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• Wednesday, November 19, 2008 08:44 AM

  The American Lawyer provides view of Obama-Holder relationship

  Making History

  Covington & Burling partner Eric Holder--cochair of Barack Obama's campaign--has made a career out of breaking barriers. Will he be the first African American attorney general?

  The American Lawyer, By Andrew Longstreth, June 01, 2008 (see sig)

  Eric Holder knows a lot of important people. In particular, he knows a lot of successful African Americans, starting with his ob-gyn wife, Sharon Malone. Together the couple has an impressive set of friends with enough lofty credentials and titles to fill up a few boardrooms. To name a few: Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick; Sutherland Asbill & Brennan trial attorney William "Billy" Martin; former U.S. Department of Labor secretary Alexis Herman; and Antoinette Bush, a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, whose stepfather is another of Holder's friends: Vernon Jordan, Jr., former adviser to President Bill Clinton and now senior counsel at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. "All black people that finish college know one another," jokes Jordan.

  Given Holder's social circle, it was perhaps inevitable that soon after Barack Obama became the lone African American in the U.S. Senate, they would meet. In 2004 Holder was invited to a small dinner party hosted by Ann Walker Marchant, a niece of Vernon Jordan and a former Clinton administration White House aide. The gathering was planned to welcome Obama to Washington. Obama and Holder, seated next to one another, found that they had a lot in common. The two men, both tall and thin, each had immigrant fathers, went to Ivy Leagues schools (both attended Columbia College as undergraduates), played basketball, and, of course, believed passionately in public service. "We just clicked," says Holder matter-of-factly.

  Holder says he immediately sensed Obama's talent. And despite the ten years that separated them, he found someone who thought similarly about race. "I think we share a worldview," he says. "[Obama] is not defined by his race. He's proud of it, cognizant of the pernicious effect that race has had in our history but not defined by it."

  http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=1202421743636

  —Retired Military Patriot Read Retired Military Patriot's other letters
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