Baker, James Addison, III

views updated May 17 2018

Baker, James Addison, III (1930– ) US Republican Party politician. After serving under Ronald Reagan as White House chief of staff (1981–85) and secretary of the treasury (1985–88), Baker managed the successful 1988 presidential election campaign of George Bush. As Bush's secretary of state (1989–92), much of his focus was on the Middle East, particularly Iraq's invasion of Kuwait (1990) and the subsequent Gulf War (1991). In 1992 Baker became Bush's chief of staff and supervised his unsuccessful bid for re-election. In 2000 elections, Baker acted as adviser to the successful Republican candidate George W. Bush, son of the former president.