Once a Judge, Now Bush’s Legal Guide

White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales has the trust of the President of the United States.

Over the course of six years, the Texas native has been appointed to four government positions by President George W. Bush, solidifying strong ties to the Bush family that have shaped his career in public service.

And now Gonzales holds influence as one of the top advisors to the president, providing advice on matters ranging fromjudicial appointments to e Enron investigation subpoenas to whether to hold military tribunals on al-Qaeda captives.

With his moderate political views representing much of the “compassionate conservatism” that Bush has frequently used as a tag line for his brand of Republican politics, the highest ranking Hispanic member of the administration is often seen as an indication of a new Republican image.

And some believe that his current office may be merely a stepping stone for the ultimate Bush appointment—the United States Supreme Court.

His nomination would not be a surprise, considering the relationship that Gonzales has fostered with the current president in the last decade.

“I understand how important it is to have a person who I can trust and whose judgment I trust to serve as the White House Counsel,” President Bush said at a press conference announcing Gonzales as the first Hispanic American to hold the prominent White House position. “Al is a man who has only one standard in mind when it comes to ethics, and that is the highest of high standards.”

Don’t Mess With Texas

The son of migrant farm workers, Gonzales grew up in a crowded two-bedroom house in Houston, TX with seven siblings.

After attending public high school, Gonzales enlisted in the Air Force and was stationed at Fort Yukon, Alaska, before entering the United States Air Force Academy, where he remained for two years.

But in 1977, Gonzales changed his career interests from pilots to politics, transferring to Rice University to pursue a degree in political science. After graduating in 1979, Gonzales set his sights on Harvard Law School (HLS), where he received a J.D. in 1982.

In the years following his graduation from HLS, Gonzales worked in corporate law at the Houston law firm Vinson & Elkins—now infamous for its role as Enron’s law firm—where he eventually made partner in 1991.

Gonzales received numerous accolades during his time in corporate law, in which he focused on business, energy and real estate.

The Texas Young Lawyers Association named Gonzales as the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas in 1992. In 1994, he was selected as one of Five Outstanding Young Texans by the Texas Jaycees, a social and community organization.

In addition, Gonzales served as president of the Houston Hispanic Bar Association, and as chair of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Harris County.

His strong legal background and connections to the Bush family led to his appointment in 1995 as general counsel to then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, fulfulling similar duties to the ones he holds now at the White House.

And in 1998, Bush appointed Gonzales to be Texas’ 100th secretary of state.

On the Bench

But while serving under Bush in both Texas and Washington, D.C., his work in the courtroom has been his main career focus.

In 1999, Gonzales recieved yet another appointment from Bush, who selected Gonzales to serve on the Texas Supreme Court.

Fellow HLS grad and Texas Supreme Court Justice Thomas R. Phillips served with Gonzales. He holds his colleague in high regard both personally and professionally, saying Gonzales was generally the first judge to arrive each morning to work.

“He did an outstanding job on the court. [He was] very hardworking, very thorough,” Phillips says. “I think it’s fair to say that everyone on the court developed a great affection for him and his family.”

While serving on the court, Gonzales began to show the moderate conservatism that has characterized his legal background.

“[Gonzales was] one of Bush’s moderate appointees to the court and was very cautious while on the court,” says Craig McDonald, the executive director of the public interest group Texans for Public Justice. “He helped shift the court from a very right wing court to a more moderate conservative court.”

The most widely known instance of Gonzales’ divergence from traditional conservative legal opinion occured with his majority opinion opposing a requirement that minors notify their parents before having abortions.

But while Gonzales was considered a moderate on some social positions, his opinions also took a strong pro-business stance that reflected his background in corporate law, as well as financial backing from pro-business lobbying groups.

“He was clearly a pro-business justice and very harsh on the rights of consumers,” McDonald says.

The President’s Lawyer

Gonzales’ work as a judge in Texas may merely be a stepping stone to a future U.S. Supreme Court appointment, with his careful centrism paving the way for his nomination when a vacancy opens.

Last month, a New Republic article considered the factors that would play into a possible nomination of Gonzales to the Supreme Court.

Some of Gonzales’ less conservative opinions in Texas made some on the right in Washington hesitant about his ability to advance national conservative interests.

“Gonzales’ record on the Texas Supreme Court, in short, is not that of a Scalia-style conservative. And Gonzales’s friends from the period confirm that the record honestly reflected his judicial philosophy,” the New Republic wrote.

But while Gonzales may have been a moderate on the Texas Supreme Court, as counsel to the President he has proven himself to be a unwavering advocate of Bush’s conservatism.

“A lot of people thought, ‘Who is this Gonzales guy? He’s going to come to Washington and Washington will chew him up,’” Charles Cooper, an assistant attorney general under President Reagan, told USA Today. “But he has done a great job...with Bush’s very conservative outlook.”

As Bush’s primary advisor on judicial appointments, Gonzales has consistently recommended conservatives, and given little ground to Senate Democrats in the selection process.

He also cut the American Bar Association (ABA) out of the selection process, ending what has long been standard operating procedure for the last 50 years of administrations—including those of Reagan and the elder Bush—to have the ABA vet nominations. Republican politicians have often accused the ABA of being liberal.

In addition, Gonzales has been a major proponent of Bush’s anti-terrorism agenda. He has staunchly defended the use of military tribunals, as opposed to civilian courts, to try people suspected of terrorist activity. He authored legal arguments to exclude al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees in Guantanamo Bay from prisoner-of-war status.

Gonzales has also shielded the Bush administration from investigations, most notably in his strong attempts to block the General Accounting Office from acquiring documents regarding Vice President Cheney’s connections to Enron.

But while Gonzales may face future political opposition from both hard-line conservatives who oppose some of his social positions, as well as liberal Democrats who oppose his conservative record as a Bush loyalist, it is clear that his is a name to watch.

—Staff writer Stephanie M. Skier can be reached at skier@fas.harvard.edu.