James A. Baker, II has been Senior Counselor of The Carlyle Group since 1993. 

Mr. Baker has served at the senior levels of the U.S. government under three different Presidents.  He served as the nation’s 61st Secretary of State from January 1989 through August 1992 in the Bush Administration.  During his tenure at the State Department, Mr. Baker traveled to 90 foreign countries as the United States confronted the unprecedented challenges and opportunities of the post-Cold War era.  Mr. Baker served from 1985 to 1988 as the 67th Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration. 

Prior to his service as Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Baker was President Reagan’s White House Chief of Staff from 1981 to 1985.  Mr. Baker’s record of public service began in 1975 as President Ford’s Under Secretary of Commerce.  It concluded with his service once again as White House Chief of Staff for President Bush from August 1992 to January 1993.

Mr. Baker received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991 and has been the recipient of many other awards for distinguished public service, including Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson Award, The American Institute for Public Service’s Jefferson Award, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Award, The Hans J. Morgenthau Award, The George F. Kennan Award, the Department of the Treasury’s Alexander Hamilton Award, the Department of State’s Distinguished Service Award, and numerous honorary academic degrees.