James M. Jeffords: “one of my first responsibilities when I arrived in the Senate was to recommend to the first President Bush a nominee for…”

“one of my first responsibilities when I arrived in the Senate was to recommend to the first President Bush a nominee for a district court seat. But while I was a relatively new Senator, this was in some respects a fairly easy task. My predecessor in the Senate, Bob Stafford, had established a sound and fair process with Senator Leahy for choosing candidates for the judiciary, which we have continued to this day with the participation of Governor Douglas, a Republican. Vermont is a small State, but it is one with an outsized capacity for public service. Our best lawyers have been willing to accept the financial sacrifice that accompanies serving on the bench. And as a small State, I think it is fairly easy to agree on who the best candidates might be, even though you invariably pass over many very qualified individuals. Finally, I guess I should say that I was born to it. My father, Olin Jeffords, was a judge the entire time I was growing up. In fact, he was chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. He was widely respected, not just by his son, but by our community locally and by the legal community throughout the State. That respect was entirely unremarkable. It reflected the appreciation of the importance of an independent judiciary stocked with able and committed individuals. My first job following the Navy and law school was as a clerk for Judge Ernest Gibson, Jr., of Vermont.…”