41.
East
(
1
5
1
icrmanv, 291 n
U.338 Economic polic\
:
international coordination,
"1-72; as
-.pencer and, 39; veto, 37; and vice
18;
Economic
Policy Board, and textile policy, 34-35
Economy, Economy,
Iraq.
399—402
presidency, 99-100, 102—1; and Watergate scandal. 67
George H. W. Bush and, 321-22.
324. 325-26, *32; 1990s, 310, 351;
Reagan
Foreign dignitaries, secretary of state and, 285-86 Foreign policy: Baker and, 285-86; Bush and,
and. 106-7
281-82; Clinton and, 315; Kissinger and, 28;
post-Cold War, 307
Edson, Gary, 401
Former public
Edwards, John, 52, 106 Eisenhower, Dwight David,
18, 136, 251;
inaugural
address, xv, xvii; inauguration of, xi-xii
Elected
44—+5,
54-72; Richardson and,
34, 44, 45, 53,
426-33; Reagan and. 171-90
U.S.:
personal qualities,
51;
president. 398; presidential campaign, 1-3,
Fbert,
Frankel,
40
officials,
Election reform, 403-5 Elections, Soviet Georgia, 397-98
343
figures,
German
France: and
unification, 291;
and
Iraq, 301
Max, 68
Freedom, value
of,
Free Trade: Risks
and Rrxards, MacDonald,
293 ed.,
434n
Electoral College, 364, 388-89
Free-trade agreement, Canada-L.S., 433-36
Electoral votes, dispute over, 361. See also Florida,
Free Trade Agreement for the Americas
Elizabeth
II,
Queen of England, 158-59
Friedersdorf,
Enron, Baker as consultant, 344
Environment, George H. W. Bush and, 268
*
.
Amendment (ERA),
Max, 123-24.
134. 135, 175
7-18
Friendship, 33, 415: with G. H.
YV.
FTAA
for the Americas),
(Free Trade
Agreement
Bush.
1
438-39
Episcopal Church, Bakers and, 14
Equal Rights
(FT A A
438-39
post-election battle
105
Fuller, Craig, 238, 265;
European Community, 434; and unified Germany
and 1988 campaign, 243.
240. 252, 253, 263. 2~2n; and Stockman, 166
Funabashi, Voichi, Managing the Dollar From
291
Evans, Don, 358, 360, 361,365
Plaza
Fund
Evans, M. Stanton, 198
to the
Louvre,
the
428n
Limited Government, 81-82
for
Fund-raising, 22-23; Baker and. 347
Funeral of Reagan, 156, 158, 409-12 Face the Nation, 56-57 Faith,
power
of,
Funk, Sherman, 329
356, 41 3-1
Families of public figures. 237
Federal budget process, 173
Gambling with History, Barrett,
Federal debt, 322
"Gang of
Feldt, Kjell-Olof,
1 1
Six" (G-6), 238, 239, 243
Garagiolajoe, 54-55, 56, 69, 70-71
440
Fernald, Jackie, 46
Garner, "Cactus Jack." 249
Field,Jim, 63
Garrett, "Whispering Jack." 21
Fielding, Fred, 135, 146
Garrett,
Finances of Bakers, 32-33, 336-39, 341-15
Gates,
Financing, public, of election campaigns, 55-56
GATT
Mary
Garv
21
Paul, The Acting President, 125n
(General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade). 42", 454
Fischer, Dave, 144
2
Fisherjulie, 398
Gayle, Crystal,
Fitzgeraldjennifer, 82
Genscher, Hans-Dietrich, 293
Fitzwater, Marlin, 323
George Bush Center for Intelligence, 53n George Bush for President Committee, 82
"FivePs,"5, 12,20,24, 151, 154 Flanigan,
Tim, 370
Gephardt, Richard, 81,219,222
Geremek, Bronislaw, 405
Fletcher, Art, 43
Florida, post-election battle,
364—90
Florida-Florida State football game. 367 Florida
Supreme Court, and 2000
election,
"-,380-82,384. *87 Ford, Betty 62. "On Ford.
1
1
3,
1
14,
1
1
8,
1
35,
interests. 32; debar.
1
36;
and
Reagan assassination attempt. 143 Germany, unification of, 291-92
Germond,Jack,
89, 250; Blue
Smoke and Mirrors,
265
Ford, Gerald, 24, 31, 145, 34", 376; and Bush, 52.
and business
Gergen, David, 93,
89n; Whose Broad Stripes and Bright
Emily B5 82;
"6
Ginsberg. Ben. 364. 56", 371, 381 (ilenn.
Aliv
Stars.
2^2n.
INDEX
with, 41 3-1
77-78, 370
Hill, John,
Gold. Vic."6. 2"2n
Hill School, Baker
Goldwater, Barn, 39
Hinckley, John, Jr., 142-43,
Goodwin, Bob,
History, Baker and, 149-50
93,
2~2n
Gorbachev, Mikhail, 164, 226, 279, 290, 296n, 410;
and Arab- Israeli peace process, 303
—
V;
and
Reagan and, 287-88
Iraq, 296:
Hoffman, David, 242-43 Hormats, Bob, 35
Horseback
majority, 363-64; post-election battle, 364;
Horton, Willie, 269-71
1,
244.
358-60
Reagan and, 158
riding,
Houston, Sam,
77,419
8,
Houston, Texas,
Gore, Kristen. 327
Baker and,
12, 33;
Gould, George, 220, 440
Houston Chronicle, 32
Governments, nonfunctioning, 307
Howar, Pam, 236
Govette.Jim, 33-34
Howard Hughes Medical
"6
Institute,
395
Hoxha, Enver, 292
Grace Commission, 176
Huftv. Alex, 32
Gramm,PhiI, 178-79 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings
Hughes, Charles Evans.
Hughes, Karen, 357, 392-93 Hughes, Roy, 40
251
S.,
"1
Hughes, Howard, 13,84
Act, 431
Grandchildren of Baker, 22 Grant. Ulysses
15; return to,
337
Gore. Tipper, 236, 327, 362
1
14s"
Hodsoll, Frank, 33-34, 114
concession speech, 386; popular-vote
presidential campaign.
14
at, 9,
Hoggard, Kim, 284
Gore, Al, 25S, 318, 326-29, 362-63, 369, 383;
Grace, Peter,
453
Helsinki Final Act, 67-68
"Goat rope" campaigns, 46
God, relationship
*
Graves, Howard, 296, 296n
Human Events,
Gray, Al, xiv-xv
Hussein, Saddam, 294-95, 298-300, 327, 399
198
Hustler magazine, 236-37
Green, Betty, 85
Greenspan, Alan, 99, 102,
1
14, 182, 242.
440-41
Hyde, Henry, 230
Greenspan Commission, 182—83
Greenwood, Larry 401 Gregg. Hugh, 90-91
If Sot Me,
Greider, William. 16"
11
~bo?
U 'bat One A [an Accomplished in His
Battle for Equality, Baker,
Groomes, Karen, 284
Inauguration, of Reagan, 140
Gucci Gulch. 21"
Independent counsels,
Guiding Principles
for U.S. Post-Conflict Policy in Iraq,
300
423
23, 66-67, 155,
203^,
329-31 Inflation, 187, 188
Gulf War, 298-99, 302
Ingersoll, Robert, 35
"Gypsy Moths,"
Intelligence of Reagan, 156
184, 185
Interest rates, reduction of,
431-32
International Court of Justice, and Western
Hagen,Joe, 84
Sahara, 352
Haggard, Merle, 236 I
laig. Al,
1
and Reagan assassination
39, 238;
143—H,
attempt.
International
146,
14"—19,
161; as
secretary of state, 140—41
Haldeman. H. R.
economic policy coordination,
426-33 International
Monetary Fund, 42"
International
trips,
secretary of state.
Iowa caucuses: 1976, 85-86; 1980, 87-88;
391
Hamilton, Alexander, 214, 428
238
Hamilton, Lee. 302,402
Iran, hostage crisis, 116, 140
Hance, Kent,
Iran-Contra scandal, 193, 202-5; investigation,
78, 185, 355
Harlow, Bryce,99 Harris,
I
Hams,
katherine, 377
Hart. Garv.
Harvin, I
l.iss.m
Bill, II,
Hatfield,
"6
King of Morocco,
Marl
Haynea, Racehorv Icin/..
John, 412
studv group, 402-
\\
debt
restructuring, 390—402; invasion of Kuwait,
1'
Havel, Vaclav, 405, 414
I
330-31 Iraq: bipartisan
red. 85
151, 353
293-9N; warm, 299-
»2
[raqgate scandal, J26-29,
;
Iraq Stud]
Croup, 302
Irwin, Frank. 65
[sham, Mary, 419n Isolationism, 42" Israel.
W3
4
4 54
INDEX
*
King Ranch, 343-44
Jackson, Andrew, 251
Jackson, Caron, 221, 284,
MO
Kirkpatrickjeane,
Kleindienst, Richard, 25, 39
III
Hall, 147
III
Institute for Public Policy, Rice
University, xvi,
31, 162, 235, 300,
1
346-48
Jefferson,
Korean War,
xi, xiv,
1
1-12, 287; United Nations
and, 297
304n.
Kramer, Michael, 271
Kuhn, Bowie, 206
James, Pen, 135, 139 Javits, Jacob,
201
284, 351; and China, 34
Jackson, Michael, 221
James V Baker James A Baker
14, 192, 196,
1
kissmger, Henry, 27-28, 35-36, 51, 69, 99, 102,
Jackjon,Jesse, 258
Kuwait, Iraqi invasion, 293-298
84
Thomas,
279,
419n
Jeffords, Jim, 185, 185n
Jennings, Peter, 305
Labor-management
Jimenez, Frank, 367
Labor unions, picketing
Jimenez, Marcos, 370
Lakejim, 252
Jitkoffjulia, 346
Lancaster.Jack, 22
Job
offers, after leaving office,
John Birch
Larry King Live,
3
Lascaze, Lee, 169
Johnson, Haynes, 66
Lavin, Frank, 74n 86;
Latta, Delbert,
and Bush,
36-37
1
John Paul II, Pope, 159n, 208n Johnson, Corwin, 338n B., 2, 18,
by,
Laney, Pete, 357
337
Society, 19
Johnson, Lyndon
Ford and, 37
relations,
20;
and
Law,
debates, 56
as career, also
Johnson, Manley, 223
Jones, George, 236
Law Law
79
Baker and,
10,
12-14, 25, 107. See
&
Andrews, Kurth, Campbell
firm;
Jones, Elizabeth Winston, 267n, 401
1
Bradley law
Baker Botts law firm changes
practice,
in,
340-41
school, Baker and, 12
Jones, Harry, 13,20,25, 76
Lawson, James, 422
Jones, Jerry, 63
Lawsuits, Florida election, 374-81, 383-84
Jones, Jim, 178
Laxalt, Paul,
3,
99, 139, 158;
and Reagan
administration, 208
Jones, Karen, 74 Jones, Mollie, 340
Lay, Ken, 344
Jordan, 303; Israeli treaty with, 304
Leadership quality, delegation
Jordan, Barbara, 423
League of Nations, 296-97
Jordan, Vernon, 334, 391-94
League of
Women
as,
369
Voters, and debates, 64, 90,
112-13, 116-17
Juster, Ken, 370
Justice Department, Baker and, 25
Leaking, 170, 193-94
Lebanon, 303; Syrian occupation, 302 Legislative Strategy
Kaye, Peter, 47
134-35, 152,
216
Legislators, 237
Keene, David, 84, 88, 96
Lehrer, Jim, 272
Kelley, Bill, 370
Leland, Mickey, 423
Kempjack,
Letters,
99, 222, 230, 238, 245, 343, 351,
Reagan and, 157 66-67
Levi, Edward,
359
Kemp, Joanne, 359 Kendall, Don, 259-60 Kennan, George F, 286-87
Levy, David, 406
Kennedyjohn
Liberal politics,
Kennedy,
Group (LSG),
166, 174-75, 179, 181 n, 184-85,
Kasten, Bob, 222
Pat,
F, 2,
36, 209, 273, 41
284
Kennedy, Ted,
Kerryjohn,
1
Lewis, Drew, 49, 104 Lias,
87, 101, 256,
Tom, 85 American public and, 258-59
Liberia, 307
256n
52, 106, 251, 334, 390, 391, 412;
Libya, 302 Lisagor, Peter, s~
concession of election, 393-94; and debates,
Lobbying; Baker and, 337 339, 342
392
Loeb, William, 90
Kerry, Teresa Heinz, 412
Lollar, Klinka, 74
Kilpatrick, James, 57
Long, Russell, 215, 223
Kimmitt, Robert, 220, 284; and 1988 campaign,
Looking Forward, G. H.
246, 247-48, 252-53
King, Richard, 343
Loomis, Carol,
1
14
Los Angeles Times, 345
W Bush, 89n
I
N
+
1)1 X
155
Lott, Trent, 229, 230, 231, 159
and Baker
Lott, Tricia, 359
management
Louvre Accord, 432
and Iran-Contra scandal, 204; Lukens and,
as chief of stall, [27
plan, 14s and ;
and 1980 campaign, 109,
Lowery, Clay, 401
12
Loyalty; political, 124
policy adviser,
LSG.
See Legislative Strategy
Group
3;
1
30, 131,
1
JO,
34;
1
1
1,
1
194, 199, 201;
attempt, 143, 144, 146, 148, 160; and
Fran, 21,215
Stockman,
Will, 215
and Reagan assassination 167-68
166,
Lynn, Jim, 36
Meese, Ursula, 192
Lynn, Loretta, 236
Meese-Baker memorandum, Meet the
McCarthy, Eugene, 86 McCarthy, Tim, 143
Michel, Bob, 181,230
McClure, Charles, 223
Middle
McCormack,
Midland, Texas, 355-56
Sean, 401
and Rrcoards,
434n
diplomacy
East,
128, 129, 132
440
Press,
Mehlman, Ken, 370,403 Mexico, economy of, 437 Miami Herald, and Florida
McCainJohn, 106
recount, 387-88
in,
302-^4
Miles, Richard, 398
Military service, presidency and, 251
McFarlane, Bud, 201, 202; and arms-for-hostages
204
deal, 203,
Bill,
Military training, xiv
84-85
Miller, Jonathan,
McGovern, George, 219, 258 McHenry, Mary Stuart, xi—xii, Mary Stuart McHenry Mclnturff,
14, as
administration, 151-53, 171, 174-75, 180,
Lummis, Lummis,
L. Ian, Free Trade: Risks
187;
and Reagan
Lukens, Donald "Buz," 123-24
Macdonald,
132; crisis
economy,
Mondale, Walter, 132n, 207, 209, 258; and tax 9, 12.
reform, 219
See also Baker,
Montagne, Bridget, 340
Moore, Preston, 74n, 77
84
McKinley, William, 81
Morgan, John, 93
McLennan, Judv, 46
Morocco, and Western Sahara, 352-54
McPherson,
Morrison, Susan, 84
Peter, 46, 435
Madrid, Spain, Arab-Israeli meeting, 303^4
Morton, Anne, 54
Mail, Reagan and, 157
Morton, Rogers, 25-26,
Maine, presidential primary, 1980, 87
52, 62, 135;
Mosbacher, Robert,
Major, John, 305
Moynihan, Daniel
Manafort, Paul, 46, 252 Dollar:
From
the Plaza to the Louvre,
Funabashi, 428n
53-54 and 1988
Mandatory recount,
Mulroney, Brian, 434, 437
Florida, 367-68, 376
Manual recount, demand
Patrick, 182-83, 231
Mulford, David, 220, 430 Mullinsjanet, 284, 323
Manchester Union Leader, 90
for,
Multilateral
economic policy coordination,
426-33
375-76
Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency, 1972—76,
Murray, Alan, Showdown
at Gucci Gulch: Lawmakers,
and the in likely Triumph of Tax Refbrm,2l8n,223,227 Music, Baker and, 235-36
Witcover, 55, 69-70
Marine Corps
39, 40,
84, 238, 324, 344;
campaign, 243
Malek," Fred, 323
Managing the
27, 29-31, 35-36, 38, 46,
and PFC,
Lobbyists,
service, xiv-xv, 11-12,
24-25
Martin, Josie, 87
Mastrangelo, Richard, 46 Matalin, Mary, 323
Mauritania, and Western Sahara, 352, ^5}
Nader, Ralph,
Mealey, Steve, 256-57
N
Means,). C, (grandfather of baker), 8
Media: communications with, 169—71; and
\l
T
21''
North American free Trade Agreement), 315, 351,434, 43"-38
Nashua
\
Telegraph,
90-9] ~
elections, 387-88; pack journalism, 251; political
and
campaigns, 266-69; and Reagan
assassination attempt, 146, 147, 149; and
National Alliance to End National conventions,
I
lomelessness,
National Prayer breakfast, 1990,413
also Press,
National
Medicine,
as career,
iser,
I'M
National Securit) Decision Directive
in, \i\. 12
Meese, Ed, 102, 122, 125-26, 139, 140,
ad\
se< llrit)
National Security Council, 200, Baker and. 282
baker and, 10
Mediterranean, Marine Corps
;
National Guard, Quayle and, 251-54
Republican Convention, L988, 244-45. See Television
-
2
1';:
93;
140
41. 141
11
NSDD),
456
INDEX
+
National Securirj Planning
Group NSPG), 200
Ortega, Daniel, 289n, 404
National Security Political Action Committee, 270
Osborne, kathv, 152, 366
\ \ To
Oslo Accords, 304
\.»rth Atlantic Treaty Organization
Nature, Baker and,
Oval
2(>2
Naval gunfire spotter.
Na\
Outdoors, Baker and, 262
lermanj and, 291
(
1-12
1
conducted
Office: business
in,
1
30-3
(
and
lhaiies
Sally,
435-36
155; successful,
Pack journalism, 251 Pack wood, Boh, 222, 231
Oslo Accords, 304
Nessen, Ron, 36
Palestine,
Netanyahu, Benjamin, 406
Palestinian Liberation Organization, 303
Nevius,
Sally,
Parents Music Resource Center
236
Hampshire primary:
1980, 85-86, 88-92;
Paris Club,
1988,238 64
Partisanship, 155
Reagan era economy,
York Times, 41,
50, 299;
1
1
Pam -switchers,
72
and Baker, 46, 48;
Nixon, Richard, 23-24,
38, 136, 239, 244, 250;
and
Baker, 239; and Bush, 19, 20, 79-80; and
and debates,
34;
resignation
of, 145;
Nofziger, Lyn, 100,
1 1 1
,
56;
pardon
24,
1
35;
Pennsylvania, primary election, 93
Pentagon, attack on, 305 Perot,
and Reagan
assassination attempt, 144, 146, 147
Henry
Ross, 311,312-13, 315-16, 322, 324,
325,332,434
of, 44, 45;
and Tutwiler, 284 1
106
Peace, Reagan and, 28, 120, 287-88
Pearlman, Ron, 223
and Florida recount, 387 Nicaragua, 289; elections, 404; political solution, 203
China,
Perrin, Hunter, 77n
Pernjames, 88 Peters, Dick, 316
Nonprofit boards, service on, 344
Peterson,
Norris, Steve, 341
PFC
Bill,
94-95
(President Ford Committee), 30, 39-41;
North, Oliver, 203, 204
Baker and, 45—1-7,
North American Free Trade Agreement
53-54
NAFTA),
351,434,437-39
315,
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 287;
Germany
NSDD
in
and, 291
meetings, 200-201
Morton
and,
Phi Delta Theta fraternity, 6
Howard, 198
Photo opportunities,
(National Security Decision Directive),
54, 56-72;
Phelanjohn, 441 Phillips,
140-41, 141n
NSPG
236, 327
190
Parr, Jerry, 143, 179,
Newspapers, Reagan and, 153 Srxsiveek, and
(PMRC),
402
Parkinson, Paula, 251
Newman, Edwin,
Notes,
153;
275
Negotiations: politics and, 282-83; Reagan and,
New
,
Jan, "4n
lor,
Neblett,
New
1
meetings, 156; Reagan and, 153
156; 1988
campaign, 268-69
Picketing, by unions, 36-37
Pierpoint, Bob, 57
(National Security Planning Group), 200
Pinkerton,Jim, 272n
Nuclear arms agreement, 313
Playboy magazine, 251; interview with Carter,
Nunn, Sam, 327
Plaza Accord, 428-33
65-66
Pledge of Allegiance, 265-66
Plummerjim, 42
PMRC
Obituaries, 407
O'Connor, Sandra Day, 198 Office of Congressional Relations, 175
Oglesbv, M.
B.,
Poindexterjohn, 202; and arms-for-hostages deal, 202; and Baker, 203
175
Ohmanjack, 206 Oklahoma Journal,
Music Resource Center), 236,
(Parents
327
Poland: delegation
support
35
O'Eearv, Dennis, 14
(
Policies, public,
'
396, 405; Ford and, 68-69;
to,
288
for,
Reagan and, 151-52
Olmert, Ehud, 406
Policymaking. 34
Olson, Barbara, 370n
Political conventions, 244. See also
Olson, Ted, 370, 371, 379, 380, 381, 383 O'Neill, T.p, 119, 134, 137, 155, 179,218,229,230,
231,409 Opposition
to Baker,
Organization:
Political loyalty, 124 Political parties, relationship
Operation Desert Storm, 298-99 1:2-24, 198-99, 265-66
in politics, 46: in
campaigns, 84, 243
presidential
Democratic
Convention; Republican Convention between, 183. See also
Democratic Party, Republican Politics, 38, 125; attacks
and,
xiii, 4.
change,
1
1
5,
".
31 7, 332;
Pam
on opponents, 265; Baker 22-25, "2. 349-50; and
George
W Bush and.
N IU
I
355-56; organization
The
in,
46;
and public ser-
Politics
457
*
388; price of, 28()n, 285; rewards of, 13;
titles,
29-30
388
vice,
X
& Peace,
of Diplomacy: Revolution, War
1989-1992, Baker,
xiii,
Public speaking, Reagan and, 174-75
272n, 280, 285, 296n,
298,345-46,365,418 Polygraphs, to determine leaks, 193-94
al
Popular music, 235-36
Quantico, Basic School,
Posner, Richard, Breaking the Deadlock, 362n
Quarrel, Rob, 85
Pounding the
Quayle, James Danforth, 245-54, 263, 273, 317-18
law,
374n
Powell, Colin, 281, 317, 372-73; and
Gulf War,
Qaeda, 306 1
Quayle, Marilyn, 318n
298 Powell, Jody, 111-12, 116
Power: American, xv; Baker and, 41
3;
impermanence
measure
of,
1
41
of,
3;
and,
4, 38; faith
of president,
34; presidential, transfer of,
145—16; source of, 124-25; Washington, White House, 130-31
D.C.,
and, 33-34; in
Presidency, Baker and, 349-52
of, 351;
tenth
anniversary of assassination, xvi, 396, 405-6 Racicot, Marc, 372
Randolph, Elizabeth, 419n Rating system for popular music, 236
President Ford Committee (PFC), 30,
39—11;
Morton
56-72;
54,
Rabin, Yitzhak, 304, 335; funeral
Randolph, William, 41 9n
The Power Game, Smith, 199n
Baker and, 45-47,
Rabin, Leah, 304
and,
53-54
Reagan, Michael, 160 Reagan, Nancy, 113, 153, 159-60, 192, 279,
407-10; and assassination attempt, 144, 147;
Presidential advisers, 29, 130-31
and Baker, 126, 127, 199, 207, 211, 240; and
Presidential campaigns,
Clark, 196; Deaver and, 130; and debate
2, 56,
84, 243; 1976, 1-2,
34-36, 39-11, 54-72; 1980, 100-121; 1984,
performance, 208; and economy, 187; and
207-9; 1988, 239, 262-77; 1992, 239n,
government
309-333; 2000, 357-58
and tax reform, 229
Presidential delegations,
405-6
Presidential nomination, 34; 1976, 27-30, 40-41,
50-52
Reagan,
Parti,
Reagan,
Ron
policies, 171;
and Spencer, 109;
160
(son), 160
Reagan, Ronald, 27-28,
30, 39, 62, 81,
82-83, 241,
Presidential responsibility, 280n
251, 264, 279, 347, 350; advisers to, 130,
Presidential succession, transfer of power,
151-52; and Bush as vice president, 98-99,
145^16 President Reagan:
104—5; assassination attempt, 142-64; Baker
The Role of a
Lifetime,
Cannon, 99n,
and, 97, 122-28, 130-32, 199, 212,
cabinet members,
199n Presidents: protection of,
1
33; success of,
1
34
Press, 61, 105-6,156, 169-71, 212, 251, 314;
Baker
and Congress, 107-8,
1
12,
1 1
1
37;
1
3,
39;
242-H;
and Clymer, 198-99;
death
of,
407-12; debates,
207-9, 325; economic policies, 120-21; and Ford, 52,
and, 47, 63, 151, 198, 282; and debates, 1976,
166-91, 439; election
68-69; and post-election battle, 2000, 372,
53, 103; funeral of, 156, 158; inauguration of,
373;
Reagan and, 110-1
1,
151;
and Reagan
assassination attempt, 147, 161;
daily
news summary, 150-51.
White House
See also
Media;
xii-xiii, xv, 140;
and Nancy,
1
of,
Iran-Contra scandal, 202-5;
59-60; 1976 campaign, 44; 1980
campaign, 86, 87, 89-90, 100-121; and Perot, 312; personal qualities, 108, 124-25, 162-64,
Television Press secretary, Reagan administration, 152
Primary elections, 40-41, 244; Texas, 1976, 27-29. See also Iowa caucuses;
New
Hampshire
171, 178; as president, 76, 132-35, 140-41, 14S, 1
52-64,
1
94-202, 2 1
3,
2
1
5;
and presidential
nomination, 1976,41,48-19, 50—51;
Republican Convention, PASS, 249-50; and
Primary Princeton University, 9-10, 344
Soviet Union, 287-88; as speeebwnter,
Prison furloughs, Dukakis and, 269-70
tax reform, 216-34; turkev hunt, 189-90;
Prisoners of war
vice-presidential nomination, 2-3
in
Vietnam, Perot and, 312
Protectionism, 428-33, 436; Plaza Accord and,
to
Power,
3 In;
and
Cannon, 99n
Reagan administration: economic
431
Protection of president,
Reagan His Rise
1
1
33-34
Provisional ballots, 394
accomplishments, 429-37; internal
Pruitt, Bernadette, 421
Reaganomics, 166-67, 172
Public appearances, after leaving office, 343
Recession 1981, In". 1990s, i
America,
2 16
458
INDEX
*
Regan, Donald, 144, 159, 209-10, 211, 398,429;
and Reagan administration, 170, 219-20, 221,
and tax reform, 216,
226, and Stockman, 166;
218,219-20,226
William, 117
Satire.
Salazar, Hector, 18
437
Salinas, Carlos,
Sasso.John, 264
Rehnquist. William H., 280
Saturday Might Live, 44
Reitwiesner, William Addams, 418
"Saturday Night Massacre," 38
Religion: Bakers and, 14, 240, 413-15;
Reagan and,
383-84
Sauls, N. Sanders,
Schabowski, Giinter, 286
108 Reporters, competition among, 251
Schieffer, Bob,
Republican Convention: 1976,
Schlesinger.James, 53
2,
50-51; 1980,
102-7; 1988, 244-59; 1992, 323; 1996, 351
Republican National Committee (RNC), 75-76;
Bush
Republican Party: Baker and, 22-23; Baker and,
Mary
Stuart
and, 23-24
Nixon
19;
Schooling of Baker,
6,
President,
9-10
Schroeder, Gerhard, 400
Schweiker, Richard, 49, 50, 180-81 Scowcroft, Brent, 68, 281, 323
Republican primaries, 1988, 238
Searsjohn,
Republicans: in Texas, 18-19, 75; post-election
Secret Service code names, 284n
battle, 2000,
367-90
406
Security Council,
Donna, 248 7,
III
Institute for Public
Policy
Selassie, Haile,
Elliot,
296
Bud, 206
Senate, U.S., Republican control, 174
Senate Budget Committee, 176-77
Richards, Ann, 256, 356
38-39, 53, 134-35
Right
Wing
RNC
(Republican National Committee),
September 11,2001,304-6
Club, Princeton, 9
Shamir, Yitzhak, 285 75;
Bush
chairman, 85
Sharon, Ariel, 406 Sharp, Kay, 21
Shaw, Bernard, 274
39
Robertson, Pat, 238
Shevardnadze, Eduard,
Pile Ranch, 261-62
289-90, 296n, 396-99,
Shevardnadze, Nanuli, 399
Roev. Wade, 104
Shivers, Allan, 18
Rogers, John, 131, 135, 220, 284
Showdown
at Gucci Gulch: Lawmakers, Lobbyists,
and the
Triumph of Tax Reform, Birnbaum and Murray, 21 8n, 223, 227
Rogers, Kenny, 96 Roosevelt, Franklin
xvi,
414; and Iraq, 293-94, 296
Rockefeller, Nelson, 24, 39, 62
Rock
300-1; and
Self-reliance, 415 Selig,
Richard, Barry, 367, 370, 371
Bill,
Iraq,
Sahara, 353, 354-55
346, 422
344, 426; Bakers and, 346-49.
7,
See also James A. Baker
Roberts,
UN: and
Kuwait, 295, 295-96, 298-99; and Western
Rice, William Marsh,
as
141 n, 205, 279-315;
319-21
Rice, Condoleezza, 399, 400,
Richardson,
as,
confirmation hearing, 279-80; resignation,
Retail politics, 86
Rice University,
27, 41, 48, 50, 57, 84, 87, 109
Secretary of State, Baker
Resignations over policy issues, 37-38
Rice,
125n
Schwarzkopf, Norman, 298
chairman, 85
as
The Acting
Unlikely
D, 136
Roosevelt, Theodore, 78, 332
Shriver, Sargent, 85
Rose Revolution, Georgia, 398, 405
Shrum, Bob, 277n
Ross, Dennis, 272n, 283, 323
Shultz, George, 193, 195, 197, 199, 200, 201, 289;
Rostenkowski, Dan, 184, 218, 222, 225-26, 228,
230,233
and Iran-Contra scandal, 202-3, 205 Silver
Creek Ranch, 261,262
Roussel, Peter, 43, 46, 73, 79, 83
Simon,
Rove, Karl, 78, 82, 357 392-93; and election
Simpson, Alan, 245
reform, 403
Bill,
37n, 53
Sinatra, Frank, 235
Rowen, Hobart, 242n
Slaughter, Enos, 71
Rubenstein, David, 341—12, 342
Small-group movement, 328
The Power Game, 199n
Rubin, Robert, 189,432
Smith, Hedrick,
Ruckelshaus, William, 53
Smith, William French, 144, 215
Ruff, Charles,
66-67
4, 128;
Smoking, Baker and,
Ruge, Daniel, 143
Social
life
8, 70,
Rule 16-C, 50
Social Security, 176-80
Rumsfeld, Donald, 30, 53, 169, 238; advice from, 138
Solidarity
Running mates, choice
Somalia, 307
Rupp, George, 346
of,
52
Sosa,
71
of Bakers, 33
movement, Poland, 405
Sammy, 356
INDEX Soviet Georgia, mission
396-99
to.
Teeter. Bets
Soviet Lnion.2"O-80, 286-88; collapse of. \
Teeter. Bob. 25S. 359. and Bush administration,
414; Ford and. 68-60; and Iraq. 29^-
Kissinger and. 28; negotiations with.
paign, 60. 62-63. 61
ind 1980 campaign, 84. 89; and 1988
2
163-64
10".
Reagan and.
campaign.
W Bush
George H.
campaign
|
SPE
j,
308,
400
Speech writer. Reagan s
televised;
-^6;
:
::~:::r
:
:r:
:
I:
I
administration, 153
-.
I
>8-9 "
Tr.i:;r.er.?-.
—
- : 14
28
7>.;~.i>
:je.
:
1
14,
1
1".
_— r.i. T:v magaz
1"
andeconc-
1
T'r.
34.
1
54,
'.
^
165-6-
>4, 186, 188;
2
and
Timmons.
Fre >::
~
Bill
1 1
:
II"
II-
?:;:.:-
Thompson.
Stiles, Jack. 2
Stockman. David.
1~1
poli tik
Theonlopoulou. Abb
.
o:
government
Thatcher. Margaret. 408, 410-1
Steelman. Debbie. 272i v
c .
Textiles,
agreemer
r-: _
18-19
:x>litics in.
-ch, purchase of. 261-62
72
Department.
:
Temrilliger. George. 370, 381
—
Godfrey *Budge.~ -
Media: Press
Terrorism, 305. 306
—
State conventions, 41
>:rr~ir.
and
1;
13 In
as,
and Baker as chief of staff. 125-2". and 19"6 eampa: r "0; and 1980 campaign, 109, 111. 115— 16c and -
:
II
and Reagan s funeral 41
Tennis. 17—18
Specter. Arle-
START
5
and Reagan assassination attempt,
terrorist attack, 305. 5«r also Debates,
Special presidential envoy
-
S-
Trade hberahzatic
Sununu.Joh-
Bush
-
American
Syria. 303; occupation
politic
of Lebanc
_
-
arion lette-
Trewhin Tribble.Pau Tribe.
Lam
Taliban, 306
The TnMmtpbofr\ltr.cs. Stockman, 165-66
Talking points: Bush campaign, 1980, 88-89; Ford
Truman. HiTurkevhunt, 189-90
campaign, 61-62
Tutu. Desmond.
Tax and
Fiscal Responsibility
Act of 1^^
1
56
Tutwiler. Margare: taker's »ob
Tax reform I 'Tax Reform Shurrk Tavlor. Elizabeth, Si
1 1
and Bush administrate 1988 camp^
Twair 21
ClubPmv.
Twenrv -second
Amendmc
-
t
and
4G0
I
I
Witty,
NDt
X
Conway, 233
White, Mark,
"Two-Plus-Four" negotiations, 291
White
I
78
77,
White, Teddy,
1 1
Udall, Morris, 85
power
staff,
White House News Summary, 1 50-5 Whitman, Christie Todd, 372
Western Sahara, 352-55
Whose Broad
States, global view,
Bush and,
VV.
24; Israel
Stripes
130-31. See
in,
White House
and, 303; and Kuwait, 295, 296-97; and
United
USA USS USS
Chief of
also
United Nations: George U.
change of
louse: business of, 130-31;
administrations, 336;
and Bright
1
Stars,
,
287
Germond and
Witcover, 252n, 263
307
Today, and Florida recount, 387-88
Will,
Monrovia, 12
Edward Bennett, 206 Williams, John, 404n
George,
1 1
7,
206
Williams,
Ronald Reagan, 192
Williamson, Rich, 135
Uzielli, Philip, 107
Willis, Fannie,
420
Wilson, Mary, 2 Vail,
Wilson, Woodrow, 71,332
Colorado, Republican retreat, 53, 79
Vance, Cyrus, 37-38
Winning
Vanderjagt, Guy, 231
Florida:
How
the
Van Tine, Kirk, 370
Winston, Bo, 22, 190n
Vice presidency: candidates and, 95-96; debates,
Winston, Elizabeth,
Quayle as candidate, 246-54; Reagan and, 2-3, 98-99 1988, 272-73;
Vice presidential nomination,
50;
Ford and, 102—4
the Battle,
22. See also )ones, Elizabeth
Winston Winston, James "Dear Father," 21, 189-90
Winston, Susan,
19, 21. See also Baker,
Susan
Winston
Vice presidents, presidents and, 157 Violence, popular music and, 236
Winston, Will, 22,
Volcker, Paul, 242, 429, 437
Wirthlin, Dick, 115, 136
von
Bush Team Fought
Zelnick, 362n, 383
Damm, Helene, 144 News Service, 359
72, 182,
190n
Wit of Reagan, 159 Witcover, Jules, 89, 250; Blue Smoke and Mirrors,
Voter
89n; Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency,
1972-76, 55, 69-70; Whose Broad Stripes and
Walesa, Lech, 405, 414
Bright Stars, 252n, 263
Walker, Clay, 235
Women
Wall Street Journal, 150
World Bank, 427 World Trade Center, 304-5 World Trade Organization (WTO), 434 World War I, 5-6 World War II, George H. Bush in, 94, 99
Wallace, Julia, 21
Wallop, Malcolm, 216
Walsh, Lawrence, 203-4, 330-32, 33 In
W
Warner, John, 113
Washington, D.C., 32-33, 334; Bakers
in,
340;
location of, 214
WTO (World Trade Organization), 434
179, 185, 210, 225, 319, 329;
Post, 150,
and Baker,
Wright, Clymer, 198-99 Writing, Baker and, 345
Washington, George, 321 Washington
in politics, 53
57, 319-22; Deadlock:
The Inside
Story of America's Closest Election, 365n;
Wynette,
Wyoming
Tammy, 236 ranch, purchase of, 260-61
and
1980 campaign, 94-95, 111
Washington Speakers Bureau, 343
Yarborough, Ralph,
Washington Times, 150-51
Yates, Nell, 36
Watergate scandal, 23-24
Yeltsin, Boris, 313
Wattjim, 195-96
Yitzhak Rabin Fellowship in Middle East Peace
Weinberger, Caspar, 140, 144, 161, 168-69,
19, 20, 77,
80
and Security, 304
186-87, 201, 330; and arms-for-hostages deal, 203, 204; and assassination attempt, 147
Welfare reform,
1
Zappa, Frank, 236
78
Wells, Charles, 384-85
Western Sahara, 352-55
West Germany, 291 n White,
Clif,
39-40,
Zelnick, Robert, 371, 378; Winning Florida:
Bush Team Fought the
West, Mickey, 13
1
How the
362n, 383
Zoellick, Robert, 221, 283, 323, 368, 377, 381, 439,
440 1
Battle,
JAMES Staff to
Under
A.
BAKER,
Chid
III, served as
d
Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush; Secretary of
Commerce
Gerald
to
Ford;
Secretary of the Treasury to Reagan; and Sec retary
He
of State to Bush.
presidency by
all
campaigns
also led
for the
three of these presidents.
In addition, he has undertaken special envoy
missions for George
W. Bush and
UN
General Kofi Annan on such matters relief
and the conflict
in the
Secretary-
as Iraqi
debt
Western Sahara. In
2006, he became co-chairman of the Iraq Study
Group. Baker
is
currently a senior partner in the law
firm of Baker Botts, and honorary chairman of the
James A. Baker
III Institute for
Public Policy
Rice University. His previous book
War and
Diplomacy: Revolution,
He and
his wife, Susan, live in
STEVE FIFFER
is
of fourteen books.
The
is
The
it
Politics of
1989-1992.
Peace.
Houston.
the author, coauthor, or editor
Fellowship in 2001, he
recipient of a lives in
Guggenheim
Evanston,
nmr
Illinois.
/ / ISBN 0-399-15377-2 5
780399"153778
LI
2895>
A