Top Aide Says Baker Will Stay on Job
James A. Baker III will remain secretary of state “for some time to come” and reports that he will step aside to help with President Bush’s campaign are nonsense, the State Department’s No. 2 official said Sunday.
“I will wager you that, for some time to come, I will be the deputy secretary of state and Jim Baker will be the secretary,” Lawrence S. Eagleburger said on the ABC-TV program “This Week With David Brinkley.”
When a questioner suggested that the time period could mean three weeks, approximately the time until the Republican National Convention, Eagleburger shot back, “A lot longer than that.”
He said it was “at least highly possible” that Baker would not be moving to the campaign as reported.
“I happen to believe that Jim Baker will stay as secretary of state for some long period of time to come, and the Middle East is one obvious reason for that,” Eagleburger said.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is scheduled to visit Washington shortly before the GOP convention, and Eagleburger said there are also meetings on the Middle East scheduled for late August in Washington.
Bush, asked about Eagleburger’s remarks after returning to the White House from a Camp David weekend, said, “I have no comments on that subject.”
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