Word: souter
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Unable to get a fix on Souter from that sparse record, activists from both sides of the political spectrum began combing through what little was known about his personal life in search of evidence to either calm their fears or justify their suspicions. Some wondered if the 50-year-old lifelong bachelor might be gay. (Friends assured them he is not.) Others speculated that Souter's streak of Yankee independence would make him a less than reliable vote for either side of the abortion issue. In a rambling television interview last week, Justice Thurgood Marshall, a last vestige...
...Court Judge Edith Jones of Texas, a law-and-order advocate who was the President's second choice. But they take comfort from the fact that Bush's pick has the strong backing of White House chief of staff John Sununu, a former Governor of New Hampshire who appointed Souter to the state supreme court in 1983. Says one senior Republican: "There's been a lot of wink-wink, nod-nod among conservatives who think Souter is Sununu's guy and therefore can be trusted...
...swiftness with which Souter was named -- less than 72 hours after Brennan's resignation -- was almost as surprising as the nominee himself. "The President saw immediately that he needed to move quickly," says a senior White House official. "Otherwise, the interest groups were going to take control of the debate, narrow his options and make confirmation more difficult." Bush was on Air Force One, preparing to head back to Washington after a few days of politics and fishing out west, when he got the news that Brennan was stepping down. After calling Brennan to accept his resignation, Bush...
...Sununu, Vice President Dan Quayle, White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray and Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, looking over dossiers on about a dozen possibilities whom the Administration had singled out over the past 18 months. Sununu held back during the discussions, letting Gray and Thornburgh make the case for Souter. After the group had narrowed the list to about eight candidates, Bush asked for further specifics on several of them, then retired to Camp David for the weekend. Sununu went to work behind the scenes on Souter's behalf...
...first step was to phone Republican Senator Warren Rudman, a fellow Granite Stater who is among Souter's closest friends. According to Rudman, Sununu told him he was "trying to keep a low profile" on the nomination. He asked the Senator to fax to Washington a letter on the judge's behalf. It was included in materials delivered to Bush at Camp David...