He had a brother, Robert Connell Baldridge (he alone returned the second "d" to his last name, which had been dropped in previous generations), and a sister, Letitia Baldrige.

Before entering the Cabinet, Baldrige was chairman and chief executive officer of Waterbury, Connecticut-based brass company Scovill, Inc. Having joined Scovill in 1962, he is credited with leading its transformation to a highly diversified manufacturer of consumer, housing and industrial goods from a financially troubled brass mill.

Baldrige was nominated to be Secretary of Commerce by President-elect Ronald Reagan on December 11, 1980, and confirmed by the United States Senate on January 22, 1981.

In it were twelve chapters on how "translations" of complex legal wording or bureaucratic jargon could be simplified and made more clear to any reader.

Baldrige's introduction read, in part, "Talking or writing in plain English is a challenge to both the private and public sectors.

Baldrige worked as a ranch hand during his boyhood and earned several awards as a professional team roper on the rodeo circuit.

[2] Baldrige once appeared on the television game show To Tell the Truth pretending to be rodeo tie-down roping champion Dean Oliver.

[3] Secretary of Commerce Baldrige died in Northern California on July 25, 1987, after sustaining internal injuries from a rodeo accident while participating in a calf-roping competition when the horse he was riding fell on him at the Jack Roddy Ranch in Brentwood in east Contra Costa County, 45 miles (70 km) east of San Francisco.

Following the accident, Baldrige was flown by helicopter to John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, California, but his internal injuries were too severe.