Howard Baker
Howard Baker
During his three-term tenure as Tennessee's first popularly-elected Republican senator, Howard H. Baker Jr. acted as Vice Chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee. During the committee's proceedings, Baker asked: "What did the President know, and when did he know it?" His post on the Watergate Committee was a bit awkward for Baker, whose 1972 campaign literature proclaimed him to be a "close friend and trusted advisor of our President, Richard M. Nixon."

Baker had a very successful political career, serving in the U.S. Senate from 1967-85, with two terms as minority leader (1977-81) and two terms as majority leader (1981-85). He was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1980. He also worked as chief of staff for then-President Ronald Reagan.

After retiring, Baker worked for several law firms. His first wife, Joy Dirksen Baker, died in 1993, and he married former Kansas senator Nancy Kassebaum in 1996.

He is currently the Ambassador to Japan.

• Baker Says He Didn't Want Supreme Court Seat (December 19, 1998)
• Rehnquist Got Call That Baker Missed for Nixon Court Nomination (December 18, 1998) 		Howard Baker
spacerRobert Bork
spacerPat Buchanan
spacerArchibald Cox
spacerCharles Colson
spacerJohn Dean
spacerBob Dole
spacerJ. Ehrlichman
spacerSam Ervin
spacerH.R. Haldeman
spacerE. Howard Hunt
spacerG. Gordon Liddy
spacerJeb Magruder
spacerJames Baker
spacerJohn Mitchell
spacerRichard Nixon
spacerCharles Ruff
spacerDonald Segretti
spacerEarl Silbert
spacerJohn Sirica
spacerHugh Sloan
spacerMaurice Stans
spacerFred Thompson
spacerDeep Throat

© 2002- The Washington Post Company