I have not read Jodi Kantor's new book, The Obamas, but thankfully many other people have - and two have now shared this nugget: earlier in his career, Barack Obama's greatest aspiration was to become a law school dean! That's a tad different than W's pre-presidential aspiration of becoming the commissioner of baseball.
This new factoid provides some important blogging points. First, might he become a law school dean after the presidency? Sure, it'll be tempting to take over an entire univesrity such as - say - Harvard. But that would require him to focus on so many large institutional issues and problems. Why take on those headaches? And of course, there will be other job options: he could create a TV network . He could make a new neighborhood safe for Starbucks. Hell - he could suspend the constitution and become the General Secretary of the United Socialist States. (Yes, somebody really believes this.)
But it seems to me that he'll want to follow his inner compass and become a law school dean. So the obvious question is: which law school? Personally, I hope that the President will be able to keep his current gig for four more years. But if not, there are a few schools with existing openings that might be willing to wait if he shows serious interest immediately.
The University of LaVerne is an obvious choice. The President has shown that he knows how to take decisive action under extreme conditions. Given all the complicated noise going on in the Inland Empire, LaVerne needs a leader with the sort of bold vision led to a takeover of GM and Chrysler back in 2009. Feeling entrepreneurial? Oxy Law sure has a nice ring! If he's looking to integrate his "left wing liberal" values with his burning desire to lead an ABA accredited, JD granting institution, the food stamp President can head to Northeastern Law. There, students can alternate classes in payment systems and employment law with a co-op in which students represent Dorchester residents in their SNAP denial hearings. On the other hand, if he's missing the sturm and drang of Rahm Emanuel, can you spell UT?
Second, everyone will surely wonder whether he has developed the skill set for the job. No matter what position he settles into, Obama will have to stare down the Law School Bubble. But as a fellow who already lives in a bubble within a bubble, this is going to seem like old hat. It's not like he'll be co-opted by all old guard law faculty types; after all, this is the guy who passed through Chicago without absorbing much of the internal culture. And we've been told that legal education may soon provide an object lesson of what happens when we do nothing: bad things happen. Other than Harry Truman, there's probably no person better situated to harness the power of a bunch of do-nothings to produce an excellent result.
Right now, the Republicans are doing their best to insure the President of a second term. Maybe they'll succeed. If not, those of us in the law school industry may soon have a new fellow traveler.
I just hope he's not too cocky. Sure, he might be able engineer a leaner military that can fight two wars at once. But if he thinks law professors are going to get their finals graded before Christmas, he's as crazy as a betsy bug.
I've always assumed he would head back to U Chicago (which would also be a lovely location for his presidential library).
Another thought I've had is that Obama might be the first president since Taft to be credible as a Supreme Court nominee. The timing would have to be right—a few years after he's out of office (so as to provide time to get the ball rolling on his post-office projects), a Democratic president, and the right opening on the Supreme Court (it might have to be the chief justice slot, as was the case with Taft; anything else might seem degrading, as when John Quincy Adams went on to serve in the House after his presidency). But I could imagine it happening if the right stars aligned.
Posted by: Charles Hoffman | January 23, 2012 at 03:05 PM
"It's not like he'll be co-opted by all old guard law faculty types..."
Same as he didn't fall under the thumb of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid?
Posted by: BL1Y | January 23, 2012 at 06:16 PM
"I've always assumed he would head back to U Chicago (which would also be a lovely location for his presidential library)."
Yeah, but where would they put it? Unless they are going to coopt a huge chunk of park land (be it the Midway, Promontory Point, or Jackson Park), that part of the city is either way too crowded, or way too dangerous (or both).
"But I could imagine it happening if the right stars aligned."
That stellar alignment would have to involve the abolishment of the filibuster, because there ain't no way that he gets by the Senate otherwise. People don't realize how (irrationally, crazily, stupidly) Republicans hate Obama.
Posted by: Joe (not that one) | January 23, 2012 at 06:19 PM
He has a lot of experience at fundraising, so he'd certainly have that in his favor if he wanted to be a dean.
Posted by: Matt | January 23, 2012 at 08:38 PM
Just what we need -- more Obama fundraising emails!
Posted by: Michael Teter | January 23, 2012 at 09:11 PM