I see Howard Baker has passed away. It seems like he was in office for

[volsboy]

the most part of my life. I am 53. Sad, a lot of people from my younger days are passing on. Time waits for none of us.

[PirateVOL]

I spent a few minutes with him once, in Iceland of all places.  He was up for some formal meeting or another and as a card carrying resident of Tennessee I was one of those selected to meet with him.

[Creek Walker]

Baker was a great man, and a good politician. He would've been a fine president, I believe, and he would've been president if Reagan hadn't been on the scene at the time...of course, he did well enough as Reagan's chief of staff. I didn't realize until I was reading today just how much Reagan's White House was in disarray in '87 before he appointed Baker to replace Regan. They don't make politicians in that mold anymore: guys who were more interested in right vs. wrong than right vs. left.

I really got to know Baker in the early '00s, after he returned from his ambassador stint in Japan. He was genuine to the core. Very smart and very honest. He had a series of mini strokes in recent years that caused him to lose control of his facial expressions, so he stopped making public appearances, but his mind remained as sharp as a tack (and he was just as eloquent a speaker as ever) right up until the very end.

[Creek Walker]

A hastily prepared video tribute I put together today for our website.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ys4wstf7nGE?rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ys4wstf7nGE?rel=0</a>

[LouisVOL]

"What did the President know, and when did he know it?"

Howard Baker became a household name, and earned the respect of Americans with his direct, honest, and non-partisan conduct during Watergate.  Good man!

Great TV, that Watergate series, right there with Breaking Bad.