Charles Ruff
| Chuck Ruff | |
|---|---|
| White House Counsel | |
|
In office February 1997 – September 1999 |
|
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Jack Quinn |
| Succeeded by | Beth Nolan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 1, 1939 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | November 19, 2000 (aged 61) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education |
Swarthmore College (BA) Columbia University (JD) |
Charles Frederick Carson "Chuck" Ruff (August 1, 1939 – November 19, 2000) was a prominent American lawyer based in Washington, D.C., and was best known as the White House Counsel who defended President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial in 1999.
Charles Frederick Carson Ruff was born on August 1, 1939, in Cleveland Ohio; he grew up mostly in New York City. Ruff's mother was the public relations director of the Metropolitan Opera, and in an oral history recorded shortly before his death Ruff remembered frequently attending the opera as a child, giving him a lifelong love of music.
Ruff graduated from Swarthmore College in 1960 and from Columbia Law School in 1963. Although Ruff ranked twelfth in a class of 235 at Columbia, he later stated that he "absolutely detested law school."
After graduating from law school, Ruff accepted a Ford Foundation fellowship to teach law in Africa. In 1964, while in Liberia, Ruff was sickened with flulike symptoms (a specific diagnosis was never made) and almost died; he became paralyzed in the legs and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Ruff preferred not to discuss his disability, saying only that "law is a sedentary profession."
Ruff was a research associate at Columbia University's African Law Center and taught at the University of Pennsylvania. He joined the U.S. Department of Justice as a trial lawyer in 1967.
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Wikipedia