An soft-spoken, unassuming lawyer of intellectual bent, Samuel Alito,Jr. has seldom called attention to himself. But in 2005, he became aflash-point of controversy with his nomination to the United StatesSupreme Court. An Italian-American, he was born and grew up in Trenton,New Jersey, the son of Samuel Alito, Sr., and Rose (nee' Fradusco)Alito. He grew up in a comfortable middle class family, where hisfather was Director of the New Jersey Office of Legislative Servicesand his mother was a school principal. Alito attended public schoolsand excelled academically while participating in severalextracurricular activities. From high school, he attended PrincetonUniversity and graduated summa cum laude in 1972. Following graduation,he joined the U.S. Army Reserve, becoming a Second Lieutenant in theSignal Corps. He also was accepted at Yale Law School, where he wasknown for his intelligence and diligence, and he became editor of theYale Law Journal, the school newspaper. There was much social turmoilgoing on at the time, but Alito avoided the controversy andconcentrated on his studies. During his senior year, he lived in Italy,where his father was born, and wrote his thesis about the Italiancriminal system. He graduated in 1975 and was expected to seek awell-paying job with a prominent law firm. But instead, he became aclerk for Leonard Garth, a respected judge on the U.S. Third CircuitCourt of Appeals. In 1977, he joined the U.S. Attorney's office.Starting out as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of NewJersey, where he made criminal appeals before for the U.S. Attorney. In1981, he joined the U.S. Department of Justice, working as assistant tothe U.S. Solicitor General. There argued some cases before the U.S.Supreme Court. In both positions, he became known for his thoroughnessand deliberate presentation of cases. That and his conservative viewscaught the attention of many in Washington, D.C., and in 1985, he washired to be Deputy Assistant to U.S. Attorney GeneralEd Meese, where he provide Constitutionaladvice to the department. That same year, he married Martha-AnnBomgardner, a law librarian whom he had first met while doing researchas a law clerk.

In 1987, Alito's profile was raised when he was appointed U.S. Attorneyfor the district of New Jersey. This was a demanding position, andAlito prosecuted many important cases involving organized crime anddrug trafficking. In spite of his mild demeanor, Alito was a vigorousand effective prosecutor, motivated not only by his personal ethics andsense of responsibility, but his belief that the perpetrators oforganized crime gave his fellow Italian-Americans a negative and unjustimage. In that capacity, he won several important convictions and madean impact against several criminal enterprises. This brought him to theattention of PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush,and in 1990, he was nominated to the U.S. Third Circuit Court ofAppeals. Impressed by his record, the U.S. Senate confirmed himunanimously. The Court has long been dominated by liberal judgesappointed by Presidents who were Democrats, and Alito's rulings wereoften in the minority on the Court. This frustrated him initially andhe had a few outspoken dissents, but he quickly reverted to thelow-key, careful approach which he had demonstrated during most of hiscareer. He made a good impression on both his subordinates and hiscolleagues, including many liberal judges. He was compared by many toU.S. Supreme Court JusticeAntonin Scalia, due to their similarviews and backgrounds, and Alito became referred to as Scalito in somecircles, which annoyed him immensely. But he remained highly respectedin both conservative circles and the legal community and during theBush's Presdidency, he had been occasionally mentioned as potentialchoice for the U.S. Supreme Court. He paid little attention to thisspeculation and concentrated on his rulings. Thought a few of hisrulings were controversial, he always made sure they were written withwhat he saw as adherence to the U.S. Constitution.

In 2005, U.S. Supreme Court JusticeSandra Day O'Connor announced thatshe would be retiring from the Court. This drew national attention, asthe court was closely divided on several important issues and O'Connorhad been the deciding judge in most of them. Alito was interviewed byPresidentGeorge W. Bush and made a goodimpression, but Bush instead choseJohn Roberts of the D.C.Circuit Court of Appeals. Before confirmation hearings could begin, theChief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court,William Rehnquist, died, and therewere two vacancies. Roberts was quickly nominated to Rehnquest'sposition as Chief Justice. After much speculation, Bush unexpectedlychose White House CounselHarriet Miersfor the O'Connor vacancy. However, Meiers withdrew her confirmationafter much criticism. At that point, Alito was asked by Bush to serveon the Court, and Alito accepted. In spite of Alito's high regard inthe legal community, his nomination was controversial. DemocraticSenators and many liberal advocacy groups attacked Alito, calling him aright-winger and charging that he would change the ideologicalcomposition of the Supreme Court for the worse. During confirmationhearings, Alito was questioned aggressively by Democratic Senators.Alito testified calmly and defended his record, while promising to beimpartial and rule only on the basis of the Constitution. At one point,when Democratic Senators were questioning Alito on a club he hadbelonged to in college, his wife became frustrated and began to weep,and it made headlines and news coverage throughout the country. Alitolooked like a dignified, reasonable jurist while his opponents lookedboth arrogant and buffoonish, and public opinion turned in his favor.Just before the Senate voted to confirm Alito, U.S. SenatorJohn Kerry announced he would attempta filibuster of Alito's nomination while he was on vacation in theAlps. This was widely ridiculed, and conservatives attacked Kerry as awealthy dilettante. On January 31, 2006, Alito was confirmed by a voteof 58 to 42 in a vote that broke mostly along party lines.

On a Supreme Court closely divided between activist and textualistwings, Alito has voted with the textualists, of whom fellow justiceScalia is considered a leader.