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72. Murder Boards: How Elena Kagan Prepared for Tough Questions

Before the full Senate approved Elena Kagan, President Obama’s second nominee for the Supreme Court, the Senate Judiciary Committee put her through a series of confirmation hearings. Just as Mr. Obama’s first nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, and both of President George W. Bush’s nominees, John G. Roberts and Samuel Alito, and all the previous nominees of all the previous presidents had endured, Ms. Kagan was grilled mercilessly by the senators, particularly those of the opposition. All’s fair in politics, and the party out of power wants to do everything it can to make the sitting president—and that president’s choices—look bad.

In preparation for the grilling, Ms. Kagan spent long hours ...