Howard Baker wrote his own epitaph.The Tennessee Republican served in the Senate for 18 years -- eight of them as his party's leader -- before retiring in 1984. When he died last week at 88, we looked up a speech Baker gave in 1998, in which he described his leadership style."Very often," he said, he found himself "engaged in fire-breathing, passionate debate" with fellow senators. But afterwards, "I would usually walk to the desk of my most recent antagonist, extend a hand of friendship, and solicit his support for the next issue for the following day.""People may think we're crazy when we do that," Baker continued.