WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Sen. Howard Baker is being remembered for his ability to reach across the aisle and to broker compromise. As former Senate colleague Bob Dole puts it, Baker “got things done by working with both parties when it was the right thing to do.”
Baker died today at his home in Tennessee. According to an email distributed at the law firm where he was senior counsel, Baker died of complications from a stroke he suffered several days ago. He was 88.
He served for 18 years as a moderate Republican senator — but became nationally known during the Senate’s Watergate hearings in 1973, when he asked, “What did the president know and when did he know it?” It’s a question that has been dusted off for potential White House scandals, big and small, ever since.
Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee describes Baker as “the ultimate statesman,” and someone “who had the unique ability to bring out the very best in those around him.”
%@AP Links
226-w-31-(Jerry Bodlander, AP correspondent, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.)–Former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker has died. AP correspondent Jerry Bodlander reports. (26 Jun 2014)
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227-a-12-(Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in remarks)-“could do everything”-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Howard Baker had a long, distinguished career. ((longer version of cut in wrap)) (26 Jun 2014)
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228-a-08-(Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in remarks)-“both political parties”-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Baker always tried to work things out. ((longer version of cut in wrap)) (26 Jun 2014)
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