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Richard Baker
1st Historian of the United States Senate
In office
1975–2009
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded by Donald A. Ritchie
Personal details
Born (1940-03-18) March 18, 1940 (age 84)
Education University of Massachusetts, Amherst ( BA)
Michigan State University ( MA)
Columbia University ( MLS)
University of Maryland, College Park ( PhD)

Richard Allan Baker (born March 18, 1940) was the first Historian of the United States Senate, serving through August 2009. [1] He directed the United States Senate Historical Office from the time of its creation in 1975. [2]

He wrote a weekly column on Senate history for a Washington newspaper (The Hill) and is the co-author (with Neil MacNeil) of the D.B. Hardeman Prize-winning The American Senate: An Insider's History, published in 2013, a history of Senate rules and customs. [3] [4]

Education

Baker graduated with a bachelor's in history from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1962, a master's in history from Michigan State University in 1965, a Master of Library Science from Columbia University in 1968, and a doctorate in history from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1982. [1] [5]

Historian of the Senate

Following the Watergate scandal, the US Congress established the office of Senate historian to encourage and formalize record-keeping. Baker assumed the new post in 1975, and would continue in this role for the next 34 years. [1] [2]

Beginning in 1997, at the request of Senate Democratic Leader Thomas Daschle, Baker routinely opened the weekly luncheon meetings of the Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate with a brief historical anecdote or minute. These short essays were wide-ranging in topic and highlight recurring themes in the Senate's institutional development. [1] Shortly before Baker's retirement, the Senate passed a unanimous resolution naming him the "historian emeritus of the United States Senate." [2]

In 2009, at the time of Baker's retirement, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell initiated a similar program for his party's members. Both Democratic and Republican programs are currently active, relying on presentations by the Senate's Historian and Associate Historian.[ citation needed]

Authorship

  • "Conservation Politics: The Senate Career of Clinton P. Anderson" (University of New Mexico Press, 1985)
  • "The Senate of the United States: A Bicentennial History" (Krieger, 1988)
  • "First Among Equals: Outstanding Senate Leaders of the Twentieth Century" (Congressional Quarterly, 1991) (coeditor)
  • "200 Notable Days: Senate Stories 1787 to 2002" (Government Printing Office, 2006) [1]
  • "The American Senate: An Insider's History" co-authored with Neil MacNeil (Oxford University Press, 2013)

References

  1. ^ a b c d Fuller, Andrea (August 7, 2009). "Senate Historian Reflects on 34 Years of Queries". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Senate Bids Farewell to Historian Baker". historians.org. American Historical Association. October 1, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  3. ^ Baker, Richard A.; MacNeil, Neil (2013). The American Senate: An Insider's History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN  9780195367614.
  4. ^ "D. B. Hardeman Prize". Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  5. ^ https://www.senate.gov/about/resources/pdf/baker-richard-a-full-transcript-with-index.pdf

External links

Government offices
New office 1st Historian of the United States Senate
1975 – 2009 		Succeeded by


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