David Souter

David Souter (1939–) — Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1990–2009. Known for his intellectually rigorous, independent jurisprudence and for defying the expectations of the conservatives who appointed him.

Doug Eaton met Souter in 1965, when they were both in Paul Freund's prestigious third-year seminar at Harvard Law School. Doug describes him as "a quiet and old-fashioned guy" who returned to New Hampshire after graduating. Souter built his career quietly — working with Warren Rudman and John Sununu — and it was those relationships that eventually brought him to President George H.W. Bush's attention for the Supreme Court. Doug notes that many in the seminar had expected Paul Freund himself to be appointed to the Court by Kennedy or Johnson, but that it was the quiet man from New Hampshire who got there instead.