Former Senators Nancy Kassebaum-Baker (R, KS) and Howard Baker (R, TN) flank Bill Lacy, the Director of the Dole Institute for Politics at the April 22, 2007 reception for Senator Baker in honor of his receiving the Dole Leadership Prize. The reception was in Hansen Hall of the Dole Institute

As I mentioned last week, I (and many others) was invited to attend the pre-event reception and subsequent, well, chat is all you can call it, that comprised the award ceremony for Senator Baker last night. Mind you, the *real* score is to be invited to the pre-event *dinner* and your humble scribe does not have that kind of pull in Kansas politics. Probably not a bad thing.

Nonetheless, well worth the effort (i.e., putting on a tie) to attend, wander amongst the predominantly (but not exclusively) Kansas Pachyderms and select Donkeys - and the crowd at the reception - including the students - probably had a median age of... 60.

Not being connected in Kansas politics, I spent most of my time during the reception talking blogging with another Kansas blogger and the two of us doing some people watching.

The star of course was former Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee, who had the good taste to marry a Kansan, our former Senator Nancy Kassebaum, for these last 10 years Ms. Kassebaum-Baker.

The Senators braved the horde for the last 30 minutes or so of the reception, and were, as you would expect of politicians of their caliber, very adept at working the crowd, showing interest in what strangers gushed at them, and generally graciously dealing with all the assembled fans, groupies, and political junkies. Call me a fan, I guess.

The award ceremony itself was held at the Lied Center, and the Armorer scored a great seat, center orchestra. The format was very good - Bill Lacy, the Director of the Dole Institute, and Senator Baker sat on stage and essentially did an interview.

It was wonderful to hear an old political warrior talk, in a careful, yet insidery way, about some of the big political events that marked his career and my life. While I have extensive notes, I really came away with three things that will stick with me.

First, was the Senator's discussion of his role in the Watergate hearings. He was in Moscow with a Senate delegation when the Senate Majority Leader called, and asked him to be the ranking minority member, and thus Vice Chair, of the committee. At that point, he said he thought the Watergate affair was as likely a Democrat "dirty trick" as anything else. Upon his return, he met with President Nixon, and told him, "Mr. President, I want you to know I will look out for your interests." He then asked the President if he thought that Senator Baker's good friend on many years, Attorney General John Mitchell, would have any problems stemming from the investigation. And he was floored when the answer was, "Yes, he just might."

Baker then related how he chose Fred Thompson to be the Minority Counsel. He was given a list of, as he put it, legal luminaries of all stripes, from Judges to law professors - and decided that to do this right, he needed someone he knew, and that he knew he could trust. That person was Fred Thompson. More on Senator Thompson later.

Senator Baker discussed how he went from feeling that Watergate was a tempest in a teapot to a growing realization that it could in fact develop into a constitutional crisis, revolving around, as Senator Baker put it all those years ago - "What the President knew, and when he knew it," and how that required him to put aside political loyalties and calculations and follow the facts.

We know how that ended up.

He also averred that too often, especially in the press, seeking to be the next Woodward and Bernstein, we take what are really run-of-the-mill politics and sensationalize them out of context by trying to make them Watergate-level. But in the same vein, he said that the press was actually, in his mind, going to have an even greater role in the selection process of the candidates for President - a role he welcomed.

Throughout the chat, Senator Baker talked about doing what he thought was right, which wasn't always what his Republican confrere's wanted - using the Panama Canal treaty President Carter negotiated as a key example. He also told an anecdote about his first meeting with Carter after Carter's election - the two shake hands, and Baker says, "Its an honor to meet you, Mr. President." To which Carter replied, "But Senator, we've met before, don't you remember?" Senator Baker then found himself telling the most powerful man on the planet, "Um, no. I don't."

Senator Baker is a huge fan of President Reagan and talked about taking over as White House Chief of Staff at what many consider to be the nadir of the Reagan presidency. He was asked to come to the White House to discuss a job - he didn't at that time know what it was going to be. He didn't want the job, and marshaled all his arguments against it. Taking the elevator to the third floor of the White House, the door opened, and there was President Reagan. The President said, "Howard, I want you to be my Chief of Staff." "Um, yes sir."

His retelling of the first weeks of holding that position would resonate with any of us who came in and took over a position after the previous occupant had been fired, especially an XO or a Chief of Staff position - except that in this case, President Reagan was so beat down by events that he - to Baker's surprise - essentially just said, "Whatever you think, Howard." While that says much for Senator Baker, it also says a lot about the stresses of the Presidency. It also says a lot about President Reagan.

Senator Baker got appointed to be Ambassador to Japan by President Bush, serving from 2001 to 2005. He was also, you may recall, the Baker of the Baker-Hamilton Commission on Iraq. He didn't really want those jobs, though he grew to enjoy being Ambassador. He says that his wife Nancy observed that he was a pushover for Presidents.

In the audience Q&A segment, he was asked how he felt about the President ignoring the recommendations of the Commission. His answer was simple. "I wasn't bothered. The President is the agent constitutionally responsible for foreign policy and is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The decisions are his to make - and that is a theme he wove in throughout the interview - the President is the President, and agree with him or not, like her politics or not - you must respect the office. I resisted the urge to get up and ask him what he thought of Speaker Pelosi's diplomatic efforts of late.

All in all, I had a great time listening to one of the Great Men of our age. And if you don't think that Senator Baker is that - remember who basically told President Nixon to resign or get impeached. And convicted, unlike the other two Presidents who have been impeached, but *not* convicted.

Okay, I said more about Fred Thompson.

Senator Baker said he told Thompson that he should run for President, that he would make a good President, and that Senator Baker was going to float trial balloons until Senator Thompson told him to stop.

Senator Thompson hasn't told him to stop.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Senator Baker directed that the $25,000 prize money be sent to the Landon Center on Aging at KU Medical Center.

Tomorrow - my meeting with Representative Nancy Boyda (D, KS) who is my representation in the House. Very interesting. Since I'm sure Kate and Owen will be checking - Hi Guys! This is my way of making sure I get at least 4 unique visits from you - one each today and tomorrow!