Ex-US Sen. Howard Baker Jr. Dies

White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker gestures while speaking to members of the media at the White House, March 3, 1987. Baker replaced Donald Regan who resigned last Friday. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Howard Baker Jr., who asked what President Richard Nixon knew about Watergate, has died. He was 88.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander confirmed Baker’s death in a news release Thursday.

Baker, a Republican, served 18 years in the Senate. He earned the respect of Republicans and Democrats alike and rose to the post of majority leader. He served as White House chief of staff at the end of the Reagan administration and was U.S. ambassador to Japan during President George W. Bush’s first term.

His question at the 1973 Senate Watergate hearings — “What did the president know and when did he know it?” — became famous. It instantly focused the nation’s attention on the cover-up that — more than the Watergate break-in itself — eventually brought down Nixon’s presidency.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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