Theodore Olson
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| Theodore Bevry Olson | |
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| In office June 11, 2001 – July 10, 2004 |
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| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Seth P. Waxman |
| Succeeded by | Paul D. Clement |
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| Born | September 11, 1940 Chicago, Illinois |
| Political party | Republican |
Theodore Bevry Olson (born September 11, 1940) was the 42nd United States Solicitor General, serving from June 2001 to July 2004.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Chicago, Theodore Olson considers Mountain View, California to be his hometown.[1] He graduated from Los Altos High in 1958,[2] and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of the Pacific. After earning his law degree from Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, he worked as an associate and a partner in the Los Angeles, California office of the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He then served as an Assistant Attorney General (Office of Legal Counsel) in the Reagan administration before returning to private practice as a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of his former law firm. While serving in the Reagan administration, Olson defended President Reagan during the Iran-Contra affair.
Olson had also gained notability by acting as attorney for convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard while he was in private practice. Olson had appealed to United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit claiming that during Pollard's trial, the life sentence he received was in violation of the plea bargain agreement, which had specifically taken life off the table. Olson also argued that in violation of said plea bargain, that was grounds for a mistrial. The Court of Appeals, in a panel of three judges, voted 2-1 that no grounds existed for a mistrial. Future Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg cast one of the two votes against Pollard's motion.
Olson successfully represented presidential candidate George W. Bush in the Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore, which effectively determined the final result of the contested 2000 Presidential election.
He was nominated to the Office of Solicitor General by President Bush on February 14, 2001, was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 24, 2001, and took office on June 11, 2001.
Olson's third wife, Barbara K. Olson, was a passenger on the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 that was crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 (his 61st birthday). The following year Olson met Lady Booth, a tax attorney and native of Kentucky, and the two were married on October 21, 2006 in Napa County, California.[3] Booth has described herself as a Democrat, although she has recently contributed $2,300 to the presidential campaign of Republican Rudy Giuliani.[4]
Prior to President Bush's nomination of D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Roberts, Olson was considered a potential nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's post. Following the withdrawal of Harriet Miers' nomination for that post, and prior to the nomination of Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Samuel Alito, Olson's name was again mentioned as a possible nominee.
In July 2004, Olson retired as Solicitor General and returned to private practice at the Washington office of Gibson Dunn. President Bush nominated Paul Clement to be Olson's successor, and he was confirmed to the position by the United States Senate.
In September 2007, Olson was considered by the Bush administration for the post of Attorney General to succeed Alberto Gonzales. However, the Democratic response was so strongly negative that Bush chose to nominate Michael Mukasey instead.[5]
Olsen has the distinction of being one of two attorneys currently living that have argued over 40 cases before the United States Supreme Court, the other being his predecessor in the office of Solicitor General, Seth P. Waxman.[6]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Theordore Olson, NY Times
- ^ Los Altos Town Crier, Olson
- ^ Napa Nuptials for Olson and His Lady (10/22/2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
- ^ Fundrace 2008. Retrieved on 9/20/07.
- ^ Behind the slander (9/18/07). Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
- ^ Richard Panchyk, Our Supreme Court: A History with 14 Activities
[edit] Sources
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Seth P. Waxman |
Solicitor General 2001–2004 |
Succeeded by Paul Clement |
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