Narrated by Tom Brokaw, this award-winning documentary tells the story of James A. Baker, III, a remarkable politician and statesman who represents a time when our government functioned, Congress got things done, and presidents and politicians worked together. Baker, now 83, helped get three presidents elected, served in top posts for two of them, and was a central player in some of the most momentous events of the late 20th century. As White House chief-of-staff he masterminded the Reagan Revolution and got much of Reagan's ambitious agenda through a hostile Congress. As Treasury Secretary, Baker negotiated the Tax Reform Act of 1986, a legislative feat no one believed possible in a divided government, and arguably the last time we saw significant tax code revisions all sides could agree on. As Secretary of State Baker brought the Cold War in for a soft landing - working with Mikhail Gorbachev and Eduard Shevardnadze to maintain stability in Eastern Europe. Almost simultaneously, he put together the unprecedented coalition of nations to fight the first Gulf War. On the heels of that success, he organized the Madrid Peace Conference bringing Arab nations and Israel to the table for the first time in modern history. With candid testimony from Baker, and first hand accounts from former presidents Clinton, Carter, and Bush Sr., former Secretaries of State Rice and Kissinger, former Vice president Cheney, as well as a host of other Washington insiders, journalists and historians, THE MAN WHO MADE WASHINGTON WORK is an eye-opening behind-the-scenes story of power, persuasion and diplomacy at the highest levels.
