Ted will be sorely missed by his friends, his profession, and the country.
Ted will be sorely missed by his friends, his profession, and the country.
T heodore B. Olson was an amazing advocate and an even better friend and leader. Ted’s legal career is the stuff of legend. He served with distinction in what most Department of Justice alumni would consider the two most demanding and prestigious posts at the Department — solicitor general and assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel.
He provided private counsel to two presidents. He argued 65 Supreme Court cases, including Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, and other landmark cases that will be discussed, debated, and dissected for decades. Ted was blessed with a voice made for the podium and an extraordinary work ethic. As his compelling arguments and winning results attest, he was a perfectionist. Each of those arguments was the culmination of tireless preparation and relentless focus.
Ted combined all that professional excellence with personal grace and generosity. He got to the office early, arriving well before the traffic and his colleagues, but left in time to toast life and his many accomplishments with an excellent vintage and his beloved wife Lady along with a wide, diverse network of friends. He was demanding of himself and his colleagues in preparation for argument, and then treated the whole team to a post-argument lunch where both wine and Ted’s praise for the contributions of others were in ample supply.
Ted was an extraordinary host, raising the bar for office holiday parties and opening his home to countless colleagues. His Napa nuptials with Lady at the Meadowood Resort set a new standing for destination weddings. And the summer Federalist Society party that Ted and Barbara hosted at their home for years was a rite of passage for an entire generation of young conservative lawyers. I can still hear Ted’s wise counsel: “Paul, work hard, but take time to celebrate life’s moments.”
But Ted’s defining personal characteristic was his personal courage. Ted displayed that courage in his first tour of duty at the Justice Department. No one joins the Department hoping to become the target of an independent counsel investigation and the named defendant in a Supreme Court case. But such was Ted’s dedication to his client and the unitary executive that he was willing to be held in contempt to vindicate his view of the separation of powers. Without Ted’s courage, there would be no Morrison v. Olson dissent.
But Ted’s fortitude was on sharpest display in September 2001. I was with Ted in the office when we heard about two planes crashing into the World Trade Center and then learned the unthinkable news that his wife Barbara was on another of the hijacked planes. It soon became clear that Barbara’s plane had crashed into the Pentagon. I had only been working for Ted a few months at this point, so I expected this tragedy would sideline him for months, if not longer.
I would soon know better. Ted oversaw an incredible celebration of Barbara’s life, and then was back at his desk early in the morning within a fortnight of 9/11 to prepare for his first argument as solicitor general, a complex telecommunications case, which he delivered to perfection less than a month after 9/11. The message to the office and the country was unmistakable — we will not be cowed or deterred from our dedication to the rule of law. He went on to lead the office with unmatched skill for the next three years, taking leadership over the most important legal cases arising out of the war on terror, defending acts of Congress, and arguing the most momentous cases of a momentous period. He served the country best, when she needed him most.
The example Ted provided in the wake of 9/11 was just one of the many things that made him an incredible leader and a wonderful boss. In both appointments at the Justice Department, he won the admiration and loyalty of career employees by making clear his expectations and priorities as well as his esteem for their talents and dedication to the mission of the office. He led by example, arriving earlier and working harder than the most eager intern. He praised the performance of subordinates, myself included. And he marked the office’s milestones and accomplishments in style. He was, in short, the very model of how to lead an executive agency.
Ted’s career highlights were hardly limited to his public service. The Office of Legal Counsel, with its focus on separation of powers issues, most of which never get litigated, was an unlikely launching pad for building a Supreme Court practice. Undeterred, through sheer hard work and winning personality, Ted built an unrivaled constitutional and appellate practice such that he was the obvious choice for arguing Bush v. Gore. Some Democrats never forgave Ted for winning that case. And some Republicans never forgave Ted for championing the rights of same-sex couples and the children of illegal immigrants in his later years. But everyone should appreciate the breadth and scope of his contributions to the law over a long and storied career.
The throughline in all those cases is that it was never a good idea to bet against Ted. I vividly remember that when President Bush decided to sign the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill into law despite some serious First Amendment misgivings, Ted made clear that, consistent with its longstanding traditions, the Justice Department would defend the law’s constitutionality, “and don’t bet against us.” True to his word, the Department prevailed in the Supreme Court 5–4 (only to have Ted later prevail in private practice in a challenge to one of the law’s key provisions 5–4).
Ted will be sorely missed by his friends, his profession, and the country. The one solace is that Ted knew better than anyone the importance of celebrating life’s accomplishments — big and small — and life itself.