Howard Baker, a former senator and chief of staff under President Ronald Reagan, said Saturday night that the current Congress is irresponsible and out of touch with America.
Speaking to approximately 100 people at a 10th anniversary celebration for the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences, Baker criticized the Clinton administration and Washington journalists.
Baker contrasted the politicians today with former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller '30, who Baker said brought human understanding to politics. Rockefeller "should be a role model" for current representatives in Washington who lack civility, optimism and congeniality, he said.
Baker was a close friend of Rockefeller, who died in 1979.
Lashing out at Congress, Baker called the group "an aggregation of professional bureaucrats" rather than representatives of the people.
He said he supports term-limits to prevent representatives from becoming full-time bureaucrats.
Baker said "the White House shows no civility in wiping out all traces of George Bush and Ronald Reagan." He said those presidents "worked under much stronger mandates than the present incumbent."
Political observers have suggested Baker is a possible candidate for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination. His appearance in New Hampshire, the first state to hold a primary, may have been testing the waters for a potential presidential bid.
Baker praised Rockefeller's actions as governor of New York, which included cleaning up the Hudson River, creating a modern state highway system and revolutionizing New York's public education programs, as examples of his "humane leadership."
Baker said the media "contributes to the mean-spiritedness of modern day politics" and said there has to be "some level of public restraint" in reporting on national affairs.
The speech concluded an eight-week series of events celebrating the Rockefeller Center's anniversary.
