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Baker spoke about these experiences and how he became a part of them in a speech, "Work Hard, Study, . . . and Keep Out of Politics: Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life," based on his memoirs of the same title, at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Bush Library.
Baker, 77, a veteran public servant, has served as secretary of state, treasury secretary, presidential campaign manager and co-chaired the Iraq Study Group. Though, Baker said he was a latecomer who "had no intention of going into politics."
Baker was a 38-year-old lawyer who had four kids and was grieving the loss of his wife to cancer when his good friend and tennis doubles partner, George H. W. Bush, asked for help in his bid for Senate as a way to help him cope with the grief.
"I told him, one, I don't know anything about politics, and I'm a Democrat," Baker said. "But he said 'we can fix the second one.'"
Bush lost that election, but Baker continued on, working as the campaign director for Gerald Ford in his re-election run in 1976, which he lost.
Then, in the hope of pursuing a political career of his own, Baker ran for a statewide office. A Republican by that point, Baker said the unsuccessful run was challenging Democrat state at the time.
Baker said once while campaigning in the panhandle, a man came up to him and said, "you certainly looked like Jim Baker" - who received a good amount of press as Ford's campaign manager - "and I said, yeah, I get that often. The man responded: doesn't that piss you off?"
In 1980, Baker said he was in demand as a campaign adviser for Republican presidential candidates.
"At that time, I was the only Republican who had run a campaign for national office that wasn't in jail," Baker said.
While the major candidates tried to woo Baker, he ultimately went to work for Bush.
"George Bush wasn't the guy running for president - he was my tennis doubles partner," he said.
Bush was considered a long shot, though he managed to attain the vice presidency.
"When you start off as an asterisk (in the polls) and end up vice president of the United States - that's a win," Baker said.
Baker served as chief of staff and treasury secretary during the Reagan administration.
During this time, John Hinckley, Jr. shot Reagan in an assassination attempt in Washington. The president was lying on a hospital bed, naked with only a sheet covering him and blood trickling out of the side of his mouth.
"(Reagan) asked us, 'Hey, fellas, who's minding the store?'" Baker said. "I went into the chapel with Nancy (Reagan) because we weren't sure he was going to survive."
When Bush became president, he appointed the friend he called "Bake" to secretary of state.
"The highlight of my career in public service was my four years as George Bush's secretary of state," Baker said.
After that, Baker returned to private life, but still steps up to serve the public.
Baker has also done work dealing with Iraq: once for the Bush administration effort to forgive Iraqi debt and then as the Republican co-chair of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.
While handling Iraq's debts, Baker had to go through the regular process of becoming a government employee, which was a bit humiliating, he said.
"They put me on a dollar-a-year salary, which they didn't pay," he said. "And, I had to go in a backroom and pee in a cup to see if I used drugs - I passed."
As a part of the Iraq Study Group, Baker said the group of respected, former public servants was charged with looking to the future and finding bipartisan solutions.
"We're not interested in the past, we are forward-looking," he said. " I'm more comfortable looking down to road than sitting down thinking and writing about things that have come and gone."
Baker said the United States needs to talk with Iraq's neighbors - Iran and Syria. He cited the U.S.-Soviet Union relationship as an example. Baker said progress will not be made without communication.
Baker also gave his predictions for the 2008 presidential campaign: Sen. Hillary Clinton, Democrat of New York and John McCain, Republican of Arizona, will be the nominees for each party. Though, "things have changed a lot since I ran those presidential campaigns - a lot," he said.
Baker said he still enjoys the perks of retirement and a close friendship with his former boss.
"I've been up on golf, trout fishing, and quail hunting with my good friend (Bush)," he said. "No one is getting between me and my president."
