Richard Allan Baker (born March 18, 1940) was the first Historian of the United States Senate, 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 in 1962 from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

, and received master's degrees from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 1968 and

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

in 1965. He also obtained a Ph.D. 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 land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...

in 1982.

Historical Minutes

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 117th Cong ...

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. 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 retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McConn ...

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)

External links

Saving Senate History
via pbs.org November 25, 2002

via New York Times August 8, 2009 *
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

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 {{US-Congress-stub