Theodore Olson

Infobox US Cabinet official
name=Theodore Bevry Olson


order=42^nd
title=United States Solicitor General
term_start=June 11, 2001
term_end=July 10, 2004
president=George W. Bush
predecessor=Seth P. Waxman
successor=Paul D. Clement
birth_date=birth date and age|1940|09|11
birth_place=Chicago, Illinois
death_date=
death_place=
party=Republican

Theodore Bevry Olson (born September 11, 1940) was the 42nd United States Solicitor General, serving from June 2001 to July 2004.

Biography

Although he was born in Chicago, Theodore Olson considers Mountain View, California to be his hometown. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9807E2DC1430F936A25751C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Theordore Olson, NY Times] ] He graduated from Los Altos High in 1958, [ [https://latc.com/2000/12/13/news/news8.html Los Altos Town Crier, Olson] ] 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 the violation of said plea bargain 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 61^st 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. [cite web |title=Napa Nuptials for Olson and His Lady |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/22/AR2006102200052.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns |date=2006-10-22 |accessdate=2007-09-17] Lady Booth has described herself as a registered Democrat, but considers herself an American, first, and a voting independent. She has contributed to the campaigns of Barack Obama and Rudy Giuliani.

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. [cite web |title=Behind the slander |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/op-ed/editorial2/20070918-9999-lz1ed18bottom.html |date= 2007-09-18 |accessdate= 2007-09-18 ]

ee also

*George W. Bush Supreme Court candidates

References

Sources

* http://judiciary.senate.gov/oldsite/pjl051701eolson.htm

External links

* [http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/aboutosg/t_olson_bio.htm Dept. of Justice biography]
* [http://www.newsmeat.com/washington_political_donations/Ted_Olson.php Campaign contributions made by Theodore Olson]