Former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker Dies

Former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, Howard Baker has died.

FOX News Radio’s Hank Weinbloom looks back on his life:

For those who followed the Senate Watergate hearings in the 1970’s, it was a moment of drama and history:

Baker: “What did the President know, and when did he know it?”

Republican Senator Howard Baker, pressing for information of evidence of wrongdoing by Richard Nixon, a President of his own party.

Baker: “Two wrongs don’t make a right and all the rest, but they all seem inadequate.”

Howard Baker spent 18 years in the Senate, some of that as Majority Leader. Later, he moved to the White House, serving as Chief of Staff at the end of the Reagan Administration. And, he was the U.S. Ambassador to Japan during the first term of Geoge W. Bush. Howard Baker was 88.

Hank Weinbloom, Fox News Radio.

Read a statement below from Nancy Reagan on the death of Senator Howard Baker:

I am deeply saddened by the death of Howard Baker.  We met Howard almost fifty years ago after Ronnie was elected Governor of California and Howard was elected to the U.S. Senate.  Ronnie and I always had the greatest respect for his dedication to public service and even though he had other plans for his future, we were both extremely grateful that he agreed to take over the role of White House Chief of Staff during a very challenging time in 1987. Howard was one of Ronnie’s most valued advisors, his integrity and ability to create cooperation between the Congress and the White House was unparalleled.  Most importantly, though, he was a good and trusted friend.  He served this country with great distinction and I remember that at one point, Ronnie called him “a hero of the Republic.”  Howard Baker was that and more.  He will leave a huge void in our nation and I will miss him dearly.

My heart goes out to his wife, Nancy Kassebaum Baker, and his two children, Darek and Cissy, as well as his grandchildren and the entire Baker family.