Who is Harriet Miers?
President Bush has long relied on Harriet Miers. Their relationship goes back to when he was governor of Texas and she was his personal attorney. He later appointed her as head of the Texas Lottery Commission when that commission was immersed in scandal. When Mr. Bush became president, she was his staff secretary, deputy chief of staff and, since 2004, the White House counsel. Interestingly, she succeeded another longtime Bush ally, Alberto Gonzales, who moved on to become attorney general. In hoping to replace Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court, Miers is also one of many “firsts.” Most notably, she was the first woman to serve as president of the Texas Bar Association. Was President Bush determined to choose a woman to succeed Sandra Day O’Connor? The President was getting advice from everywhere as to what this nominee should be. Conservatives, of course, wanted a conservative. Hispanics were hoping to see the first Hispanic on the high court (and many were push
