From courtrooms to Capitol Hill: The evolution of Jeff Sessions

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From courtrooms to Capitol Hill: The evolution of Jeff Sessions

By John Sharp | jsharp@al.com

on November 27, 2016 at 9:00 AM, updated November 27, 2016 at 10:17 AM

When the Senate's "liberal lion" Ted Kennedy called then-U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions a "throw-back to a shameful era" and a "disgrace" to the Justice Department, Alabama's conservatives roared back.

The voters in this deep red state have rallied around the diminutive lawyer and he's rewarded them with a record of backing ultraconservative causes from abortion to gun control and religious liberty. His latest cause, illegal immigration, emerged as a major talking point for Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Sessions became a close advisor.

Now, 30 years since the Judiciary Committee shot down Sessions' confirmation as a federal judge, the Wilcox County native has ascended as Trump's choice as the most powerful law enforcement agent in the country: U.S. Attorney General.

"The way Sessions had been treated by the Senate ... definitely did impact his meteoric rise from federal judicial functionary to the lofty positions of State Attorney General, a U.S. Senator, and now, apparently, to be the next U.S. Attorney General," said William Stewart, professor emeritus of political sciences at the University of Alabama.

He added, "Given the fact that Alabama has had very few presidential cabinet members over the years, I would say that Sessions story represents a big episode in the state's political history, even if not the absolute biggest."

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