Richard Allan Baker (born March 18, 1940) was the first

Historian of the United States Senate The historian of the United States Senate heads the United States Senate Historical Office, which was created in 1975 to record and preserve historical information about the United States Senate. The current historian A historian is a person w ...

, serving through August 2009. He directed the United States Senate Historical Office from the time of its creation in 1975. 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.

Education

Baker graduated with a bachelor's in history from the

University of Massachusetts, Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...

in 1962, a master's in history from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in 1965, a Master of Library Science from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1968, and a doctorate in history from the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

in 1982.

Historian of the Senate

Following the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

, the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

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. 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 The Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate, sometimes referred to as the Democratic Conference, is the formal organization of all senators who are part of the Democratic Party in the United States Senate. For the makeup of the 119th Co ...

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. Shortly before Baker's retirement, the Senate passed a unanimous resolution naming him the "historian emeritus of the United States Senate." In 2009, at the time of Baker's retirement, Senate Republican Leader

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...

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

External links

*
C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Baker, June 12, 2005

C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Baker, September 27, 2009

C-SPAN "Q&A" interview with Baker, July 7, 2013

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Richard A. 1940 births Living people Employees of the United States Senate University of Maryland, College Park alumni Columbia University alumni Michigan State University alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Historians of the United States Senate American male non-fiction writers