If any prominent public official in Washington had earned the right to be called a public servant, it was Kenneth Starr, who died last week in Houston, age 76.

As attorney, federal judge, senior official in the Justice Departments of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and as solicitor general, Starr was known for his sharp mind, stalwart work ethic, devotion to the rule of law, fairness, and personal generosity, and, not least, guidance to a rising generation of conservative lawyers and jurists.