Barack Obama (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
If you’re going to make change, you’re not going to do it as a Supreme Court clerk.
— Former President Barack Obama, in a comment made to his then-girlfriend (now wife), Michelle, who was shocked that he’d turned down a possible clerkship with Chief Judge Abner Mikva of the D.C. Circuit, a feeder judge for Supreme Court clerks. Then, as now, a clerkship with the right D.C. Circuit judge was almost a surefire way to obtain a coveted gig as a Supreme Court clerk. In the 90s, after Obama turned down the clerkship, appellate judges often referred to him as the one who “got away.”
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Prior to Judge Mikva’s retirement, 24 of his clerks went on to become Supreme Court clerks, and Obama later awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Staci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.