Diplomat James Patterson at 2014 Williem E. Simon Lecture in Public Affairs sponsored by Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation

Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, gave a great speech at the William E. Simon Lecture in Public Affairs sponsored by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation on July 14, 2014, in Grand rapids at the Amway Grand Hotel.

Baker served as the nation's 61st Secretary of State from January 1989 through August 1992. He traveled to 90 foreign countries as the U.S. confronted the unprecedented challenges and opportunities of the post-Cold War era.

Mr. Baker's public service began in 1975 as Under Secretary of Commerce to President Gerald R. Ford. It concluded with his service as White House Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor to President George H. W. Bush from August 1992 to January 1992.

Mr. Baker's memoir - Work Hard, Study ... Keep Out of Politics! Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life - was published in October 2006. I enjoyed his The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War & Peace, 1989-1992, all 687 pages of it, published in 1995 by Putnam's.


James Patterson
Diplomat
JEPDiplomat@gmail.com