'The Man Who Ran Washington' review: Superb bio of James Baker

"The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III" is sure to rank among the very best books about American political life in the late 20th century.

Making use of a mass of stories and new details, Peter Baker Ino relation to the book's subject) and Susan Glasser portray James Baker against the background of a different era, when bipartisan solutions were possible, when disputes were sometimes settled through compromise, and when political opponents were willing to recognize the humanity and legitimacy of the other side.

Baker operated (and that is the right verb) at the center of events in Washington for more than 25 years, considerably longer than many presidents. He served as Ronald Reagan's White House chief of staff and treasury secretary; he then was George H.W. Bush's secretary of state during the earthshaking events of 1989-92, as the Berlin Wall fell, the Soviet Union collapsed, Germany was reunified and America defeated Iraq in the Persian Gulf War. He served again as White House chief of staff for Bush in 1992.

Baker's power and influence extended far beyond these government jobs. In politics, he was in charge of lining up convention delegates for Gerald Ford in his primary battle with Reagan in 1976 and went on to manage three presidential campaigns for his friend George H.W. Bush. In the wake of the 2000 election, he returned to political life to take charge of the battle over disputed votes in Florida, spearheading the effort that brought George W. Bush to the White House.

The authors' portrait of Baker is among other things a description of how Washington used to work. He cultivated Congress and the press masterfully. "Baker recognized … that power in Washington was driven in part by the perception of power and that no one did more to create or preserve that perception than the media," the authors write.

He mastered those techniques inside the White House. In the early months of the Reagan administration, he cagily outmaneuvered rivals including Ed Meese and Alexander Haig. Baker gradually developed what the authors call his "plug-in unit" — a small group of aides who worked for him again and again through his series of jobs. Margaret Tutwiler, who dealt with the press, began working for Baker during Ford's presidential campaign. Robert Zoellick and Robert Kimmitt, who handled policy, came on board at the Treasury Department. They all served with Baker at the State Department, and eight years later, when Baker set up an office in Tallahassee to take charge of the Florida recount battle, most of the old team joined him there, too.

The book is hardly a hagiography. Baker was involved over the years in some decidedly nonheroic activities, and his family life was at times messy. The authors include those parts, too, such as the ugly Willie Horton campaign against Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis in 1988, the Florida recount and, meanwhile, the Baker family's upheavals and drug use.

It also covers his long, almost co-dependent relationship with George H.W. Bush. The elder Bush, not a gifted politician, needed and almost always turned to Baker to run his campaigns, while Baker, in turn, needed Bush's unwavering support to succeed in government, especially as secretary of state. Yet the friendship was sometimes barbed. Barbara Bush had a few disparaging things to say about Baker, suggesting he was above all out for himself.

There has long been speculation that Bush had a personal relationship with his longtime assistant Jennifer Fitzgerald, although both of them denied it. In an interview for this book, Baker told the authors that he "professed not to know, but did not rule it out."

Above all, "The Man Who Ran Washington" works so well because of its anecdotes about Baker's adroitness, for good and for ill. In their lucid account of the 2000 post-election battle in Florida, the authors set the scene with an initial meeting between Baker, representing George W. Bush, and Warren Christopher, representing Democrat Al Gore.

Christopher began by suggesting that Bush and Gore get together to work out some solution. "Well, Chris, we're not here to negotiate," Baker replied. "Governor Bush won the election on Tuesday. The votes have been counted already." Baker stuck to that position until the Supreme Court awarded Bush the presidency.

"Was it statesmanlike?" the authors ask. "Maybe not. But Baker had proved once again that there was no better fixer in American politics."