2007 Eisenhower Leadership Awards Dinner

Institute Honors James and Susan Baker as 2007 Eisenhower Leadership Awards Recipients 

Secretary Baker receives the Leadership Award from Gettysburg College President, Katherine Haley Will, and EI Chair Emeritus, Susan Eisenhower.

The Eisenhower Institute honored Secretary James A. Baker III with the 2007 Eisenhower Leadership Award and his wife, Susan G. Baker, with the 2007 Eisenhower Distinguished Public Service Award.  Both awards were presented at the Institute's annual dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, DC, on April 4, 2007.

"The Board of Directors of the Institute is delighted to recognize two of our nation's most distinguished and dedicated public servants, who just happen to know each other quite well:  Secretary James Baker, for his prominent and successful career in government service; and his wife, Susan Baker, for her truly inspiring work on behalf of the homeless," said dinner chairman John F.W. Rogers, managing director, Goldman Sachs.

Secretary Baker gives remarks at EI Awards Ceremony.

James Baker's long, distinguished career in public service has spanned nearly three decades and six different presidential administrations. He has served in senior government positions on three separate occasions, most prominently as the 61^st Secretary of State under President George H.W. Bush and as the 67^th Secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan. Among the countless honors he has received, are the Department of Treasury's Alexander Hamilton Award and the Department of State's Distinguished Service Award. In 1991, he was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Baker has long been active in the trenches of American presidential politics, leading the campaigns for Presidents Ford, Reagan, and Bush, and also serving as White House Chief of Staff to Presidents Reagan and Bush. Most recently, Secretary Baker led the Iraq Study Group through a comprehensive examination of U.S. policies in Iraq and achieved consensus recommendations from the diverse membership of his commission. He has just been named to Co-Chair a bi-partisan National War Powers Commission. 

Susan Baker alongside her husband, Secretary James Baker, Dinner Chairman John Rogers, and Susan Eisenhower.

Susan Baker is perhaps best known for her ceaseless and inspirational work to end homelessness. In 1983, she co-founded the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which remains one of the leading public policy voices on the issue of homelessness in the world. She currently stands as the Alliance's Co-Chairman of the Board. Baker also serves on the Advisory Board of the Houston Food Bank and on the Board of Trustees of the Enterprise Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping create low-income housing opportunities for our nation's impoverished.

The Bakers have eight children and seventeen grandchildren, several of whom were in attendance.

Established in 1992, The Eisenhower Leadership Prize and the Distinguished Public Service Award are given by the Eisenhower Institute to recognize individuals whose lifetime accomplishments reflect Dwight D. Eisenhower's legacy of integrity and leadership. Honorary Co-Chairman for this year's Awards Dinner included President George H.W. Bush, General Brent Scowcroft, Secretary William Cohen, and Secretary Robert Rubin, among others.

Past recipients of the Eisenhower Leadership Prize include U.S. President George H.W. Bush; U.S. Senators John McCain, Richard Lugar, Ted Stevens, Pat Roberts and Sam Nunn; Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lloyd Bentsen; Generals Colin Powell and Brent Scowcroft; and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel.  Past recipients of the Distinguished Public Service Award include Tom Brokaw and Grover Washington, Jr.

Related Links: 

• To view the video from the 2007 Leadership Awards Dinner, click here.
• To view the photo gallery from the 2007 Leadership Awards Dinner, click here.
• To read Secretary James A. Baker's acceptance remarks, click here.
• To read Susan G. Baker's acceptance remarks, click here.