Bush does it over shrimp and polenta

WASHINGTON – Harriet Miers slipped into the back of the East Room to watch John Roberts sworn in as chief justice.

No one knew then that the modest, unflappable and tough-minded Miers, who had helped lead the search for a new chief, might be next to don a Supreme Court robe. Three days later, over a Sunday dinner of shrimp, polenta and chocolate mousse, Bush offered the nomination to his counsel and loyal member of his inner circle.Miers already has a string of firsts on a resume that tracks a quiet but steady march to the top echelons of power.”You can tell the regard with which she’s held because she continues to get the ‘firsts’ and rise to the top,” said Betsy Whitaker, a past president of the State Bar of Texas.She describes Miers as a private person who is never flamboyant.”She’s not somebody who is a gossip.”At the White House, Miers is known as a diligent adviser, one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave.Reginald Brown, a Washington lawyer who used to work in the counsel’s office, recalls seeing her aging red Mercedes, with bumper stickers from campaigns past, parked as early as 5 a.m.some days and still there at 9 p.m.- and sometimes on weekends.Her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Lang-Miers, a justice on the 5th Appellate District Court of Appeals in Texas, said Miers likes to play tennis, run and take in a movie.Over the years, Miers has dated Nathan Hecht, a justice on the Texas Supreme Court who has known her since the 1970s.”She always remembers everybody’s birthday,” Hecht told the Legal Times for an article last December.”She’ll be finding a present for somebody in the middle of the night.’Can’t it wait until next week?’ ‘No,’ she’d say.’It has got to be done now.”‘Nampa-APThree days later, over a Sunday dinner of shrimp, polenta and chocolate mousse, Bush offered the nomination to his counsel and loyal member of his inner circle.Miers already has a string of firsts on a resume that tracks a quiet but steady march to the top echelons of power.”You can tell the regard with which she’s held because she continues to get the ‘firsts’ and rise to the top,” said Betsy Whitaker, a past president of the State Bar of Texas.She describes Miers as a private person who is never flamboyant.”She’s not somebody who is a gossip.”At the White House, Miers is known as a diligent adviser, one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave.Reginald Brown, a Washington lawyer who used to work in the counsel’s office, recalls seeing her aging red Mercedes, with bumper stickers from campaigns past, parked as early as 5 a.m.some days and still there at 9 p.m.- and sometimes on weekends.Her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Lang-Miers, a justice on the 5th Appellate District Court of Appeals in Texas, said Miers likes to play tennis, run and take in a movie.Over the years, Miers has dated Nathan Hecht, a justice on the Texas Supreme Court who has known her since the 1970s.”She always remembers everybody’s birthday,” Hecht told the Legal Times for an article last December.”She’ll be finding a present for somebody in the middle of the night.’Can’t it wait until next week?’ ‘No,’ she’d say.’It has got to be done now.”‘ Nampa-AP