BAKER,
JAMES A. III: FILES, 1981-1985 – REAGAN LIBRARY COLLECTIONS
This
collection has been reviewed by the Reagan Library staff and is available for
research. You may access this collection
in our research room. There is no need to
file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for any of the contents of
this collection
BAKER, JAMES A. III: FILES,
1981-1985
Office
of the Chief of Staff: Chief of Staff, 1981-1985
James Baker was born in
Houston, Texas, in 1930, the son and grandson of prominent Houston attorneys.
He attended the Hill School, a college preparatory boarding school in
Pennsylvania which his father had attended. He continued to follow his father’s
path by enrolling at Princeton University. After graduating from Princeton in
1952, Baker served two years as a lieutenant in the Marine Corps, then enrolled at the University of Texas School of Law in
Austin. He received his law degree in 1957, and was hired by the Houston law
firm of Andrews and Kurth.
Baker’s first wife, who had
been active with the Republican Party in Texas, died of cancer in February
1970. A grieving Baker accepted an offer from a close friend, Congressman
George Bush, to help with Bush’s campaign for the US Senate that year. Although
Baker had been a lifelong Democrat, he joined the Republican Party and served
as Harris County campaign chairman for the Bush organization. After Bush lost
the election in November 1970, Baker remained active in politics. He served as
State Finance Chairman for the Republican Party of Texas in 1971,
and Gulf Coast Regional Chairman for the Nixon Presidential campaign of 1972.
In mid-1975, Baker resigned
from Andrews and Kurth to accept President’s Ford
offer to serve as Undersecretary of Commerce. It has long been assumed that
Bush, who was then serving as US Ambassador to China, had a role in getting
this position for Baker. Baker resigned after nine months as Undersecretary, to
work in President Ford’s 1976 reelection campaign. Baker helped Ford fend off
Ronald Reagan’s challenge for the Republican Presidential nomination, then became national chairman of Ford’s general election
campaign organization. In 1978 Baker made his own try at elective office, but
lost in his bid to become Attorney General of Texas. The following year Bush,
who had decided to run for President, made Baker the head of his campaign for
the 1980 Republican Presidential nomination. Despite Baker’s record of
supporting Ronald Reagan’s Republican opponents, Reagan recognized Baker’s
managerial and political skills. He made Baker a senior adviser in his own
Presidential campaign after winning the 1980 Republican Presidential
nomination, and named him to be his White House Chief of Staff shortly after
winning election as President.
In the
Reagan White House, Baker, Edwin Meese III, and Michael K. Deaver
formed a senior staff triumvirate which came to be called “the Troika.” Baker’s
responsibilities included broad supervision of management and policy execution,
with ultimate oversight over the White House offices of Legislative Affairs,
Presidential Personnel, Communications (including press and media relations),
Counsel, Political Affairs, Intergovernmental Affairs, and Public Liaison. He
also maintained contact with Vice President Bush’s office. His assistant
Richard Darman controlled the President’s schedule,
as well as the paper flow in and out of the White House. Baker became known for
his cautious and thorough approach to his job, and for his skill in devising
solutions that could be sold within the executive branch, to Congress, and to
the public. He helped convince Reagan to focus on tax reductions and increased
defense spending early on, rather than spend political capital on social and
cultural issues. Although Baker was not organizationally involved in policy
formulation to the extent that Meese was, and despite some conservatives’
misgivings about him, his influence grew throughout President Reagan’s first
term. He played a leading role in Reagan’s successful 1984 re-election.
Baker
left the White House for the Treasury Department in February 1985, switching
positions with Treasury Secretary Donald Regan. He resigned as Treasury
Secretary in August 1988 so that he could manage Bush’s successful 1988
Presidential campaign. After Bush became President, Baker served as Secretary
of State (1989-1992), then as White House Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor
(1992-1993). He took the latter position so he could assist Bush’s faltering
bid for reelection, but was unable to prevent Bush’s loss to Bill Clinton. In
late 2000 Baker was a prominent spokesman for the George W. Bush campaign
during the post-election controversy over the Florida vote count. In 2006 he
co-chaired the Iraq
Study group
(aka the Baker-Hamilton Commission), a bipartisan group of people with
long-term Government experience that was formed by Congress to submit
recommendations on US policy in Iraq.
This
collection consists only of files from Baker’s time as Ronald Reagan’s Chief of
Staff. It is organized into five series, the first of which contains three
subseries.
Compared
to others on the White House staff, Baker wrote relatively few memos. Also,
many documents created or utilized by Baker while he was Reagan’s Chief of
Staff are filed in other White House collections. In
particular, researchers should check the collections of Baker’s assistants James
Cicconi, Richard Darman,
Frank Hodsoll, and Margaret Tutwiler for additional
material documenting his work as Chief of Staff.
SERIES I: MEMORANDUM FILE,
1981-1985 (3.8 l.ft.; Boxes 1-10)
Subseries A: 1980-1981 (Baker/Hodsoll File) (0.9 l.ft.; Boxes 1-3)
Francis
(Frank) S. M. Hodsoll was James Baker’s deputy from
January to November 1981.
During
Hodsoll’s tenure, Baker’s records were interfiled
with Hodsoll’s records. Material in this subseries
documents issues and personnel matters, pertaining to Cabinet departments or
larger Executive Office of the President (EOP) agencies, which involved Baker
and/or Hodsoll. Much of the material pertains to the
initial staffing of Cabinet departments and agencies at the beginning of the
Reagan Presidency. Some folders consist preponderantly of either Baker or Hodsoll material, while others contain a mixture of
material from both men. The material is arranged alphabetically by
office/agency.
In the
course of processing, Reagan Library staff determined that a substantial
portion of the material in this subseries consisted of pre-presidential
documents. These documents were removed from this subseries and placed within
the Transition of President-Elect Ronald Reagan collection. The
pre-presidential material is not a Presidential record, and is therefore not
subject to the Presidential Records Act nor the
Freedom of Information Act.
Subseries B: 1982-1983 (1.1 l.ft.;
Boxes 3-6)
Consists
of memoranda and other materials, pertaining to White House and EOP units with which
Baker had contact – mostly, the White House offices which ultimately reported
to him. Arranged alphabetically by office or agency.
A new
set of Baker memorandum files was established at the start of 1984. This
subseries consist of the same sorts of material as are found in the previous
subseries. Arranged alphabetically by office or agency.
SERIES II: CORRESPONDENCE FILE,
(1981-) 1984-1985 (0.5 l.ft;
Boxes 10-12)
Consists
of outgoing memos and letters from James Baker or his secretary, along with
schedules, lists of names, and boilerplate letter formats. Topics include White House
administrative matters, letters referring correspondents to the President’s
1984 re-election campaign, unsolicited personnel recommendations, and
information on Baker’s travel, schedule, and activities. Almost all documents
are dated 1984 or early 1985.
The
Reagan White House printed the material in this series from diskettes that were
maintained in James Baker’s office. The documents are arranged by diskette,
then by document file name. The Reagan Library has transferred the diskettes to
preservation storage.
SERIES III: CABINET/CABINET
COUNCIL MEETING FILE, May 1983-September 1984. (0.2 l.
ft.; Box 12)
Consists of Baker’s copies of
issue papers and Cabinet Affairs staffing memoranda, for a few meetings of the
Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs, Cabinet Council on Commerce and Trade, and
full Cabinet.
Many documents contain Baker’s handwritten notes from the meetings. More
extensive files on the Cabinet and Cabinet Councils may be found in other
Reagan Library collections, particularly the White House Office of Records
Management (WHORM) Subject File category FG010 (Cabinet) or the staff and
office files from the Office of Cabinet Affairs.
Arranged chronologically by
meeting date.
SERIES IV: UNANSWERED
CORRESPONDENCE FILE, Late 1984-January 1985.
(1.3 l. ft.; Boxes 12-15)
Unanswered
letters on policy issues, sent by corporations and the
general public, which arrived at the White House near the end of Baker’s time
as President Reagan’s Chief of Staff. These are primarily letters written in
opposition to the Treasury Department’s 1984 tax reform proposal, particularly
as it affected independent oil producers and other aspects of the oil and gas
industry. Many of these letters contain the same boilerplate text criticizing
the tax reform proposal.
Arranged
alphabetically by state and city (except for letters with no return address or
attached postmark, and letters that were sent from all over the country on
Parrish Oil Production Inc. letterhead).
SERIES V: REPORTS, 1981, 1984
(0.1 l.ft.,
Box 15)
This
series consists of a report setting forth the Administration’s public stance on
selling AWACS aircraft to Saudi Arabia, and a binder pertaining to the work of
the Budget Review Board.
CONTAINER LIST
SERIES I: MEMORANDUM FILE
Box
1
Subseries A: 1980-1981 (Baker/Hodsoll
Memorandum File).
[ACTION] Action/Peace Corps (1)-(3)
Cabinet
Cabinet
Bios
Cabinet Meetings [ – Procedures]
[Central Intelligence Agency
Information Kit] (1)(2)
CEQ [Council on Environmental Quality]
I
CEQ [Council on Environmental Quality]
II (1)-(5)
Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce (1)–(3)
Department of Defense
Department of Education
Box 2
Department of Energy
[Also Synfuels Corp.] (1)(2)
[Department of Energy] Energy (1)(2)
Department of Health and Human
Services
Department of Interior
Department of Justice
Department of Labor [Also National
Labor Relations Board]
Department of State
[Department of State] Foreign Affairs
[01/30/1982 Budget Meeting]
[Department of State] Foreign Policy
[Department of State] Haig
[Department of State] Law of the Sea
Department of Transportation
Department of Treasury
OMB [Office of Management and Budget]
OSTP [Office of Science and Technology
Policy]
Social Security Commission
United Nations [Also US International Communication
Agency]
[US Special Trade Representative] STR
[White House] Administration (Rogers)
[White House] Chief of Staff (Baker)
[White House] Communications (Goode)
[White House] Correspondence (Higgens [Higgins])
[White House] Counsel (McPherson)
[White House] EOP [Executive Office of
the President]
[White House] First Lady's Office –
(McCoy)
Box 3
[White House] Intergovernmental
Affairs (Williamson)
[White
House] Legislative Affairs (Friedersdorf)
[White House] Military Office
[White House] National Security
Affairs (Allen)
[White House] National Security
Organization
[White House] NSC
[White House] Personnel Master Charts
[White House] Policy Development
(Anderson)
[White House] Presidential Messages
(empty)
[White House] Presidential Personnel
(James)
[White House] Press Secretary (Brady)
[White House] Public Liaison
[White House] Public Liaison (Dole)
[White House] Scheduling (Newell)
[White House] Staff Secretary (Darman)
Subseries
B: 1982-1983
Box 3, cont.
[Justice, Department of – School
Prayer] (1)(2)
White House Staff Memoranda – Administration (1)(2)
White
House Staff Memoranda – Cabinet Affairs (1)-(3)
[White House Staff Memoranda –]
Communications (1)
Box 4
[White
House Staff Memoranda –] Communications (2)-(4)
White House Staff Memoranda –
Counsel's Office (1)-(4)
White House Staff Memoranda – Mike Deaver File
White House Staff Memoranda – Council
of Economic Advisors
White House Staff Memoranda –
Intergovernmental Affairs
White House Staff Memoranda –
Legislative Affairs January 1983-June 1983 (1)-(4)
Box 5
White House Staff Memoranda – Legislative
Affairs July 1983-December 1983
(1)-(3)
White House Staff Memoranda – Ed Meese
File
White House Staff Memoranda – Military
Office
White House Staff Memoranda –
Miscellaneous
White House Staff Memoranda – National
Security Affairs [folder removed, 1987]
White House Staff Memoranda –
Personnel (1)-(3)
White House Staff Memoranda – Policy
Development
White House Staff Memoranda –
Political Affairs (1)-(3)
Box 6
White House Staff Memoranda – Public
Liaison (1)(2)
White House Staff Memoranda – Vice
President
Subseries
C: 1984-January 1985
Box 6, cont.
Cabinet Affairs
Jim Cicconi
File
Communications
Box 7
Counsel’s Office January 1984-June
1984 (1)-(5)
Counsel’s Office July 1984-January
1985 (1)-(4)
Dick Darman’s
File
Mike Deaver
File (1)(2)
Council of Economic Advisors (1)-(4)
Box
8
Intergovernmental
Affairs (1)-(3)
Issues (1)-(4)
Legislative Affairs (1)-(7)
Military [Political] (1)-(3)
Box 9
Miscellaneous (1)-(4)
National Security Office (1)-(3)
Personnel (1)(2)
Policy Development
Political Affairs January 1984-July
1984 (1)-(5)
Box 10
Political Affairs August 1984-January
1985 (1)-(4)
Press Office (1)-(4)
Public Liaison (1)(2)
SERIES II: CORRESPONDENCE FILE, (1981-) 1984-1985.
Box 10, cont.
[Diskette
Transfer Papers]
[Diskette
1984: Index (Campaign-Related Correspondence and Referrals)]
[Diskette
1984: Printouts (Campaign-Related Correspondence and Referrals)] (1)(2)
Box
11
[Diskette
1984: Printouts (Campaign-Related Correspondence and Referrals)] (3)
[Diskette
JAB: Index (Correspondence and Memos 1981-1984)]
[Diskette
JAB: Printouts (Correspondence and Memos 1981-1984)] (1)-(6)
[Diskette
KC I: Index (Correspondence and Memos 1981-1985)]
[Diskette
KC I: Printouts (Correspondence and Memos 1981-1985)] (1)-(5)
[Diskette
KC II: Index (Correspondence and Memos 1984)]
[Diskette
KC II: Printouts (Correspondence and Memos 1984)] (1)-(5)
Box
12
[Diskette
KC II: Printouts (Correspondence and Memos 1984)] (6)(7)
SERIES III: CABINET/CABINET COUNCIL
MEETING FILE, May 1983-
September 1984
Box 12, cont.
[Cabinet
Time 05/24/1983]
[Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs
06/07/1983]
[Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs
09/20/1983]
[Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs
12/20/1983]
[Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs
01/12/1984]
[Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs
01/17/1984]
[Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs
01/26/1984]
[Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs
02/10/1984]
[Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs
02/14/1984]
[Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs
03/29/1984]
[Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs
05/03/1984]
[Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs 06/14/1984]
[Cabinet Meeting 06/26/1984]
[Cabinet
Council on Commerce and Trade 09/14/1984]
SERIES IV: UNANSWERED CORRESPONDENCE
FILE, Late 1984-January
1985
Box 12, cont.
[Alabama]
[Alaska]
[Arizona]
[Arkansas]
[California A-BEK]
[California – Belmont – A-Johnson]
[California – Belmont – Johnson-Z]
[California BEM-LOP]
[California LOQ-M]
[California N-R]
[California S – Santa Ana]
[California Santa Barbara – Z]
[Colorado]
[Connecticut]
Box
13
[Connecticut – Inflation Consultants]
[Delaware] (empty)
[District of Columbia]
[Florida A-C]
[Florida D-Z]
[Georgia]
[Hawaii] (empty)
[Idaho]
[Illinois A-CH]
[Illinois – Chicago]
[Illinois CI – Mt. C]
[Illinois Mt. D – Olney (J)]
[Illinois Olney (K) – Z]
[Indiana]
[Iowa]
[Kansas]
Kentucky]
[Louisiana]
[Maine]
[Maryland]
[Massachusetts]
[Michigan]
[Minnesota] (empty)
[Mississippi]
[Missouri]
[Montana]
[Nebraska]
[Nevada]
[New Hampshire] (empty)
[New Jersey]
[New Mexico]
[New York A-M]
[New
York N-Z]
[North Carolina]
[North Dakota]
[Ohio]
[Oklahoma A-OKL]
Box
14
[Oklahoma-Oklahoma City A-C]
[Oklahoma – Oklahoma City D-P]
[Oklahoma – Oklahoma City Q-Z]
[Oklahoma OKM-Z]
[Oregon]
[Parrish Oil Production, Inc.] (1)-(4)
[Pennsylvania]
[Rhode Island]
[South Carolina]
[South Dakota]
[Tennessee]
[Texas – Abilene A-P]
[Texas – Abilene R – DAK]
[Texas – Dallas]
[Texas DAM – K]
[Texas L-R]
[Texas S-Z]
[Utah]
Box
15
[Vermont]
(empty)
[Virginia]
[Washington]
[West Virginia] (empty)
[Wisconsin A – NDII J]
[Wisconsin NDII K – Z]
[Wyoming] (empty)
[Origin Unknown]
SERIES V: REPORTS, 1981-1983
Box 15, cont.
[AWACS Background Material] (1)-(3)
Budget Review Board Meetings
(binder) (1)-(4)