Ted Olson, major Conservative lawyer, 84

[danny burstein]

his wife was murdered in the 9/11 Pentagon attack
=====
[Wash Post]

Theodore Olson, conservative lawyer who backed marriage equality,
dies at 84

A longtime Republican who helped George W. Bush secure the presidency, he
shocked many when he worked to overturn California's ban on same-sex
marriage.

Theodore B. Olson, a conservative constitutional lawyer who argued the
2000 Florida vote-recount case that helped George W. Bush secure the
presidency and, to much surprise, later joined forces with a liberal
opponent from the election lawsuit in a successful effort to overturn
California's 2008 ban on same-sex marriage, died Nov. 13 at a hospital
in Falls Church, Virginia. He was 84.

The death was announced by the law firm Gibson Dunn, where Mr. Olson was a
partner. No cause was noted.
======
rest:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/11/13/ted-olson-lawyer-bush-gay-rights-dead/
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
***@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by danny burstein
his wife was murdered in the 9/11 Pentagon attack
=====
[Wash Post]

I had no idea.

Post by danny burstein
Theodore Olson, conservative lawyer who backed marriage equality,
dies at 84
A longtime Republican who helped George W. Bush secure the presidency, he
shocked many when he worked to overturn California's ban on same-sex
marriage.
Theodore B. Olson, a conservative constitutional lawyer who argued the
2000 Florida vote-recount case that helped George W. Bush secure the
presidency and, to much surprise, later joined forces with a liberal
opponent from the election lawsuit in a successful effort to overturn
California's 2008 ban on same-sex marriage, died Nov. 13 at a hospital
in Falls Church, Virginia. He was 84.
The death was announced by the law firm Gibson Dunn, where Mr. Olson was a
partner. No cause was noted.
======
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/11/13/ted-olson-lawyer-bush-gay-rights-dead/

This is very sad. His oral arguments before the Supreme Court were
genius. Even when he represented major corporations and I didn't care
about the issue they were suing over, I listened to his arguments on the
audio transcripts.

This guy was far more intelligent than the Justices and we got superior
opinions from them thanks to his advocacy.

[J.D. Baldwin]

Post by Adam H. Kerman
This is very sad. His oral arguments before the Supreme Court were
genius. Even when he represented major corporations and I didn't
care about the issue they were suing over, I listened to his
arguments on the audio transcripts.

I saw him argue a case once before the Supreme Court. He was *sharp*.
I've probably seen 15 oral arguments in that court and listened to 100
or more. He was never caught out, never at a loss; he never gave an
answer that was less than perfectly on point. He was absolutely
amazing. I've seen some pretty sharp lawyers operate, but none
compared to Olson. RIP

[bryan_styble]

Much appreciate your recollections of and insights about the late
Olson's legal presentations.

I didn't know much about him, but I did know his name on that ugly
Tuesday in September 2001--and was quite familiar with his author-wife
Barbara Olson's work, for she was a frequent guest in commercial
newstalk radio (and C-SPAN interviews) in the waning years of the 20th
Century.

As she was speeding toward her fiery demise at The Pentagon, she'd
picked up enough word of the earlier World Trade Center impacts that she
knew of her impending fate.

And if I recall correctly, she managed to make cell-phone contact with
her husband in the waning minutes of her life. Thank G-d at least for
that.

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida