Officeholder | Term start | President |
---|---|---|
Don McGahn | January 20, 2017 | Donald Trump |
Emmet Flood Acting | October 18, 2018 | |
Pat Cipollone | December 10, 2018 | |
Dana Remus | January 20, 2021 | Joe Biden |
A weekly conversation about the law, executive power, and all the presidents' lawyers, good and bad. It's been more than three years since Josh Barro and Ken White started All The President's Lawyers (the first name of this show) to explore the legal problems of then-President Donald Trump, and wow, did he have legal problems.
In practical terms, a legal career can set the stage for a political career by permitting a person to build a powerful reputation and make the right contacts — people who can help fund political campaigns down the line. However, successful lawyers must also master certain skills that can be invaluable to the difficult job of US president.
Logical thinking and reasoning abilities, the ability to build an effective argument and excellent speaking skills are all necessary traits of a great lawyer — and can all come in handy for a president, too!
Another famous early president, Andrew Jackson, also entered the legal profession as a self-taught lawyer. Other US lawyer-presidents include Franklin Roosevelt, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Woodrow Wilson and Bill Clinton.
In fact, more U.S. Presidents have been attorneys by trade than any other profession. In all, 25 of the 44 men to hold the office of President have been lawyers. Before taking office, many other presidents previously served as soldiers, farmers, businessmen or teachers.
Incumbent The current officeholder is Steve Ricchetti. The position should not be confused with the office of White House Counsel, who is the chief legal advisor to the president and the White House, which is also an appointed position.
From Abraham Lincoln to Barack Obama, lawyers have long been associated with elected office in the United States. In fact, since Independence, more than half of all presidents, vice presidents and members of Congress have come from a law background.
The Cabinet is an advisory body made up of the heads of the 15 executive departments. Appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the members of the Cabinet are often the President's closest confidants.
Personal secretary to the presidentYear(s)SecretaryPresident2014–2017Ferial GovashiriBarack Obama2017–2019Madeleine WesterhoutDonald Trump2019–2021Nick Luna2021–presentStephen GoepfertJoe Biden16 more rows
Most people are surprised to learn that eight lawyer-presidents did so. In addition to Harrison and Taft, the advo-cates were John Quincy Adams, James Polk, Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, Grover Cleveland, and Richard Nixon.
He was informed by attorneys in the Kansas City area that his education and experience were probably sufficient to receive a license to practice law, but did not pursue it because he won election as presiding judge. While serving as president in 1947, Truman applied for a law license.
Attorney vs Lawyer: Comparing Definitions Lawyers are people who have gone to law school and often may have taken and passed the bar exam. Attorney has French origins, and stems from a word meaning to act on the behalf of others. The term attorney is an abbreviated form of the formal title 'attorney at law'.
Pam Bondi. Pam Bondi, a special advisor to Trump, speaks as part of his defense team during the Senate impeachment trial, January 29, 2020. (Source: C-SPAN) Another registered lobbyist who defended the president is Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general.
(Source: C-SPAN) Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor known for representing celebrity criminal defendants, also has other business before the Trump administration.
Bondi and another Ballard lobbyist also advised Qatar’s embassy in the U.S. “in matters related to combating human trafficking” as the Middle Eastern country seeks to burnish its international image in advance of the 2022 World Cup. Bondi did not respond to POGO’s request for comment.
In early 2019, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel reversed its previous position on the law to correspond with an expansive interpretation favored by Sheldon Adelson, a casino operator who is one of Trump’s biggest donors and an opponent of online gambling, which competes with his business.
After a torrent of criticism, Dershowitz said his remarks had been misconstrued. Dershowitz has said he will not accept compensation for his legal defense of Trump. He told POGO that he is not lobbying the administration, only representing Gertler in a legal capacity.
Having a famous name doesn’t always help. Adams practiced law in Boston but had a hard time building his practice, even though his father was the Vice President at the time.
Richard Nixon. After graduating Duke University School of Law, Nixon hoped to join the FBI but never received a response to his letter. That led to him moving back to L.A, passing the bar, and later getting into politics. He is the only former president that was born and raised in California.
It’s also impossible for a person to become a lawyer without a lot of sacrifices. Lawyers are always busy working, studying, and sacrificing their personal and family time in order to be successful. This can affect a person’s personal time and work-life balance.
In May, he countered the appointment of Robert S. Mueller III as special investigator with the hiring of Marc Kasowitz, whose firm has handled everything from casino bankruptcies to libel suits for Trump. Kasowitz brought along one of his law-Âfirm partners, Michael Bowe, who made his name as a Wall Street litigator.
Trump Lawyers seldom shape or massage their client’s rhetoric in the fashion of, say, President John F. Kennedy’s counselor, Ted Sorensen, who drafted the letter from Kennedy to Nikita Khrushchev that helped end the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In Trump Law, you can lose and still win, or at least declare victory, as Trump did after losing his defamation suit against the author Timothy O’Brien, claiming, falsely, that he had succeeded in his goal of costing O’Brien a lot of money.
When we met, he had just returned from Washington, where he consulted with a lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office on some of the legal questions surrounding obstruction of justice. This is a field in which Goldberg has some experience.
The New York Times. Donald McGahn’s client isn’t exactly the president, though; it’s the institution of the presidency. Trump’s conversations with McGahn about his personal legal affairs are not protected by attorney-Âclient privilege. For that, Trump would need outside counsel.
There are a lot of interesting facts about Presidents’ Day, including the fact that this federal holiday is actually called Washington’s Birthday pursuant to 5 US Code 6103 and is observed on the third Monday in February as established by Public Law 90-361 ( 82 Stat 250).
John Adams was able to leverage his legal practice into a career in public service. In 1770, he famously defended the British soldiers who had been involved in the Boston Massacre, a controversial incident where panicked soldiers had fired into the crowd while being attacked by an angry mob.
Prior to serving as the 16th President, Lincoln practiced law in Springfield, Illinois, where he represented a variety of different clients. In 1841, he served as a defense attorney in the bizarre Trailor brothers’ murder trial.
All presidents have legal issues. Some have more than others. A weekly conversation about the law, executive power, and all the presidents' lawyers, good and bad.
November 24, 2021 • It's been more than three years since Josh Barro and Ken White started All The President's Lawyers (the first name of this show) to explore the legal problems of then-President Donald Trump, and wow, did he have legal problems.
November 17, 2021 • Just 22 days after Steve Bannon was referred to the Department of Justice for contempt of Congress, we have an indictment. Is that a long time? No, very much not.
November 10, 2021 • There's been another indictment in special prosecutor John Durham's investigation of the investigation into links between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.
November 3, 2021 • We now know which documents former President Trump is seeking to block from the January 6 select committee: the White House daily diary, which would show his movements and meetings; phone records and records of his senior staff, and a few other documents, including a draft of a speech for the "Save America" rally, a handwritten note, and more.
October 26, 2021 • This week, Josh Barro and Ken White catch up on a few familiar characters and tie up some loose threads. Lev Parnas, former associate of Rudy Giuliani: convicted of six counts of charges related to funneling and concealing political contributions.
October 20, 2021 • Former President Trump has sued the National Archives and the chairman of the January 6 investigating committee, Congressman Bennie Thompson, to try to prevent the disclosure of White House papers, records and communications up to and during the riot. He's asserting executive privilege.
The Office of Counsel to the President and Vice President was created in 1943, and is responsible for advising on all legal aspects of policy questions; legal issues arising in connection with the President's decision to sign or veto legislation, ethical questions, financial disclosures; and conflicts of interest during employment and post employment. The Counsel's office also helps define the line between official and political activities, oversees executive appointments and judicial selection, handles presidential pardons, reviews legislation and presidential statements, and handles lawsuits against the president in his role as president, as well as serving as the White House contact for the Department of Justice .
The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Office of White House Counsel, a team of lawyers and support staff who provide legal guidance for ...
Although the White House counsel offers legal advice to the president and vice president, the counsel does so in the president's and vice president's official capacity, and does not serve as the president's personal attorney.
Some of the US presidents who got their start in law are also among the most well-known. Although he never actually attended law school, Abraham Lincoln may well be one of the most famous lawyer-presidents.
Spread the love. Aside from their election to the most powerful position in the US, Barack Obama, Richard Nixon and Thomas Jefferson all share another key accomplishment: Each one studied and/or practiced law before they became US presidents.
Truman studied law at the University of Missouri-Kansas School of Law, then called Kansas City Law School, but never earned a degree, while Roosevelt studied law at Columbia without ever completing his degree. Many other presidents have come from a political background — for example, formerly holding a state office.
Barack Obama follows in the footsteps of Rutherford B. Hayes , the 19th president, as the second Harvard law graduate to make his way to the Oval Office. The Wall Street Journal provides a complete list of US presidents who came from a legal background.
George W. Bush’s pedigree included a stint as governor of Texas and an MBA. In fact, Bush was the first US president to hold an MBA. While we may see more future leaders with business degrees, it’s highly likely that many more US presidents will have studied law.