Justice Scalia

I've said in this space before that one of the best years of my professional life was the year at National War College at Ft McNair in Washington, DC.  It was intellectually challenging, mind-expanding, I made a lot of great friends, and I had access to people in the highest level of our government.  I took many electives that were both enriching and opened my eyes to how our government works (or doesn't work).  I developed a fascination and really a love of the Civil War during that year.  I went on a regional study trip to Tunisia, Morocco, and Spain and learned a ton about that region.  

But the best part of the course of instruction was the quality and quantity of guest speakers we had.  Every week we had one or two leaders of government would come to the school and give a presentation.  It was extremely interesting and varied.  We had the President.  We had Congressmen and Senators.  We had business executives.  We had foreign leaders.  We had the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all the Service Chiefs as well as the Service Secretaries.  And on and on.  It was great.  But from them all there were two who undeniably stood out and I will remember for their presence alone.  The first was General Krulack, Commandant of the Marine Corps.   The second was Justice Scalia.  I don't even remember the particulars of their presentations.  But I remember two things.  The first is that they didn't bring a cavalcade of PowerPoint slides with facts and data.  Instead, they told a story.  And the story was powerful and all in their mind.  And the second thing, and probably the most memorable, was just their presence.  Quite simply, they filled the room.  Their charisma, their obvious intellect, their ability to connect with their audience were just amazing.  They had the entire audience at rapt attention for the entire address.  

I specifically remember Justice Scalia making time to answer questions and it was as if he were sitting in a small room with an intimate group instead of a large audience with a bunch of high-powered senior military officers and government employees.  I will readily admit to being pretty intimidated as were most, but the experience was very memorable.  I've been in the presence of people like that a few times in my life.  And there is no explaining it.  It is a quality that is really mysterious.  That he was a towering intellect is an understatement.  That he was a giant of the court is obvious.  His sense of humor is legendary.  I think it was all these things plus his sense of humanity that made him such an impactful justice throughout his tenure.  I've heard all the descriptors of his career.  A giant.  A towering figure.  Hugely impactful.  For my little glimpse...I strongly agree.  We've also heard today about Antonin Scalia, the family man.  He and his Irish wife had 9 children and 35 grandchildren.  By all accounts a wonderful family man who loved those around him.  RIP Justice Scalia.