Howard Baker, Jr., became the first popularly elected Republican senator from Tennessee in 1966. He served 18 years in the Senate, rising to the positions of minority leader (1977-1981) and majority leader (1981-1985). Baker is perhaps best known for his role as vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities—the Watergate Committee—where he pointedly asked, "What did the President know and when did he know it?" Baker grew up in a congressional household. His father and stepmother served in the House of Representatives, and he was the son-in-law of Illinois senator Everett Dirksen. He later married a Senate colleague, Kansas senator Nancy Kassebaum. Baker retired from the Senate in 1985 to become White House chief of staff under President Reagan. In 1998, he delivered one of the "Leader's Lectures," recalling his years as majority leader. Herbert Abrams' portrait of Baker was the first piece acquired after the Senate Leadership Portrait Collection was officially established in 1999.