Antonin Scalia, Reform Conservative

In the aftermath of Justice Scalia’s untimely passing, the outpouring of remembrances describe his astonishing legal career: a Supreme Court justice, of course, and before that a D.C. Circuit judge, a University of Chicago law professor, and chief of the Ford Administration’s Office of Legal Counsel.

But to focus only on Scalia’s legal career risks overlooking a crucial aspect of his life and work: his time at the American Enterprise Institute, and as editor of its in-house magazine, Regulation. This moment in his career, though brief, propelled him into position for appointments to the D.C. Circuit and then the Supreme Court.