Posted June 2007

Chattanooga, Tennesee -- One of the nation's most distinguished public servants will deliver the keynote address at the Chamber's Annual Meeting on August 29.

Sen. Howard H. Baker, Jr., whose service as U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 2001 to 2005 will inform his remarks, will make his address during the yearly luncheon at the Convention Center.

Highlights of Baker's career in government include serving as vice-chairman of the Watergate Senate Committee, Majority Leader of the Senate and Chief of Staff to President Reagan.

"Senator Howard Baker is that rarest of public officials -- a genuine statesman," said Chamber President and CEO Tom Edd Wilson. "We are honored to have him as our speaker and to hear his perspective on issues of vital interest to the business community."

After completing his assignment in Japan in 2005, Baker returned to Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, the law firm his grandfather founded and where he formerly practiced with his father, the late U.S. Rep. Howard H. Baker. As senior counsel to the firm, Baker focuses his practice on public policy and international matters.

Baker's public-service career began in 1966, when he became the first Republican popularly elected to the U.S. Senate from Tennessee. He gained national recognition in 1973 as Vice Chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee. Three years later, he was keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention and was a 1980 candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

Baker concluded his Senate career in 1985 after two terms as Majority Leader (1981 to 1985) and two terms as Minority Leader (1977 to 1981). He was Reagan's Chief of Staff from February 1987 to July 1988.

A delegate to the United Nations in 1976, Senator Baker has extensive foreign policy experience. He served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Board from 1985 to 1987 and from 1988 to 1990 and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs. He serves on the board of the Forum of International Policy and is an International Counselor for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Baker's ambassadorship to Japan was distinguished by his significant involvement and contribution to further strengthening the extraordinary diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Japan. "The relationship between Japan and the U.S. has never been better,'' says Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander. "A good bit of that credit goes to President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi for their close relationship, but Howard Baker had a lot to do with it, too."

Among Baker's many awards are the 1984 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, and the Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service Performed by an Elected or Appointed Official, which he received in 1982.

An accomplished photographer, Baker received The American Society of Photographers' International Award in 1993 and was elected into the Photo Marketing Association's Hall of Fame in 1994. He has received honorary degrees from such institutions as Yale University, Dartmouth College and Georgetown University.

Baker is the author of four books: No Margin for Error (1980); Howard Baker's Washington (1982); Big South Fork Country (1993) and Scott's Gulf (2000).

For more information about the Chamber's Annual Meeting or to make a reservation, call 423-763-4366 or visit the Chamber website at www.chattanoogachamber.com.