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See inside Howard Baker's massive estate, which hits the auction block this weekend
Just in case you are still unclear about whether there is lots of money in politics - both in campaigns and in fortunes - an upcoming Tennessee auction might provide insight.
The house and 11.5-acre estate of the late and former U.S. Sen. Howard Baker in Huntsville, Tenn., (150 miles northeast of Nashville) will go on the auction block Saturday.
Baker, known and revered in Congress as "the Great Conciliator," died last year at 88. As a senator, he prodded Congress for 18 years to keep talking, working, cooperating and accomplishing things - something sadly lacking in today's government. Baker later became an adviser to Presidents Reagan and Bush, a White House chief of staff, and an ambassador to Japan.
But a look at the slide show on the Chattanooga Times Free Press website showing Baker's former 6,175-square-foot main home, his six-car glass garage and his 2,000-square-foot guest house shows what money in politics (even in previous years when it was in far lower amounts than today) and great taste with elegant understatement can provide. Furniture in the two Baker homes, as well as some of Baker's personal items, also will be up for grab in the auction. The executor of the estate told reporters at the Tennessean that Baker's family wants to "let someone else start enjoying" the home.
The Tennessean's story about Saturday's auction does not mention the estate's appraised value or any expected auction minimums.