Work Hard, Study. and Keep Out of Politics!: Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life

James A. Baker, III with Steve Fiffer

ISBN 10: 0399153772 / ISBN 13: 9780399153778

Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 2006

About this Item

T1 - A first edition (complete numberline) hardcover book SIGNED and inscribed by Jim Baker to previous owner on the title page in very good condition in very good dust jacket. Dust jacket has some wrinkling, chipping and crease on the edges, scattered light scratches, rubbing and scuffing, light discoloration and shelf wear. Book has some bumped corners, some wrinkling on the spine edges, darkened page edges, tanning and light shelf wear. A revelatory memoir from one of the great political minds of our time. 9.5"x6.5", 460 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. James A. (Addison) Baker III is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan and the 61st U.S. Secretary of State before returning as the 16th White House Chief of Staff under President George H. W. Bush. Born in Houston, Baker attended the Hill School and Princeton University before serving in the United States Marine Corps. After graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, he pursued a legal career. He became a close friend of George H. W. Bush and worked for Bush's unsuccessful 1970 campaign for the United States Senate. After the campaign, he served in various positions for President Richard Nixon. In 1975, he was appointed Under Secretary of Commerce for Gerald Ford. He served until May 1976, ran Ford's 1976 presidential campaign, and unsuccessfully sought election as the Attorney General of Texas. Baker ran Bush's unsuccessful campaign for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination, but made a favorable impression on the Republican nominee, Ronald Reagan. Reagan appointed Baker as his White House Chief of Staff, and Baker remained in that position until 1985, when he became the Secretary of the Treasury. As Treasury Secretary, he arranged the Plaza Accord and the Baker Plan. He resigned as Treasury Secretary to manage Bush's successful 1988 campaign for president. After the election, Bush appointed Baker to the position of Secretary of State. As Secretary of State, he helped oversee U.S. foreign policy during the end of the Cold War and dissolution of the Soviet Union, as well as during the Gulf War. After the Gulf War, Baker served another stint as White House Chief of Staff from 1992 to 1993. Baker remained active in business and public affairs after Bush's defeat in the 1992 presidential election. He served as a United Nations envoy to Western Sahara and as a consultant to Enron. During the Florida recount following the 2000 presidential election, he managed George W. Bush's legal team in the state. He served as the co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, which Congress formed in 2006 to study Iraq and the ongoing Iraq War. He serves on the World Justice Project and the Climate Leadership Council. Baker is the namesake of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Since the death of Henry Kissinger in 2023, he is currently the oldest living former United States secretary of state, as well as the earliest serving. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Seller Inventory # 2402ec66

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Work Hard, Study. and Keep Out of Politics!: Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399153772
• ISBN 13: 9780399153778
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author
• Seller catalogs:
  • Biography::Signed Biography
  • Biography::Statesmen
  • Biography

About this title

Synopsis

A revelatory memoir by the former secretary of state and White House chief of staff describes his behind-the-scenes witness to numerous political machinations, in an account in which he discusses the Iran-Contra scandal, the Reagan assassination attempt, and the 2000 election in Florida. 100,000 first printing.

About the Author

James A. Baker III, served as Chief of Staff to Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush; Under Secretary of Commerce to Gerald Ford; Secretary of the Treasury to Reagan; and Secretary of State to Bush. He has also undertaken special envoy missions for George W. Bush and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on matters such as Iraqi debt relief and the conflict in the Western Sahara. He is presently a senior partner in the law firm of Baker Botts, and honorary chairman of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. His previous book is The Politics of Diplomacy.

Steve Fiffer is the author, coauthor, or editor of fourteen books. He has written extensively for such publications as the New York Times and Chicago Tribune.