Paul Clement

Infobox US Cabinet official
name=Paul Drew Clement


order=43^rd
title=United States Solicitor General
term_start=June 13, 2005
term_end=June 19, 2008
president=George W. Bush
predecessor=Theodore Olson
successor=Gregory G. Garre
order2 = Acting
title2 = Attorney General of the United States
term_start2 = September 17, 2007
term_end2 = September 18, 2007
predecessor2 = Alberto Gonzales
successor2 = Peter Keislersmall|, act.
birth_date=June 1966
birth_place=Town of Cedarburg, Wisconsin
death_date=
death_place=
party=Republican

Paul Drew Clement (born June 1966) was, until recently, the United States Solicitor General. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on March 14, 2005, confirmed by the United States Senate on June 8, 2005, and took the oath of office on June 13. Clement replaced Theodore Olson.

The Solicitor General is the fourth-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. The Solicitor General is below the Attorney general, Deputy Attorney General and the Associate Attorney General. From September 17, 2007 to October 2, 2007 when Michael Mukasey was confirmed as Attorney General by the Senate, Clement was the highest ranking official that had been confirmed to his office by the Senate; the Assistant and Associate Attorney general positions are both filled by acting appointees.]

Clement resigned on May 14, 2008, effective June 2, 2008, and will join the Georgetown University Law Center as a visiting professor and senior fellow at the Supreme Court Institute.

Early life and education

Clement was born to Jean and Jerry Clement, and he had two brothers and a sister. He is married, and he and his wife have three children.

Clement is a native of the Town of Cedarburg, Wisconsin and in 1984 graduated from Cedarburg High School, where he joined the debate team. He received his bachelor's degree "summa cum laude" from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and a master's degree in economics from Darwin College, University of Cambridge. While at Georgetown, Clement successfully competed in the American Parliamentary Debate Association. He graduated "magna cum laude" from Harvard Law School where he was the Supreme Court editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Legal career

Following graduation, Clement clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. After his clerkships, he worked as an associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis. Clement went on to serve as Chief Counsel of Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Afterwards, he was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of King & Spalding, where he headed the firm's appellate practice. He also served from 1998 to 2004 as an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he taught a seminar on the separation of powers.

Clement joined the United States Department of Justice in February 2001. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Acting Solicitor General for nearly a year and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General. He has argued over 49 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including "McConnell v. FEC", "Tennessee v. Lane", "Rumsfeld v. Padilla", "United States v. Booker", "Hamdi v. Rumsfeld", "Rumsfeld v. FAIR", "Hamdan v. Rumsfeld", "Gonzales v. Raich", "Gonzales v. Oregon", "Gonzales v. Carhart", and "Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation". He also argued many of the key cases in the lower courts involving challenges to the President's conduct of the war on terrorism. [Blum, Vanessa. [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1073944820670 "Point Man: Paul Clement leads the charge in defending the administration's tactics in the war on terror"] , "Legal Times", January 16, 2004]

On August 27 2007, President Bush named Clement as the future acting Attorney General of the United States, to take office upon the resignation of Alberto Gonzales, effective September 17 2007. [] According to administration officials, Clement took that office at 12:01 AM September 17, 2007, and left office 24 hours later. ] On September 17, President Bush announced that Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, Peter Keisler would become acting Attorney General, pending a permanent appointment of a presidential nominee. [ [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070917-4.html "President Bush Announces Judge Michael Mukasey as Nominee for Attorney General"] , White House press release, September 17, 2007] ]

Clement gave notice of his resignation on May 14, 2008, effective June 2, 2008, and will return to Georgetown Law School as a senior fellow.

See also

*List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
*George W. Bush Supreme Court candidates

References

External links

* [http://www.newsmeat.com/washington_political_donations/Paul_Clement.php Paul Clement's federal campaign contributions]
* [http://www.usdoj.gov/osg Office of the Solicitor General]