Howard Baker - Early Life

Early Life

Baker was born in Huntsville, in Scott County, Tennessee, the son of Dora Ann (née Ladd) and Howard H. Baker, Sr. His father served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1951 until 1964, representing a traditionally Republican district in East Tennessee. Baker attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, and after graduating he attended Tulane University in New Orleans. During World War II, he trained at a U.S. Navy facility on the campus of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee in the V-12 Navy College Training Program. He served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 and graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1949. That same year, he was admitted to the Tennessee bar and commenced his practice. The rotunda at the University of Tennessee College of Law is now named for him. While delivering a commencement speech during his grandson’s graduation at East Tennessee State University (Johnson City), Baker was awarded an honorary doctorate degree on May 5, 2007. Baker is an alumnus of the Alpha Sigma Chapter of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.