Former Chief of Staff under President Reagan, James Baker III (b.1930) was
appointed as the sixty-seventh Secretary of the Treasury on February 3, 1985,
exchanging jobs with Secretary Donald Regan. A lawyer by training, he practiced
law in Houston with the firm of Andrews & Kurth for more than twenty
years. His introduction to Washington came when President Ford appointed
him Under Secretary of Commerce. Considered a savvy political strategist, he
also served on President Ford's campaign staff as Deputy Chairman for Delegate
Operations and four months later as the National Chairman of the President Ford
Committee.
From January 1979 to May 1980 he served as national chairman of the George
Bush for President Committee. During his tenure as Treasury Secretary, Baker is
credited with guiding a major tax reform bill through Congress in 1986. His
efforts in encouraging international economic cooperation by lowering the value
of the dollar encouraged the sale of American products abroad. He was described
as "the guy who rose to the challenge of international policy
coordination" because of his efforts to encourage economic cooperation
between the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and Japan. Secretary Baker
resigned on August 17, 1988 to become Chairman of the Bush campaign and in 1989
became Secretary of State.- Text
Courtesy of the Office of the
Curator
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