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From Today's New York Times:

July 20, 2005
An Ultimate Capital Insider
By NEIL A. LEWIS

WASHINGTON, July 19 - In nominating Judge John G. Roberts for the Supreme Court, President Bush, who likes to portray himself as an outsider to Washington and its culture, chose an ultimate insider in the capital.

Mr. Bush considered candidates from around the country, his aides had said. But his choice, Judge Roberts, 50, owns the kind of résumé and experience that is prized in Washington; a driven student, he graduated from Harvard College in only three years and went on to Harvard Law School. That was followed by a clerkship on the Supreme Court with William H. Rehnquist when he was an associate justice.

Mr. Bush's father wanted to put Judge Roberts on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, regarded as second in importance only to the Supreme Court, when he was 36. When the Democrats who controlled the Senate at the time balked, he went out and developed a lucrative private practice at Hogan & Hartson, a top-tier Washington firm, attracting a flock of corporate clients.

Judge Roberts, widely described as cordial and wry, has been comfortable in the Washington world in which top lawyers, journalists and others mix easily.

07.20.05