IN THE PROFESSION
It was a 1991 chance meeting in an elevator at the U . S . Court of Appeals for the D . C . Circuit which led a young 2nd Circuit law clerk to form a lifelong , deep and personal relationship with the most formidable and brilliant advocate for gender equality in 20th and 21st century America — RBG . It was the love of opera that opened a door for Jeffrey Rosen into the world of RBG . Mr . Rosen , who became legal affairs editor of The New Republic ; staff writer for The New Yorker ; president and chief executive officer of the National Constitution Center ; law professor at George Washington University ; and author of seven ( 7 ) nonfiction books , was that young law clerk in 1991 .
Conversations with RBG is a compilation of years of interviews by Mr . Rosen . RBG requested , and was given , a draft of her interviews as transcribed by Mr . Rosen to edit , before the book was published .
Over the years , Mr . Rosen and RBG had frequent written and in-person communications , often sharing critiques of opera performances they each saw , with
RBG inviting Mr . Rosen to join her at a number of performances , usually by the Washington National Opera , a company that RBG supported with enthusiasm . The communications about opera gradually broadened : RBG became a friend to Mr . Rosen ’ s family , and vice versa , and over time , there were multitudes of letters and e-mails discussing politics , Supreme Court opinions , both current and historical , those which RBG authored , and those which she enthusiastically supported . RBG also shared with Mr . Rosen those opinions decided by the changing faces of conservatism on the bench which made her cringe .
Although written with modesty , one of the more fascinating bits of history found in the Introduction is the critical role the author himself played in getting President Bill Clinton to nominate RBG to the Supreme Court . RBG was not on President Clinton ’ s short list to replace Justice White ; however , in April 1993 , Mr . Rosen wrote an article for The New Republic titled “ The List ,” ranking the seven leading candidates for the Supreme Court vacancy , with RBG as his top choice . Unbeknownst to Mr . Rosen , Marty Ginsburg , RBG ’ s husband and
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well-known Washington , D . C . tax lawyer , had begun a quiet campaign to convince Senator Patrick Moynihan of New York to champion RBG ’ s nomination .
In May 1993 , while flying to New York with Senator Moynihan , the President asked the Senator who he should nominate to replace Justice White . Senator Moynihan replied that there was only one real choice — RBG . Despite the sentiment that RBG would not support women ’ s rights , Senator Moynihan reiterated his support for RBG , but also arranged within an hour to get Mr . Gergen a copy of a talk that Dean Erwin Griswold gave at the Supreme Court on the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court moving into its new building . In the Dean ’ s talk , he particularly noted RBG for her impact on gender equality in America , even though decades earlier the same Erwin Griswold then Dean of Harvard Law School , asked RGB when she and her husband were attending the law school , “[ why are you ] taking the place at the law school that could have gone to a man ?” President Clinton nominated RBG on June 14 , 1993 , and she was confirmed by the Senate in a nearly unanimous vote .
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