Low-Key Choice For Hot Seat Job

Judge Roberts' Journey From Steel Mills To Harvard To Supreme Court

(CBS/AP)  Roberts excelled at Harvard Law School, graduating magna cum laude in the class of 1979. He embarked on a Washington attorney's career with a clear upward trajectory – clerking for an appeals court justice, then Rehnquist, joining the Reagan Justice Department.

A change in administrations led to a lucrative private practice at the venerable Hogan & Hartson LLP. Roberts earned a salary of $1,044,399 from the firm before resigning as a partner in May 2003, according to a financial disclosure report he filed this year.

Roberts reported a long list of stock holdings, including investments in drug companies and tech firms. He also reported a one-eighth interest in a cottage in Knocklong, Limerick, Ireland, which he valued at $15,000 or less.

He reported that his wife drew a salary from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, but he didn't disclose the amount. Jane Sullivan Roberts, a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, is a partner in the firm specializing in transactions involving technology.

The couple have two adopted children, Jack and Josie, both under 6. Jack Roberts, in short pants and saddle shoes, took advantage of the White House stage Tuesday night, dancing during the president's announcement.

Roberts is a relatively young nominee for the Supreme Court, where eight of the nine justices are over 65.

"He is not only absolutely brilliant, but he has good common sense and good sense about people. I do not think the Democrats will be able to touch him," said Patrick J. Schiltz, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and a friend of Roberts. "He is incredibly charming, he has movie-star looks. ... He has been an Eagle Scout in his personal life."

Still, getting to the federal bench took some time.

The first President Bush selected Roberts for the federal court of appeals, but he never was given a hearing by the Democratic-controlled Senate. The current President Bush tapped him for a second time in 2001, but that nomination died, too.

Mr. Bush nominated him again in January 2003 and the Senate ultimately confirmed him in 2003 on a voice vote without serious opposition.

Roberts' nomination to the appellate bench attracted support from both ends of the ideological spectrum. Some 146 members of the D.C. Bar, including officials from the Clinton administration, signed a letter urging his confirmation.

The letter stated: "He is one of the very best and most highly respected appellate lawyers in the nation, with a deserved reputation as a brilliant writer and oral advocate. He is also a wonderful professional colleague both because of his enormous skills and because of his unquestioned integrity and fair-mindedness.

Roberts is well known in Washington circles and a favorite of the conservative lawyers of the Federalist Society. He tries to avoid labeling his judicial approach, however, saying at his confirmation hearing, "I don't necessarily think that it's the best approach to have an all-encompassing philosophy."