An interesting bit from Fred Thompson on the lawyer as a political candidate. Much of it is biographical and designed to encourage political support for his candidacy (interestingly, Right Said Fred’s website does not describe Thompson’s positions on any political issues), but I commend the link for a concept that Thompson underlines: A lawyer is not to be identified with his client. I am not my clients; my job is to advocate for their positions, whether I would take those positions or not. Obviously, there are limits; I cannot suborn perjury or undermine the legal system or the Constitutional system of government itself, although I can argue in good faith for a change the law to improve it (which I have only rarely had to do and never succeeded at doing). Anyway, it’s worth remembering as we consider that the top tier of candidates for the Presidency are all lawyers: Hillary Clinton (Yale J.D., 1973), Barack Obama (Harvard J.D., 1991), and John Edwards (University of North Carolina J.D., 1977), Rudy Giuliani (NYU J.D., 1968), Fred Thompson (Vanderbilt J.D., 1967), and Mitt Romney (Harvard J.D., 1975).
