Richard A. Baker
1st Historian of the United States Senate
In office
1975–2009
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byDonald A. Ritchie[1]
Personal details
Born (1940-03-18) March 18, 1940
United States
EducationUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst
Alma materColumbia University
OccupationHistorian, writer
Known forThe American Senate: An Insider's History
AwardsD.B. Hardeman Prize

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 in 1962 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and received master's degrees from Columbia University in 1968 and Michigan State University in 1965. He also obtained a Ph.D. in history from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1982.[1]

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.

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)
  • "The American Senate: An Insider's History" co-authored with Neil MacNeil (Oxford University Press, 2013)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Fuller, Andrea (August 7, 2009). "Senate Historian Reflects on 34 Years of Queries". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "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.


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