income in the South (the ninth highest in the nation). Despite a national recession in the final year of his term, Baliles's popularity helped secure the narrow election of Douglas Wilder as governor in 1989. Post-gubernatorial career While some considered Baliles an attractive candidate for higher public office after his service as governor, Virginia's United States Senate seats were held by Democrat Chuck Robb, Baliles's predecessor as governor, and popular Republican John Warner. Baliles also chose against pursuing the Democratic nomination for President in 1992. After his term as governor ended in 1990, Baliles returned to private law practice as a partner in the national firm Hunton & Williams based in Richmond, Virginia. He specialized in aviation and international law, negotiating agreements between airlines and airports, worked on strategic alliances between carriers, and led coalitions to expand market access and protect environmental standards. He also accepted some public service assignments, including as chair of the Commission to Ensure a Strong Competitive Airline Industry (National Airline) Commission for President Bill Clinton and Congress. In the early 1990s, Baliles served as chairman of the Public Infrastructure Subcouncil of the Competitiveness Policy Council. He also sat on the boards of the Norfolk Southern Corporation and Altria Group. Baliles also served two terms as the chairman of the board of the Public Broadcasting System. An avid fisherman, throughout most of his professional life Baliles helped preserving the Chesapeake Bay. In 1995 he published Preserving the Chesapeake Bay. In 2004 Baliles served as chair of a blue-ribbon panel to raise money for the Bay cleanup, and in 2005 the Chesapeake Bay Foundation named him conservationist of the year. He also founded the Patrick County Education Foundation and served as chairman of the Commission on the Academic Presidency and for the Task Force on the State of the Presidency in Higher Education, for the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Baliles received eleven honorary degrees, including the Harry F. Byrd Public Service Award from the Virginia Military Institute in 2006. Baliles became the Miller Center's fifth director in April 2006, and before his retirement on December 31, 2014 developed the "American Forum" television program (which ran for 6 years). Known for his civility and bipartisanship, Baliles also oversaw the publication of more than a dozen transcript volumes of White House tapes from the John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon presidencies