Letter Accepting the
Resignation of James A. Baker III as Secretary of the Treasury
Dear
Jim:
Your
letter of today wasn't entirely unexpected, but I have to admit to mixed feelings. After all, you've been with me for more than
eight years now as a trusted friend and adviser. But you're going on to
something of fundamental importance -- helping to elect George Bush as the next
President of the
One
of the things that I hope will make your new job easier is your own solid
record of accomplishment and extraordinary service to the American people. As
White House Chief of Staff for four years, you managed the legislative process
that produced the Economic Recovery Tax Act and Omnibus Budget Reconciliation
Act of 1981, the Social Security Reform Act of 1983, and countless other
victories. You provided wise foreign policy counsel in National Security
Council deliberations, and you guided my 1984 reelection campaign to its
49-State win.
As
Secretary of the Treasury, you shepherded tax reform through Congress -- a job
that many said could never be done. You moved our third-world debt strategy to
a new, growth-oriented stage. You helped resist the threat of protectionism,
and advanced the historic U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. And you negotiated
masterfully with your colleagues in the Group of Five and Group of Seven --
creating a new and more effective framework for the coordination of
international economic policy. As my principal economic adviser, you can take
justifiable pride in the fact that our economic policies have now produced a
record 69 consecutive months of peacetime growth and kept inflation down while
reducing unemployment to the lowest levels in 14 years and creating record
numbers of new jobs for Americans. What a legacy!
You
and I first met when we opened
So
it is with tremendous admiration and gratitude that I accept your resignation
effective August 18. I'm proud of all you've done and of the job that awaits
you. Come to think if it, I'm sure your grandfather would be proud, too!
Sincerely,
Ronald
Reagan
Dear
Mr. President:
Immediately
after your election victory almost eight years ago, you broke the mold of
convention. You named as your White House Chief of Staff the former campaign
manager of your last competitor in the primary campaign. In doing so, you not
only surprised most political and governmental observers, you shocked me as well.
But at the same time, you gave me an opportunity to serve for which I will
always be profoundly grateful.
Thanks
to your willingness to entrust me with responsibility, I was able to
participate directly in what you rightly termed a New Beginning. In your first
term, I was able to share in the euphoric sense of victory as your economic
program was enacted; in the renewed sense of pride as respect for America was
restored at home and abroad; and in appreciation for your very special bond
with the American people -- who gave you an extraordinary vote of confidence,
reelecting you with a forty-nine state electoral majority.
In
your second term, you honored me again by entrusting me with responsibility as
your Secretary of the Treasury. You thus afforded me a special opportunity to
help formulate and implement economic policy in a challenging historical
context. I am particularly grateful for having had the opportunity to help
advance three of your initiatives that I believe will be widely judged to have
lasting significance: in domestic economic policy, historical tax reform; and
in international economic policy, a new system of economic policy coordination
endorsed by the Heads of State and Government at several annual Economic
Summits and a Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Canada, the world's two
largest trading partners.
I
have alluded to but a few of the achievements that have made me, like so many
people, proud to be associated with your Presidency. You have achieved the
first successful two-term presidency in almost three decades. I am confident
that historians will view the Reagan era as one in which
There
is no way I can fully repay you for the trust and kindness you have shown me.
But, as you know, the Vice President has asked that I assume the Chairmanship
of his Presidential election campaign. And it does seem to me that in seeking
to advance your Vice President's candidacy, I could best help insure the
survival of your legacy and assure that your remarkable contributions are
extended on toward the twenty-first century. I therefore respectfully request
that you accept my resignation as Secretary of the Treasury -- and propose that
this resignation be effective on August 17 in order that I might assume my new
responsibilities upon the Vice President's nomination for the Presidency at our
party's National Convention.
In
a way, it would thus seem that I might go out where I came in. But I have been
forever enriched by the experience you have afforded me. And, of course, the
world has changed substantially in the intervening almost eight years. Happily,
that change has been for the better. Now, the challenge is to carry forward the
progress you have fostered -- and to build upon it. I seek to help meet that
challenge with an image of your bold and effective leadership etched forever in
my mind -- and with appreciation for your warmth and kindness deep in my heart.
Susan
joins me in gratitude and affection to you and to
Sincerely,
Jim