[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 105 (Tuesday, July 8, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4235-S4236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING HOWARD BAKER
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Senators from Tennessee and I had
an opportunity 1 week ago today to attend the funeral of Senator Howard
Baker, who led the Senate Republicans for 8 years and was a truly
wonderful American.
Actually, it was just an honor to attend his funeral down in
Huntsville, TN, a town of 1,248 souls that Senator Baker often referred
to as the ``center of the known universe.'' It was a wonderful tribute,
and it carried a lot of lessons about the work we do.
Senator Corker was there too, and I am sure he felt the same way.
Just before the funeral, he noted that Senator Baker was the kind of
person who seemed to evoke ``wisdom in everything he did.'' I was glad
to hear the two men got to spend some time together a few months before
Senator Baker passed away.
Anyway, a real highlight of the funeral for me was a magnificent--
absolutely magnificent--eulogy by Senator Alexander. It captured not
only the closeness of their friendship but also the qualities that made
Senator Baker such an important figure. This morning I would like to
take just a moment to thank Senator Alexander for those thoughtful
words and at this point insert his eulogy into the Record. I ask
unanimous consent that be done.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[Eulogy of Senator Howard Baker, Jr., July 1, 2014]
``Howard Baker, Jr.: Tennessee's Favorite Son and One of Our Country's
Finest Leaders''
(By Lamar Alexander)
On behalf of the Baker family and all of us Tennesseans,
let me welcome Vice President Biden, Senator Reid, Senator
McConnell, and Senator Danforth, who married Howard and
Nancy.
It was August, 1960. Republican Day at the Illinois State
Fair. Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen was warming up the
crowd of 30,000, explaining why Vice President Richard Nixon
should be president of the United States instead of Senator
John F. Kennedy.
Seated on the platform behind him were Dirksen's daughter
Joy, and her husband Howard Henry Baker, Jr., a 34-year-old
lawyer from Huntsville, Tennessee, who looked about 24.
``Jack Kennedy is a nice young man,'' Dirksen was saying.
``But all they can say he has ever done was serve on a PT
boat in World War II.''
Turning toward his son-in-law with a flourish, Dirksen
said, ``Why, my own son-in-law, Howard Baker, Jr., was on a
PT boat in World War II, and I've never heard anyone suggest
that he was qualified to serve in any public office.''
Four years later, instead of running for the safe
congressional seat that his father and stepmother had held,
Howard Baker, Jr., ran to become the first Tennessee
Republican popularly elected to the United States Senate. He
probably would have won if presidential candidate Barry
Goldwater hadn't stopped at the Knoxville airport a few days
before the election and promised to sell the Tennessee Valley
Authority.
Howard ran again in 1966. I remember standing at that same
airport being embarrassed by his prediction to the media that
he would win by 100,000 votes, and then, a few days later, he
did just that.
Behind Howard Baker's pleasant demeanor was a restless
ambition that would propel him to the heights of American
politics and government for forty years.
He learned quickly. His maiden address in the Senate lasted
about an hour. Afterwards, he asked Senator Dirksen, the
Senate Republican Leader, ``How did I do?''
``Howard,'' Dirksen replied, ``perhaps you should
occasionally enjoy the luxury of an unexpressed thought.''
In 1968, Howard and Congressman George Bush were runners-up
to Governor Spiro Agnew when Nixon picked a vice president.
In 1969, when Dirksen died, after only three years in the
Senate, he ran for Republican Leader, only to be defeated by
Senator Hugh Scott.
In 1971, President Nixon asked him to be on the Supreme
Court. Howard declined, then called back and said he would
accept if the president insisted, but Nixon had already
appointed Bill Rehnquist.
In 1973 came the Watergate hearings. Eight-five percent of
Americans saw those hearings, broadcast most days by all of
the only four television networks that then existed. And the
most famous words were Howard Baker's: ``What did the
president know and when did he know it?''
Howard suspected that Senator Scott had made him Ranking
Republican on the Watergate Committee to ``get rid of me as a
competitor.'' He had run against Scott a second time for
Leader, and lost. But instead, the exposure made Baker a
national hero and, once again, runner-up in the vice-
presidential sweepstakes in 1976 when Gerald Ford picked Bob
Dole instead of Howard.
Senator Scott retired, and a few months later, in January,
1977, Howard was elected Republican Leader by one vote. He
served for eight years. When, in 1980, the Republican sweep
made him majority leader, he visited the wily Democratic
Leader Robert Byrd. First, Howard surprised Byrd by
suggesting that Byrd keep his ornate office.
Having softened up Byrd, Baker then said, ``Senator Byrd,
I'll never learn the rules as well as you know them, so I'll
make a deal with you: I won't surprise you if you won't
surprise me.''
Byrd replied, ``Let me think about it.'' The next day he
agreed. And they ran the Senate together for four more years.
Baker then commandeered an additional set of offices next
to the Republican Leader's less-spacious quarters that are
today called the ``Howard Baker Rooms.'' He always said that
the view from the Howard Baker rooms was the second best view
in Washington. The best, of course, is from the White House,
which he also occupied--but not in the way he had planned.
In late 1986, while the Bakers were vacationing in Miami,
the phone rang. Joy answered. It was President Reagan.
``Where's Howard?'' asked Reagan.
``At the zoo with the grandchildren,'' Joy said.
``Wait till he hears about the zoo I have planned for
him,'' the president said.
Howard became White House chief of staff, helping to
cleanse the Reagan presidency of its Iran-Contra troubles.
President Reagan and Howard Baker began each day telling
each other a little story. ``It got to be a lot of stories,''
Howard said. I always felt a little better about our country
knowing we had two men at the top with such temperament.
Joy died in 1993. In 1996, Howard married Nancy. Those of
us at the wedding were happy because we had never seen two
people so happy.
In 1996, the two Senators Baker moved to Tokyo where Howard
became U.S. Ambassador to Japan. When he returned, he headed
the law firm that is a descendant of a law firm his
grandfather founded in Huntsville.
What skills allowed Howard Baker to accomplish so much?
He was an eloquent listener. He said in 2011, ``There is a
difference between hearing and understanding what people say.
You don't have to agree, but you have to hear what they've
got to say. And if you do, the chances are much better you'll
be able to translate that into a useful position and even
useful leadership.''
He was called ``The Great Conciliator'' for his habit of
gathering disputing senators into one room, listening for a
while, and then his summary of the discussion would become
the senators' agreement.
He demonstrated courage. He supported civil rights when
most southerners didn't. He and Senator Byrd found 68 votes
to ratify the Panama Canal Treaty. Several Republican
senators signed a letter asking Baker to resign as Leader
because of that.
Roy Blount, Jr., says you start getting into trouble when
you stop sounding like where you grew up. Howard Baker never
stopped sounding like where he grew up. He always went home
to Huntsville, which he called the ``center of the known
universe.''
He had an eye for talent. In 1969, he told me, ``You ought
to meet that smart young legislative assistant who works for
Senator Marlow Cook.'' That assistant was Mitch McConnell.
Howard mentored another Tennessee majority leader, Bill
Frist; Senators Thompson and Corker; and Governors Sundquist
and Haslam; Ambassadors Ashe and Montgomery; Congressman
Duncan--as well as many others in this congregation.
With Bill Brock and Winfield Dunn, he kept the door open to
Republican primaries, attracting hundreds of thousands of
``discerning Democrats'' and independents and creating the
majority status the Tennessee Republican Party enjoys today.
Howard Baker knew how to make the Senate work. He
understood that the Senate's unique role is as a place for
extended debate and amendment on important issues until there
is a consensus. That is how he fixed Social Security with Tip
O'Neill and Ronald Reagan, how he passed the Reagan tax cuts
and the Clean Air and Water laws.
One thing he did not do well was fundraising. He left that
to Ted Welch and Jim Haslam and Bill Swain. According to Jim,
``Howard would not raise any money at all, until he started
raising money for the Baker Center and then he made every
call with me.
____
In the new version of Lamar Alexander's Little Plaid Book,
there is this rule: ``When invited to speak at a funeral,
remember to mention the deceased at least as often as
yourself.''
I have done my best to follow that rule today, but I hope
you understand how difficult that is for me, as it would be
for many of you.
So let me just get it out all at once:
For the last half century, Howard Baker has had more
influence on my life than anyone outside my own family. He
inspired me to help him build a two-party system. I babysat
for Darek and Cissy. I met Honey at
[[Page S4236]]
a softball game between the Baker staff and the John Tower
staff. My favorite photograph of her is one Howard took at
the Baker home when we were celebrating our marriage. Our
daughter Leslee was flower girl at Darek and Karen's wedding.
I occupy the same Senate office Howard once had in the
Dirksen Senate office building. My desk on the Senate floor
was once his desk.
As his legislative assistant, I wrote his speeches,
prompting him to tell the story at least 100 times of how I
once asked to see him privately to determine if there was
some problem with our relationship because I had learned that
he never said in his speeches any of the words that I had
written.
``Lamar,'' he replied, ``we have a perfect relationship.
You write what you want to write--and I'll say what I want to
say.''
Occasionally a young person will ask me, ``How can I become
involved in politics?''
My answer always is, ``Find someone you respect, volunteer
to help him or her do anything legal, and learn all you can
from them. That's what I did.''
How fortunate we were to know, to be inspired by, and to
learn from Tennessee's favorite son and one of our country's
finest leaders, Howard Baker.
Dan Quayle, when he was a senator, summed it up: ``There's
Howard Baker,'' he said, ``and then there's the rest of us
senators.''
Mr. McCONNELL. I would like to share some of Senator Alexander's
observations about Senator Baker because, as I said, I think they are
important, timely lessons about the purpose and potential of our
service.
One of the things that stands out in all the tributes to Senator
Baker, including Senator Alexander's, is the way in which he embodied
the rare trait of taking himself lightly even as he took his duties
seriously.
I will give you an example. One of the time-honored traditions around
here is for new Senators to labor over their maiden speeches as if
Pericles himself were standing in judgment from the Presiding Officer's
chair. Senator Baker was no exception. His maiden speech was long,
thoughtful, and dense--so much so that when he asked his father-in-law,
then-Senate Republican Leader Everett Dirksen, for his reaction,
Dirksen is said to have remarked: ``Howard, Howard, perhaps you should
occasionally enjoy the luxury of an unexpressed thought.''
It was the kind of comment that might have stung a lesser Senator,
but as Senator Alexander pointed out in mentioning that last week,
Baker was a quick learner. About a week or so later, Howard rose
again--this time to challenge one of his Democratic colleagues to a
game of tennis. The Senator in question had just taken a swipe at the
vigor of his Republican colleagues, particularly the new ones, and
Senator Baker decided to rise to the challenge, tongue firmly in cheek.
It was a star performance. The Senator that Baker challenged even
interrupted him at one point to suggest that it was ``one of the best
maiden speeches that has ever been delivered in this chamber.''
Evidently he had missed Baker's actual maiden speech. But Senator
Baker's legendary ability to adapt was now firmly established and it
set the tone for a two-decade run in which he would be called upon to
deploy his many other talents and skills to defuse tensions, resolve
conflicts, repair trust, build consensus, and, frankly, just to put
people at ease--because sometimes in this business there is nothing
more important than just that: to just keep the bearings oiled.
We have all been recently reminded of how Senator Baker put his own
ambitions aside to help rebuild the Reagan White House after Iran-
Contra. It was a great testament to his values and to his feel for
priorities. What Senator Alexander reminded us last week was that these
former political rivals--Baker and Reagan--started every day in the
White House together telling each other a little story. They had no
problem putting their past disputes behind them and building a close
working friendship based on mutual respect, common purpose, love of
country, and of course good humor. They were adults, busy about serious
business, and they conducted that business with dignity and with grace.
The larger point is that while people talk a lot about the importance
of having political skill in Washington these days, the importance of
temperament cannot be overstated. The way Senator Baker conducted
himself here and in the White House is eloquent testimony of that.
It is not that he was laid back. As Senator Alexander put it, behind
Baker's pleasant demeanor was a restless ambition that would propel him
to the heights of American politics and government for 40 years, but he
could subordinate that ambition when he felt the moment or the country
needed him to. He was persistent about achieving a result but never
insisted that his way was the only way to do it. It is a quality that
required an ability to listen. In Baker's case that meant being an
eloquent listener, a trait Senator Alexander put above all the others
in Baker's formidable arsenal.
Here is how Senator Baker himself once put it:
There is a difference between hearing and understanding
what people say. You don't have to agree, but you have to
hear what they've got to say. And if you do, the chances are
much better you'll be able to translate that into a useful
position and even useful leadership.
Senator Alexander pointed out Howard Baker had courage. He helped
round up the votes to ratify the Panama Canal Treaty even though he
must have known it would not help him much in a Republican primary for
President, to put it mildly. When the integrity of our politics was at
stake, he did not hesitate to take on a President of his own party in a
very public way--an impulse that one hopes lawmakers in both parties
could muster today if the integrity of our system called for it again.
But perhaps most important of all, Howard Baker was grounded. He had
an important job to do, and he did it well, but he also kept a healthy
distance from his work. His photograph of President Reagan's inaugural
in January 1981 illustrates the point. Just behind the new President we
can spot the Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill and the new Vice
President George Bush. Then right there between them is a man holding
up a camera to capture the moment. It is the new Senate majority leader
standing there like an ordinary spectator with a very good seat. It was
Howard Baker.
Senator Alexander summed up Baker's groundedness this way: ``Howard
Baker never stopped sounding like where he grew up.''
Senator Baker was a fixture here for decades, but Huntsville was
always home. Perhaps that is also why Senator Baker took his
stewardship of the Senate so very seriously. He knew he was not going
to be around forever and that meant he had a duty to make the Senate
work and to preserve it as a place where disputes and disagreements are
sifted and sorted out and where stable, durable solutions are slowly
but surely achieved. It is how he earned the nickname ``the great
conciliator.''
When Dan Quayle was a Senator here, he used to say: ``There's Howard
Baker, and then there's the rest of us.''
Over the past week, we have been reminded of why that was, and I
thank Senator Alexander for helping us remember why his friend and
mentor meant so much to this country and this institution.
May the memory of Howard Henry Baker inspire us to be our best selves
and even better Senators.
____________________