As you know, John Roberts has been nominated to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at the U.S. Supreme Court. What you might not know is how John Roberts spent his first day of his first job following his clerkship with now-Chief Justice William Rehnquist. The year was 1981, and Roberts was a 26 year-old Special Assistant to Attorney General William French Smith.

  How did Roberts spend his first day at the Justice Department? According to a very interesting story in tomorrow's New York Times, he spent the day helping Sandra Day O'Connor prepare for her confirmation hearings:

  In a memorandum [filed at the time], Judge Roberts noted that he had spent his first day at the Justice Department helping Sandra Day O'Connor prepare for her confirmation hearings. In a line that will perhaps resonate as his own Supreme Court confirmation hearings draw near, he wrote: "The approach was to avoid giving specific responses to any direct questions on legal issues likely to come before the court, but demonstrating in the response a firm command of the subject area and awareness of the relevant precedents and arguments."