Secretary of State James Baker warned publicly, “I will recommend to the President that the United States make no further contributions, voluntary or assessed, to any international organization which makes any changes in the PLO's status as an observer organization."
Post-Cabinet Career
1993–2000
In 1993 Baker became the founding chair of the James A. Baker III Institute of Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
In 1995, Baker published his memoirs of service as Secretary of State in a book entitled The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War and Peace, 1989–1992 (ISBN 0-399-14087-5).
In March 1997, Baker became the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara.[17] In June 2004 he resigned from this position, frustrated over the lack of progress in reaching a complete settlement acceptable to both the government of Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front. He left behind the Baker II plan, accepted as a suitable basis of negotiations by the Polisario and unanimously endorsed by the Security Council, but rejected by Morocco.
In addition to the numerous recognitions received by Baker, he was presented with the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Award for public service on September 13, 2000 in Washington, D.C..
In 2000, Baker served as chief legal adviser for 2000 election campaign and oversaw the Florida recount. A 2008 film Recount covers the days following the controversial election. During the making of the film Baker was interviewed. Baker was portrayed in the film by British actor Tom Wilkinson.
On September 11, 2001, Baker watched television coverage of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington DC, where Baker and representatives of Osama bin Laden's family were among those attending the annual conference for the Carlyle Group. Baker is Senior Counselor for the Carlyle Group, and the bin Ladens are among its major investors.[18]
State of Denial, a book by investigative reporter Bob Woodward, says that White House Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, urged President Bush to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with Baker following the 2004 election. However, another G. H. W. Bush Administration veteran, Robert Gates, was appointed instead, and only after the 2006 elections. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008.[19]
Iraq
In December 2003, President Iraq.[22]
The Iraq Study Group examined a number of ideas, including one that would create a new power-sharing arrangement in Iraq that would give more autonomy to regional factions.[23] On October 9, 2006, the Washington Post quoted co-chairman Baker as saying "our commission believes that there are alternatives between the stated alternatives, the ones that are out there in the political debate, of 'stay the course' and 'cut and run'".
Other advisory positions
Baker has formal involvement with the country of Azerbaijan as he serves on the Honorary Council of Advisers for the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce.[24][25]
World Justice Project
James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-Chair for the World Justice Project. The World Justice Project works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the Rule of Law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.
Personal life
Baker met his first wife, the former Mary Stuart McHenry, of Dayton, Ohio while on spring break in Bermuda with the Princeton University rugby team. They married in 1953. Mary Stuart Baker (Mary Stuart was her full first name) died of breast cancer in February 1970.
In 1973, Baker and Susan Garrett Winston, a close friend of Mary Stuart, were married.[6] They have six sons and two daughters.
On June 15, 2002, Virginia Graeme Baker, the seven-year-old granddaughter of Baker, daughter of Nancy and James Baker IV, was the victim of lethal suction-pump entrapment in an in-ground spa.[26] To promote greater safety in pools and spas, Nancy Baker gave testimony to the Consumer Product Safety Commission,[27] and James Baker helped form an advocacy group,[28] which led to the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool And Spa Safety Act (15 USC 8001).[29]
Notes
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^ "About the Baker Institute".
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^ City of Houston: Procedures for Historic District Designation. City of Houston. (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document). Retrieved: July 11, 2008
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^ "Mother of Secretary of State Baker dies here at 96". Houston Chronicle. April 26, 1991. Retrieved: July 11, 2008
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^ James A. Baker, 3rd, Current Biography, March 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2007. "Like his father, Jim Baker, as he prefers to be known, attended the Hill School, a college prep school in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, then enrolled at Princeton University."
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^ Newhouse, John. "Profiles: The Tactician". The New Yorker. May 7, 1990. pp.50–82. Retrieved July 11, 2008
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^ a b "Biography of James Baker". Princeton University Library. (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document). Retrieved: July 11, 2008
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^ James A. Baker III, Work Hard, Study... and Keep Out of Politics! (New York, 2006), 122.
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^ """Phil Gailey and Warren Weaver, Jr., "Briefing.
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^ 1984 National Results U.S. Election Atlas
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^ "National Winners | public service awards | Jefferson Awards.org". jeffersonawards.org. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
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^ NNDB profile.
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^ NNDB, "White House Chief of Staff" list.
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^ Lawrence Freedman and Efraim Karsh, The Gulf conflict: diplomacy and war in the new world order (New Jersey, 1993), 257.
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^ Plague war: Interviews: James Baker. Frontline. PBS. 1995
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^ 2000. "Sadam's Toxic Arsenal". Planning the Unthinkable. ISBN 0801437768
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^ Bolton, John (June 3, 2011). "How to Block the Palestine Statehood Ploy". The Wall Street Journal.
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^ "U.N. ENVOY: Asking Baker to resolve dispute is good choice". Houston Chronicle. March 20, 1997
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^ "James Baker". nndb.com. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
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^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
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^ King, John. “Bush appoints Baker envoy on Iraqi debt”, “CNN.com”, December 3, 2003, retrieved August 11, 2009.
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^ Paley, Amit R. "U.S. and Iraqi Forces Clash With Sadr Militia in South". Washington Post. October 9, 2006
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^ "Baker surfaces as key adviser to Bush on Iraq". Insight Magazine. September 12, 2006
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^ Sanger, David E. "G.O.P.'s Baker Hints Iraq Plan Needs Change". New York Times. October 9, 2006
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^ Honorary Council of Advisers
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^ U.S. Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce
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^ Dumas, Bob. "Troubled Waters" Pool & Spa News. October 2003
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^ Chow, Shern-Min. "Former Secretary of state pushes for hot tub safety standards". Vac-Alert. June 29, 2007
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^ Press Releases: "Former Secretary of State James Baker speaks in support of legislation intended to prevent accidental drowning". Safe Kids Worldwide. May 2, 2006
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^ "Virginia Graeme Baker Pool And Spa Safety Act". Consumer Product Safety Commission. at Vac-Alert. (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document)
Further reading
Works by
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1995: The Politics of Diplomacy. with Thomas M. DeFrank. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 9780399140877.
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2006: "Work Hard, Study... And Keep Out of Politics!": Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life. with Steve Fiffer. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 9780399153778.
Works about
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Bryce, Robert, (2004). Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America's Superstate. New York: Perseus Books Group. ISBN 9781586481889.
External links
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James Addison Baker Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
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James A Baker III Oral History Collection at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
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Profile in the Daily Princetonian
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Biography on Baker Botts LLP website
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Baker Institute for Public Policy
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, December 3, 1995.The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War and Peace, 1989-1992 interview with Baker on Booknotes
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James Baker Oral History at Houston Oral History Project, November 20, 2007.