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ID DATA

Anthony M. Kennedy

Supreme Court Associate Justice

Unassuming and friendly.

Age at Oath: 51
Senate Vote: 97-0
His personality wins allies and forms unlikely coalitions.
An important pivot who can build bridges between conservatives and liberals.

Personal Life

Anthony McLeod Kennedy was born July 23, 1936 in Sacramento, California. Second of three children, he grew up in a quiet community in rural Central California. His father, Anthony J. Kennedy, worked as a lawyer and lobbyist for various businesses. He had a well-established law practice and reputation for influence in the state legislature. Gladys McLeod, his mother, participated in many local civic activities.

In 1963, he married Mary Davis, whom he had known for many years. They had three children together. No relation to the Kennedy family of American politics.

Taking over his father's firm.

Kennedy attended a local high school, and spent a year of his undergraduate studies in London. When his father passed in 1963, Kennedy took over his father's firm. Many clients stayed with him out of respect for his father. Soon he made many friends among influential state politicians with his talent for socializing. He often entertained guests and clients with lavish parties and exclusive restaurants. On behalf of himself and his clients, large sums of money were donated to various political officials in California.

Making powerful friends in high places.

While working as a lobbyist, he met Ed Meese, who was then representing the California District Attorney Association. Sharing similar backgrounds, they became good friends. Meese went to work for then-Governor Reagan in 1966, while Kennedy remained with his work as an attorney and lobbyist.

Active in the global community.

Kennedy has been active off of the bench as well, calling for reform of overcrowded American prisons in a speech before the American Bar Association. He spends his summers in Salzburg, Austria, where he teaches international and American law at the University of Salzburg and often attends the large yearly international judges conference held there.

Work Background

1987-1988	Board member, Federal Judicial Center.
1988 Feb 18	Associate Justice, US Supreme Court, nominated by President Reagan, commissioned Feb 3 and sworn in Feb 18, 1988.
1979-1990	Committee member until 1982, when he became Chairman, Committee on Pacific Territories, Judicial Conference of the United States.
1979-1987	Committee member, Advisory Panel on Financial Disclosure Reports and Judicial Activities (subsequently renamed the Advisory Committee on Codes of Conduct), Judicial Conference of the United States.
1975	Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, appointed by President Ford at Reagan's recommendation; youngest federal judge of his day.
1973	Recruited by Ed Meese to help Reagan draft a plan to cut taxes, spending; resulting in Proposition One. Despite initiative's failure, Kennedy won Reagan's favor, and a recommendation to President Ford for the vacancy in 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
1965-1988	Professor, Constitutional law at McGeorge School of Law of the University of the Pacific.
1963-1975	Private practice, taking over father's firm in Sacramento, California, following the senior Kennedy's passing in 1963.
1961-1963	Law practice in San Francisco, California.
1961	California Army National Guard
1961	LL.B., cum laude, Harvard Law School.
1958	B.A., political science, Stanford; earned Phi Beta Kappa key.
1958	B.A., London School of Economics

Memberships & Affiliations