Judges dreamed of having Barack Obama as their clerk. Why did he turn them all down?By Tony Mauro
Legal Times
December 10, 2007
Among prominent federal appeals court judges in the 1990s, Barack Obama was known as “the one who got away.”
In 1990, Obama had been elected the first African-American president of Harvard Law Review, which made him a blazingly hot prospect as a law clerk for one of the top federal appeals judges, who in turn would almost certainly send him on to the Supreme Court as a clerk. But with a remarkable certitude that still amazes his friends and elders, Obama said no to all that, preferring to return to Chicago after graduating in 1991 to resume community and civil rights work and to write a memoir that turned into a best seller, Dreams from My Father. Now, only 16 years later, the junior Democratic senator from Illinois is a top contender for the presidency of the United States.
...Word of Obama’s talents spread fast among the “feeder” judges who supplied the high court with its elite clerks. Attention had not yet been drawn to the dearth of minorities among Supreme Court clerks, but at least some of the appellate judges were on the lookout. “I was always trying to get more minority clerks,” says Mikva.
So Mikva asked Sheryll Cashin, one of his clerks at the time, to invite Obama for an interview in 1990. Cashin, now a Georgetown University Law Center professor, had met Obama while she was in her final year at Harvard and Obama was in his first. She remembers attending a Black Law Student Association reception for new students, where, she says, “a lot of first-year females were hanging on his every word, and I was, too.” Obama was 27 when he entered law school, and though he was “shabbily dressed,” in Cashin’s words, “he was charismatic. People were just drawn to him.”
When Cashin called Obama on Mikva’s behalf, she expected to snag him for a clerkship with relative ease. “Judge Mikva had one of the highest batting averages for sending his clerks to the Supreme Court the following year.” But when she reached Obama by phone, it turned into “a call I will never forget,” says Cashin. He said no, telling her about his plans to return to Chicago. “I was blown away,” says Cashin. “This was unheard of.” He was turning down money as well as prestige, she notes. “Back then, there was a hiring bonus at firms for clerks of about $35,000.” (Now that bonus for Supreme Court clerks tops $200,000.)
“I don’t know anyone with the fiber not to take that opportunity,” says Cashin admiringly. “He had a clear vision of what he wanted to do. That’s an incredible testament to his character.”
...Tribe also recalls when Obama came to him and said, “Professor Tribe, I’ve decided pretty much not to take a clerkship.” Other professors had urged Obama to pursue a clerkship, but Tribe says he was not among them. “Given Barack’s maturity and aspirations, I thought the benefits of progressing straight toward his goals without making a detour for two years of clerkships outweighed the costs.”
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