SR58sFEB18

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending February 18, 2005

Senate Resolution 58 commending the Honorable Howard Baker, Jr., formerly a Senator of Tennessee, for a lifetime of distinguished service.

BRIEF

The Bakers of Tennessee are a political family. Mr. Baker Jr., a US Senator from 1966 to the mid 1980s and chief of staff to President Reagan was preceded in Washington by his father, a US Senator until 1964, his stepmother who followed his father and his grandmother, sheriff of Roane County, Tennessee.

Mr. Baker, Jr. even married the daughter of late Senator Everett Dirksen (Ill).

The Resolution recognizes his family heritage and contributions to US government.

Sponsor: Senator William H. Frist (R-TN)

Vote: Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent (Feb.17, 2005)

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost.

MORE INFORMATION

S. Res. 58

Whereas Howard Henry Baker, Jr., son of Howard Henry Baker and Dora Ladd Baker, was heir to a distinguished political tradition, his father serving as a Member of Congress from 1951 until his death in 1964, his stepmother Irene Baker succeeding Howard Baker, Sr. in the House of Representatives, and his grandmother Lillie Ladd Mauser having served as Sheriff of Roane County, Tennessee;

Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served with distinction as an officer in the United States Navy in the closing months of World War II;

Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. earned a law degree from the University of Tennessee Law School in Knoxville where, during his final year (1948-1949), he served as student body president;

Whereas after graduation from law school Howard Baker, Jr. joined the law firm founded by his grandfather in Huntsville, Tennessee, where he won distinction as a trial and corporate attorney, as a businessman, and as an active member of his community;

Whereas during his father's first term in Congress, Howard Baker, Jr. met and married Joy Dirksen, daughter of Everett McKinley Dirksen, a Senator of Illinois, in December 1951, which marriage produced a son, Darek, in 1953, and a daughter, Cynthia, in 1956;

Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. was elected to the Senate in 1966, becoming the first popularly elected Republican Senator in the history of the State of Tennessee;

Whereas during three terms in the Senate, Howard Baker, Jr. played a key role in a range of legislative initiatives, from fair housing to equal voting rights, the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, revenue sharing, the Senate investigation of the Watergate scandal, the ratification of the Panama Canal treaties, the enactment of the economic policies of President Ronald Reagan, national energy policy, televising the Senate, and more;

Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served as both Republican Leader of the Senate (1977-1981) and Majority Leader of the Senate (1981-1985);

Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. was a candidate for the Presidency in 1980;

Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served as White House Chief of Staff during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan;

Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board during the Presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush;

Whereas following the death of Joy Dirksen Baker, Howard Baker, Jr. married Nancy Landon Kassebaum, a former Senator of Kansas;

Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. served with distinction as Ambassador of the United States to Japan during the Presidency of George W. Bush and during the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan;

Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the Nation's highest civilian award; and

Whereas Howard Baker, Jr. set a standard of civility, courage, constructive compromise, good will, and wisdom that serves as an example for all who follow him in public service: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate commends its former colleague, the Honorable Howard Henry Baker, Jr., for a lifetime of distinguished service to the country and confers upon him the thanks of a grateful Nation.

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