When Howard Baker signed on as Ronald Reagan's third chief of staff in February 1987, he vowed he would be around to turn out the White House lights at the end of the President's second term. Last week, however, the former Senate majority leader from Tennessee decided to call it quits. The lights are still burning at the White House. But with Baker scheduled to depart on July 1 and evening shadows fast gathering around the Reagan presidency, some in Washington are wondering who will be there to flick the switches next January.
Baker's resignation has enhanced the fin de regime feeling that has hung over the White House since the Moscow summit. With no major battles left to be fought, no treaties to be ratified, no important goals that could realistically be achieved, the Administration seems to be biding its time. James Reichley, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, feels the Administration is in a "tidying-up phase." Says Reichley: "The White House is in an even more defensive mode than at this time last year. They're being careful to prevent things from happening that they don't want to happen."
Such talk irritates Baker's successor, Kenneth Duberstein, 44. "Everybody always underestimates Ronald Reagan," says Duberstein, who as Baker's No. 2 man has handled the day-to-day details of managing the White House. "We'll continue to see a vigorous President in the remaining months. We'll be going full throttle from here on out. You'll see."
Baker insists that ennui was not responsible for his resignation, which he attributed to personal reasons. Joy, his wife of 37 years, is a recovering alcoholic who has undergone surgery for lung cancer, gastrointestinal problems and other ailments. Since his wife's recent hospitalization for chronic back pain, Baker has been spending more time shuttling from Washington to her bedside in Knoxville.
But in Washington people always suspect ulterior motives. The town briefly buzzed with rumors that Baker was maneuvering to get the vice-presidential nomination. Aides to George Bush scoffed at the scuttlebutt. So did Baker. "There isn't even the remotest possibility that such a thing will come about," Baker told TIME. "It's something I don't expect and don't want. I'm doing nothing to promote that."
In many ways, Baker's tenure at the White House was a strange interlude. He succeeded the tyrannical Donald Regan at the height of the Iran-contra scandal. With his easygoing manner and lack of administrative experience, Baker at first seemed an odd choice for the job. But his steady, conciliatory style proved to be perfectly suited to restoring stability in a besieged Administration.
Reagan benefited considerably from Baker's stature on Capitol Hill. During the Iran-contra hearings, Baker helped keep relations between the White House and the Congress from getting too testy. After the crisis passed, Baker turned the President's attention to superpower relations, and was instrumental in ensuring Senate ratification of the INF treaty.