Richard Allan Baker was the first Historian of the United States Senate, serving through August 2009. He directed the United States Senate Historical Office from the time of its creation in 1975.
He writes a weekly column on Senate history for a Washington newspaper and is currently preparing a history of Senate rules and customs.
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Baker graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and received masters degrees from Columbia University and Michigan State University. He also obtained a Ph.D. in history from the University of Maryland, College Park.
During the weekly luncheon meetings of the Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate, Baker opened up with a brief [1] historical anecdote or minute. These short essays were wide-ranging in topic and highlight recurring themes in the Senate's institutional development. This program, at the request of Minority Leader Reid, was discontinued in the 109th Congress, in order to make the meetings more efficient.