Eleanor D. Acheson

Eleanor ("Eldie") D. Acheson is an American lawyer who served as Assistant Attorney General of the United States in the Clinton Administration.

Biography

As Assistant Attorney General, Acheson worked on the Year 2000 readiness and responsibility act (H.R. 775) also known as the "Y2K Act".[1]

She was public policy and government affairs director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force until January 2007, in which capacity she led efforts on Capitol Hill to secure funds for the LGBT community.[2] Although she left that job after her appointment in 2007 as vice president and general counsel of Amtrak,[3] she continues to be a strategy advisor to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, representing the group in key meetings on Capitol Hill.[2]

Acheson attended Wellesley College with Hillary Rodham Clinton who, in her 1969 student commencement speech, acknowledges the influence of Acheson in helping Clinton become the first student in Wellesley College history to deliver its commencement address.[4] Acheson received her JD from George Washington University Law School and went on to serve as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Edward T. Gignoux in Maine from 1973 to 1974. She then practiced for 19 years with the Boston-based firm Ropes & Gray, becoming a litigation partner in 1983.[5]

Acheson is married to Emily C. Hewitt, the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims.

During her confirmation process she came under criticism because of her longtime membership in an exclusive club that had no black members.[6] Senator Kennedy (D-MA), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that Ms. Acheson "clearly meets the Senate Judiciary Committee standard on the club issue".[6]


References

  1. ↑ "Statement of Eleanor D. Acheson, Assistant Attorney General, United States Department of Justice, Year 2000 Readiness and Responsibility Act (H.R. 775)". The United States Department of Justice. Archived from the original on December 24, 2003. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Changes under way in Task Force Public Policy & Government Affairs Department". National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. December 19, 2006. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  3. ↑ McElhatton, Jim (September 2, 2010). "Amtrak hired private lawyers for executives". The Washington Times.
  4. ↑ "Wellesley College 1969 Student Commencement Speech". Wellesley College. May 31, 1969. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Amtrak Names Eleanor D. Acheson Vice President – General Counsel". National Railroad Passenger Corporation. March 6, 2007. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wines, Michael (July 3, 1993). "Justice Nominee Defended For Joining Exclusive Club". The New York Times.