Written by Deborah Levine, Editor

Former Senator Howard Baker was the guest speaker at the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce on August 28, 2007. Senator Baker is a former Republican Senator from Tennessee with deep roots in Chattanooga that continue to bear fruit. His grandfather founded a law firm with three lawyers in Chattanooga in 1887. Today the law firm, Baker Donelson Bearman & Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, has more than 500 lawyers and is one of the largest firms in the country.

Senator Baker was introduced by Tom Griscom, publisher of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Mr. Griscom was press secretary to Sen. Baker and says that he’ll always be a member of Baker’s team. Also speaking before Senator Baker was Japan’s Consul-General to New Orleans, Masaru Sakato, who thanked the Chamber for its hospitality to Japanese businesses based in Chattanooga. Consul-General Sakato took the opportunity to honor Senator Baker for his service as Ambassador to Japan. He spoke appreciatively of Senator Baker’s intense interest in Japan and his love of photographing much of his Japanese experience.

Senator Baker’s journey will be documented at the Baker Center at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville which will open in April 2008. His first elected office was as president of the student body of the University of Tennessee. He was first elected to the Senate in 1976, served on the Watergate committee and became White House Chief of Staff before becoming Ambassador to Japan. Of Japan, Senator Baker spoke of his continued connection, “I try to get back to Japan about once a year but every year I find that it hasn’t gotten any closer. . . It’s three meals and four movies away.”

An admirer of Chattanooga, Senator Baker spoke of the many assets of the City. He talked of the City’s great history. A focal point of the War Between the States, we were able to recover and become an industrial center. It has had a great array of successful business and families who developed successful fortunes. Those families stayed here and invested their resources in the growth and development of the city, including the present rejuvenation of the riverfront and the downtown. Their devotion has made Chattanooga an unusually attractive city. Also, Chattanooga has been greatly favored with its excellent newspaper, always an asset to the development of a city. Senator Baker noted that Chattanooga is becoming known as a potential industrial center. However, he hopes that the City doesn’t lose sight of the fact that our greatest successes have been home grown and we should continue to develop our own businesses.

In 100 years, Senator predicts that Chattanooga will be an even more attractive place to live. The city’s pleasant size, beautiful environment, effective government and business community make it good place for families and for retirees. Demonstrating his Southern-style humor, Baker added “I’d like to be here in 100 years, and at present, I plan to be. But in case I’m not here, I hope someone will keep score.”

When asked how we can restore civility to government, Senator Baker replied, “I think politics has gotten so mean, so rash, so accusatory, that it’s having a corrosive effect on government.” He noted that while congress is a place to test ideas, there needs to be “a decent respect for the other fellow’s point of view.” Without civility and decency, Senator Baker maintains that the system won’t work.

The final question of the event was about his view of the field of presidential candidates. He prefaced his remarks by quoting his father, “He who peers into a crystal ball should be prepared to eat glass.” Despite his reluctance to comment on the campaign, Senator Baker made it clear that he supported Fred Thompson, a fellow Tennessee politician.