Jamie Gorelick
Former United States Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick was born to a Russian immigrant father and a mother who grew up with immigrant parents. They moved from Louisiana to Texas before going to Brooklyn and Levittown. They finally settled in Great Neck, New York. As a result, Jamie Gorelick spent a great deal of her childhood moving from one public school to another. This, however, did not hamper her desire to learn as she eventually went to Harvard College. She graduated with a magna laude in B.A. in 1972. She then went on to attend Harvard Law School and obtained her Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1975 with a laude. Jamie Gorelick’s first professional legal exposure was with the law firm Miller, Cassidy, Larroca, and Lewin. She worked as a litigator for the Washington, D.C. firm from 1975 to 1993. In between her litigating duties, she worked as assistant for the U.S. Secretary of Defense for one year. Before becoming a part of the Clinton administration, Jamie Gorelick served as the president of the District of Columbia Bar for a year. From 1993 to 1994, she was President Bill Clinton’s general counsel for the Department of Defense. Later on, she moved up to the second highest position in the Department of Justice. As the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, she worked alongside Attorney General Janet Reno. In a 2007 interview, she expressed her admiration for Reno especially in terms of making judgments. After her stint with the Department of Justice, Jamie Gorelick went on to become the vice chairman of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). She stayed there from 1997 to 2003. Today, the immigrant’s daughter has definitely proven a lot. Now back to being a private citizen, Jamie Gorelick is currently a partner for the law firm WilmerHale. She also maintains board memberships with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, among others.
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