The Man Who Ran Washington

The Life and Times of James A. Baker III

By: Peter Baker, Susan Glasser

Narrated by: Michael Quinlan

From two of America's most revered political journalists comes the definitive biography 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.

For a quarter-century, from the end of Watergate to the aftermath of the Cold War, no Republican won the presidency without his help or ran the White House without his advice. James Addison Baker III was the indispensable man for four presidents because he understood better than anyone how to make Washington work at a time when America was shaping events around the world. The Man Who Ran Washington is a pause-resisting portrait of a power broker who influenced America's destiny for generations.

A scion of Texas aristocracy who became George H. W. Bush's best friend on the tennis courts of the Houston Country Club, Baker had never even worked in Washington until a devastating family tragedy struck when he was 39. Within a few years, he was leading Gerald Ford's campaign and would go on to manage a total of five presidential races and win a sixth for George W. Bush in a Florida recount. He ran Ronald Reagan's White House and became the most consequential secretary of state since Henry Kissinger. He negotiated with Democrats at home and Soviets abroad, rewrote the tax code, assembled the coalition that won the Gulf War, brokered the reunification of Germany, and helped bring a decades-long nuclear superpower standoff to an end. Ruthlessly partisan during campaign season, Baker governed as the avatar of pragmatism over purity and deal-making over division, a lost art in today's fractured nation.

His story is a case study in the acquisition, exercise, and preservation of power in late 20th century America and the story of Washington and the world in the modern era - how it once worked and how it has transformed into an era of gridlock and polarization. This masterly biography by two brilliant observers of the American political scene is destined to become a classic.

©2020 Peter Baker (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Enthralling, comprehensive.... The authors rightly highlight the dimensions of Baker’s illustrious career that show so much about what is broken in the current American political system." (The New York Times Book Review)

"An illuminating biographical portrait of Mr. Baker, one that describes the arc of his career and, along the way, tells us something about how executive power is wielded in the nation’s capital...often has the feel of a novel." (The Wall Street Journal)

"To capture the sweep and relevance of one of the most influential figures in American life requires two of the great reporters and observers of our time. Peter Baker and Susan Glasser have written a grand, precise, and engaging American tale that gallops from Houston Country Club to the convention floor, to the Oval Office and all over the globe, capturing James Baker’s ambition, influence, and style as well as telling the story of power and America at the end of an age.” (John Dickerson, author of The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency)

They Just don’t make them like they used to

An excellent book on the life and Times of James Baker III, Chief of Staff, Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State, but most importantly of all Fixer, Handler.

James Baker’s rise as a political handler and international fixer was not predetermined. A meeting with George Bush would change all of that.

The book gives an excellent account of James Baker’s rise to the apex of power politics, from his days as a Houston lawyer to his days in Ford’s administration and then as Reagan’s Chief of Staff and treasury secretary to his days as Bush’s Secretary of State.

Very well written and documented. Highly recommended to anyone interested in Baker the man, and politics and International Relations in general.

Baker Explains Reagan

Baker made Reagan work. The price of believing in Reagan is that we never looked at the big picture, things like climate change. Carter wanted to move away from oil, but oil lives and the Middle East will never work. Reagan was the architect of the greed culture, and that is now financial tech. Everything is a piece of paper that can be made to release a lot of money. It's not a culture that solves problems. Baker, with his totally dysfunctional family, is hard to really like. But the people he diluted were much worse. Still, we got Cheney and that segment of the GOP, Iraq and Afghanistan. There is so much truth in this book, but it is dark, depressing truth.

A front row seat to an important era in American history.

A good amount of details that cannot be found in contemporary reporting of the era.

Long but thoroughly worthwhile

This biography provides valuable insight into the last fifty years of American and world history. At times, there appears to be unnecessary detail and it seems it could be 100 pages shorter without anything lost. Nevertheless, very rewarding and well read / performed.

Well done

A very read-able and enjoyable book for anyone interested in American political biographies. I agree that you do not have to be a Republican to read this book. Anyone can appreciate a piece of Jim Baker’s story. He was a pragmatic statesman and skilled political operative. Highly recommend.

Back when the GOP was run by the adults

A really interesting and sobering bio. The guy wasnt perfect but this is politics as it should be / used to be.

Trials and Tribulations

Overall, it was a great book. Provide an inside of how things really transpired throughout the government at all levels. so many twists and turns. The real lesson is loyalty, the good, the bad, and ugly.

Must read for history buffs

Great view into end of Cold War and both gulf wars. The book was not a white wash of anyone. One of the most balanced biographies and history books.

Jim Bakker, what a life!

a detailed biography into the political world of James Baker, his talents, and his great friendship with George H bush. They brought each other to Greatness. If only Baker had not voted for Trump. I would trade him number 10.

Excellent bio of remarkable negotiator

This book does an outstanding job of describing the life and times of James Baker. From his family roots in Houston through his secretary of state days and beyond, readers will get a balanced and insightful understanding of this extremely talented figure. My only quibble is the Narrator’s attempt at a Texas accent. Not a bad try but nowhere near authentic. Peter Baker and Susan Glasser have done a real service in this biography. Highly recommended!