The man who ran Washington : the life and times of James A. Baker III
by Baker, Peter, 1967- (Author), Glasser, Susan (Author)
Summary
"Co-authored by the Chief White House correspondent at The New York Times and the Washington columnist at the The New Yorker, this is a biography any would-be power broker must own: the story of legendary White House chief of staff and secretary of state James A. Baker III, the man who ran Washingto... Full description
Summary: |
"Co-authored by the Chief White House correspondent at The New York Times and the Washington columnist at the The New Yorker, this is a biography any would-be power broker must own: the story of legendary White House chief of staff and secretary of state James A. Baker III, the man who ran Washington when Washington ran the world. In the latter half of the twentieth century, no Republican won the presidency without his help, and the men he counseled in the Oval Office--Gerald R. Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush--defined more than one generation of American life. Campaign manager, chief of staff, treasury secretary, and ultimately secretary of state, James A. Baker III understood better than anyone how to make Washington work and how to pull the levers of power at home and abroad. A suave and profane Texas Democrat, Baker worked as a wealthy Houston lawyer until his best friend, George H. W. Bush, drew him into Republican politics. His first dramatic win was in 1976 as the delegate hunter who secured the Republican nomination for Ford against a challenge from Ronald Reagan. His next job, as Bush's campaign manager four years later, maneuvered Bush onto the ticket with Reagan and Baker into the most powerful office in Washington other than the Oval Office: White House chief of staff. In his years in the White House and in the cabinet, Baker was the avatar of a style of politics and governance that valued pragmatism and deal making over purity. He went from win to win--reforming the tax code, negotiating the first Middle East peace talks, managing the dissolution of the Soviet Union--until his capstone victory, as field marshal for the younger Bush's Florida recount battle, helped divide the country forever. In today's era of gridlock, The Man Who Ran Washington is an electrifying escape"-- |
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Physical Description: |
xxii, 694 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations some color ; 25 cm |
Bibliography: |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [657]-663) and index. |
ISBN: |
9780385540551 0385540558 |
Author Notes: |
Prior to joining The New York Times (NYT) in 2008, Baker was a reporter for 20 years at The Washington Post, where he also covered the White House during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Baker co-authored the original story breaking the Lewinsky scandal during Clinton's presidency and served as the paper¿s lead writer during the subsequent impeachment battle. During Bush¿s second term, Baker covered the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina and the Supreme Court nomination fights. Baker is the author of many NYT bestselling books: The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton, Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin¿s Russia and the End of Revolution, and Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House. He won the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Coverage of the Presidency for his reporting on Bush. Baker is a regular panelist on PBS¿s Washington Week and a frequent guest on other television and radio programs. (Bowker Author Biography) |