Ross Thomas Quote

A Debs socialist. His son—my old man—sat down and cried when Taft lost the nomination to Eisenhower in ‘fifty-two. She leaned back in the leather chair. So when did the vote bug bite? In high school. I was a pretty fair debater and I got the notion of becoming a lawyer and maybe going into politics after I discovered how good winning made me feel. Winning anything. Later, I discovered there’s nothing like winning an election. Absolutely nothing. How old were you? When I first ran? Twenty-seven. I got elected county attorney, served a couple of two-year terms, sent some rich crooks to jail, got my name in the paper and then went back into private practice where I made a nice living defending the same kind of rich crooks I’d once prosecuted. When I thought I’d made enough money, I ran for the supreme court and won. How much was enough? Adair shrugged. Two or three million, around in there. How’d you get to be chief justice? The members of the court elect one of their own every four years. Sounds weird. It’s a weird state. After I’d served on the court four years, they always elected me for some reason. For some reason, she said. Adair nodded and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. He made no attempt to hide his curiosity when he said, I’m obliged to hear about it. About what? How you really got elected mayor. Huckins examined Adair dispassionately, as if he were some just-caught fish that she could either keep or toss back into the lake.