4.2.12 WC: 191694 students hated his course, because they learned no law. Goldstein had failed the bar and had never practiced a day in his life. I loved his course and seminars and was deeply influenced by his approach to law. Another professor who influenced my approach to law, but in a rather different way was Alex Bickel, who taught me advanced constitutional law. He looked at our constitution politically and structurally and had a coherent, if imperfect, theory of how the constitution should be interpreted. Both of these mentors defied conventional labels, such as liberal or conservative. The professor who had the most influence on my career choice was Telford Taylor, who combined an active constitutional law practice with teaching and writing. Although we could not have been more different in background and bearing—he was a tall, elegant WASP, had served as a general in the Army, was the Chief Prosecutor at the Nuremburg Trials, always wore a suit and tie, and was polite to a fault—we had much in common and became close friends and colleagues. (So much for needing mentors of the same ethnicity, religion, race, gender, etc!) I consciously tried to model my career (except for the Army part) after his. Shortly after John Kennedy was elected president, rumors began to circulate that Taylor was being considered to head the C.I.A. He took me aside one day after class and asked me, in confidence, whether I would consider coming with him to Washington, if he were to get the appointment, and serving as his executive assistant. I told him I would certainly consider such an offer. Eventually President Kennedy appointed someone else, deeming Taylor too liberal for the job. Years later, Telford and I discussed how different our lives would have been if we had both joined the CIA. “One thing I know would have been different,” Telford quipped. “There would have been no Bay of Pigs.” Telford Taylor made me another offer, during my second year in law school, which I also could