From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. James Addison Baker, III (born April 28, 1930) is an American attorney, politician and political advisor. Baker served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush. Baker also served as Secretary of the Treasury from 1985-1988 in the second Reagan administration, and Secretary of State in the George H. W. Bush administration. He is also the namesake of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Baker, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.