Howard Henry Baker Jr. was an American politician, diplomat and photographer who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985. During his tenure, he rose to the rank of Senate Minority Leader and then Senate Majority Leader. A member of the Republican Party, Baker was the first Republican to be elected to the U.S. Senate in Tennessee since the Reconstruction era.
Official portrait, 2001
Baker in 1989
Baker with President George W. Bush in 2001
Howard Baker with Bill Frist, Bob Corker, and Lamar Alexander in 2007.
Party leaders of the United States Senate
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as a chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding the majority and the minority in the United States Senate. They are each elected as majority leader and minority leader by the senators of their party caucuses: the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD)