James A. Baker III knows something about running a White House in the midst of a grueling recession, with voters on the verge of casting a thumbs up or down on the boss's second term. Baker was chief of staff to President Reagan in the early 1980s, when economic engines revved in time for the memorable "morning again in America" re-elect, and again (without the happy-morning ending) to George H.W. Bush in the early 1990s.
