In 1985, President Ronald Reagan nominated Charles Cooper, a deputy in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, to become assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel. In need of a deputy himself, hardline conservative Cooper reached out to fellow DOJ employee and now-Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, with whom he had become friendly, and urged him to apply.
Alito gushed about his conservative values and anti-abortion views in his application. He was hired, and served under Cooper for several years. The two remained close over the years, and in 2005, when George W. Bush nominated Alito to the Supreme Court, Cooper stepped in to help Alito pass the confirmation process in the Senate. In the intervening time, Cooper had co-founded Cooper & Kirk, an incredibly influential law firm in Washington, D.C.
