Howard H. Baker Jr.

(Son of Howard Henry Baker, stepson of Irene Bailey Baker, son-in-law of Everett Dirksen, and husband of Nancy Landon Kassebaum), a Senator from Tennessee. Born in Huntsville, Scott County, Tenn. , November 15, 1925. Attended Tulane University, New Orleans, La. , and University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn. Graduated from the University of Tennessee Law College 1949. Served in the United States Navy 1943-1946. Admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1949 and commenced practice. Unsuccessful candidate for election to the U. S. Senate in 1964. Elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1966. Reelected in 1972 and again in 1978, and served from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1985. Did not seek reelection. Minority leader 1977-1981. Majority leader 1981-1985. Unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 1980. Lawyer in Washington, D. C. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on March 26, 1984. Chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan 1987-1988. U. S. Ambassador to Japan, 2001-2005. Died on June 26, 2014. Interment in the churchyard cemetery at First Presbyterian Church, Huntsville, Tenn.