Hoover Institution hosted a Fireside Chat with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and Secretary Condoleezza Rice to discuss his book Life, Law & Liberty: A Memoir on Friday, October 31, 2025, from 10:00 am PT in Shultz Auditorium, George P. Shultz Building.
Throughout his thirty-year tenure on the US Supreme Court, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy authored landmark opinions on some of the most important issues facing America. Often defying expectations, Justice Kennedy’s pursuit of equal justice helped him define the law of the land for a generation. His pivotal vote in closely watched 5-4 decisions led Time magazine to call him “The Decider.” The last Justice to be confirmed to the Court unanimously (97–0) by the Senate, Anthony Kennedy serves as a role model for our fractious times, an example of civility, decency, and ethics, and a deeply principled guardian of liberty.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Anthony M. Kennedy began his service as a Supreme Court Justice in 1988 and assumed senior status in 2018. Born in Sacramento, California, he received his BA from Stanford University and the London School of Economics, and his LLB from Harvard Law School. Starting in private practice in San Francisco and Sacramento, he was also a professor of constitutional law at the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. He has served in numerous positions during his career, including as a member of the California Army National Guard, the board of the Federal Judicial Center, and two committees of the Judicial Conference of the United States: the Advisory Committee on Codes of Conduct, and the Committee on Pacific Territories. He was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1975. Between his service on the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, he wrote nearly 1,000 opinions over more than forty years on the federal bench. Justice Kennedy currently lives in Virginia with his wife, Mary, continuing to work on important projects for the Court, and is a proud father and grandfather.
Condoleezza Rice currently serves as Director of the Hoover Institution and a Senior Fellow on Public Policy. She is the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition, she is a founding partner of Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, an international strategic consulting firm. From January 2005 to January 2009, Rice served as the 66th Secretary of State of the United States, the second woman and first black woman to hold the post. Rice also served as President George W. Bush’s Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (National Security Advisor) from January 2001 to January 2005, the first woman to hold the position.
