is a senior partner at Baker Botts, LLP, and is the honorary chair of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Baker served as the 61st secretary of state as well as White House chief of staff and senior counselor under President George H.W. Bush. Previously, Baker was secretary of the treasury, chairman of the Economic Policy Council, and White House chief of staff under President Ronald Reagan. Prior to the Reagan administration, Baker served as undersecretary of commerce to President Gerald Ford. Recently, Baker led the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel examining a forward-looking approach to Iraq, and was co-chair, with former President Jimmy Carter, of the Federal Commission on Election Reform. Baker latest book is a memoir, Work Hard, Study … and Keep Out of Politics! Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life (Putnam Adult, 2006). Among numerous awards, Baker received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991.