Reader Adam White passes along an e-mail just sent out on a Harvard Law School listserv apparently coming from Elena Kagan, announcing that President-Elect Obama will announce today that Kagan will be nominated as Obama's Solicitor General. I haven't been able to confirm this independently, but it seems legit enough to pass on (and if it's not legit, I'll correct it ASAP). The e-mail is below the jump.
From: owner-community@lists.law.harvard.edu [mailto:owner-community@lists.law.harvard.edu] On Behalf Of Elena Kagan
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 10:44 AM
To: community@lists.law.harvard.edu
Subject: [HLS] Announcement
Dear colleagues and friends:
I am writing to all of you – the community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Harvard Law School – to let you know that today President-elect Barack Obama will announce his intention to nominate me to serve as Solicitor General of the United States. If confirmed by the Senate, I will resign the deanship of the Law School and take a leave of absence from the faculty.
I have accepted this nomination because it offers me the opportunity, working under the leadership of the President-elect and his nominee for Attorney General, Eric Holder, to help advance this nation’s commitment to the rule of law at what I think is a critical time in our history. I am honored and grateful, awestruck and excited, to be asked to contribute to this most important endeavor. And perhaps, for me, it adds a special touch of sweetness to the occasion that the person making the nomination, in whose capacity for greatness I deeply believe, is himself a member of the group to which I am writing.
At the same time, I feel today real sadness – a sense of loss of what, if confirmed, I will be leaving that is every bit as strong as my sense of anticipation of what will be to come. Now isn’t the time for me to attempt a grand wrapping-up or final farewell; I don’t in any way want to presume the outcome of the Senate’s consideration. For the present, I’ll say only this: it has been both the joy and the privilege of my life to serve as dean of this most wondrous law school. I love it, and I love the extraordinary community of people – you – who make it up. I look forward to staying in close touch.
My warmest wishes for a happy and healthy new year.
Best,
Elena
Not necessarily. A couple of presidents have seen the SG position as a stepping stone for SCOTUS. Thurgood Marshall was primed for SCOTUS by LBJ appointing him as SG. Ken Starr was (according to Jan Crawford Greenberg's book) appointed to SG to prepare him to be a justice but ultimately did not get it because of bad timing. I'm sure there are other examples but I can't think of any right now.
I think you have it backwards, actually.
Not at all. Perhaps not for a first pick, but one could certainly see her being nominated in a few years (most SGs don't last more than a single term, anyway).
I'm not sure that hero-worship is a quality I'd look for in a Solicitor General.
When going to work for a new President, you either should beleive he can be a great president (have the capacity for greatness) or you shouldn't go.
Real Americans just say "Took you long enough!" and get right to work!
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