Barbara Olson
Encyclopedia
Barbara Olson was a lawyer and conservative American television commentator who worked for CNN
, Fox News Channel
, and several other outlets. She was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77
en route to a taping of Bill Maher
's television show Politically Incorrect
when it was flown into the Pentagon
in the September 11 attacks.
and earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Saint Thomas
in Houston.
degree from Yeshiva University
's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
. In the early 1990s, she worked as an associate at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering where she did civil litigation for several years before becoming an assistant U.S. attorney.
In 1994, she left to work for the United States House of Representatives
, becoming chief investigative counsel for the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. In that position, she led the Travelgate and Filegate investigations into the Clinton administration. She co-founded the Independent Women's Forum
with Rosalie Silberman and Anita K. Blair
. She was later a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the Birmingham
, Alabama law firm Balch & Bingham
.
Her support of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas led to the formation of the Independent Women's Forum, which had its origins in 1991–92, when Mrs. Olson and friend "Ricky" Rosalie Gaull Silberman started an informal network of women who supported the Thomas nomination despite allegations of sexual harassment by Anita Hill
, a former colleague at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Mrs. Olson also had worked with Thomas at the commission and was a close friend. During his contentious confirmation, she spoke out on his behalf and helped edit The Real Anita Hill
, a book by David Brock
that savaged Hill and portrayed her charges as a political dirty trick (Brock later recanted his claims and apologized to Hill). The idea for the Independent Women's Forum was to create a high profile group of women who advocated economic liberty, personal responsibility, and political freedom.
She married Theodore Olson
in 1996. He went on to successfully represent presidential candidate George W. Bush
in the Supreme Court
case of Bush v. Gore
, which effectively determined the final result of the contested 2000 Presidential election
. He subsequently served as United States Solicitor General
in the Bush administration.
She was a frequent critic of the Bill Clinton administration
and wrote a book about then First Lady
Hillary Rodham Clinton
, Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton (1999). Olson was working on her second book, The Final Days: The Last, Desperate Abuses of Power by the Clinton White House (published October 2001) at the time of her death. She was a resident of Great Falls, Virginia
.
on her way to a taping of Politically Incorrect
in Los Angeles, when it was flown into the Pentagon
in the September 11 attacks.
Flight 77 was hijacked at 8:54. At some point between 9:16 and 9:26, Olson called her husband. According to him, she reported that the flight had been hijacked, and the hijackers had knives and box-cutters. She further indicated that the hijackers were not aware of her phone call, and that they had put all the passengers in the rear of the plane. About a minute into the conversation, the call was cut off.
Shortly after, Barbara reached her husband again. She reported that the "pilot
" had announced that the flight had been hijacked, and asked her husband what she should tell the captain to do. Ted Olson asked for her location and she replied that the aircraft was then flying over houses. Another passenger told her they were traveling northeast. Ted Olson informed Barbara of the two previous hijackings and crashes. She did not display signs of panic at the time. The second call was soon cut off.
Politically Incorrect host Bill Maher
left a panel seat vacant for a week following her death.
The Federalist Society
has established the Barbara K. Olson Memorial Lectures, "an annual lecture on limited government and the spirit of freedom",
held every November. The first lecture was a eulogy for her by her husband.
Subsequent speakers have included Supreme Court Associate Justice
Antonin Scalia
, Vice President Dick Cheney
, and Chief Justice John G. Roberts.
At the National 9/11 Memorial, Olson is memorialized at the South Pool, on Panel S-70.
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
, and several other outlets. She was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77
American Airlines Flight 77
American Airlines Flight 77 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Washington Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
en route to a taping of Bill Maher
Bill Maher
William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
's television show Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect is a late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997, and later on ABC in 1997, which cancelled it in 2002....
when it was flown into the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
in the September 11 attacks.
Early life
Olson was born Barbara Kay Bracher in Houston, Texas. (Her older sister, Toni Bracher-Lawrence, has been a member of the Houston City Council since 2004.) She graduated from Waltrip High SchoolWaltrip High School
Stephen Pool Waltrip High School is a secondary school located at 1900 West 34th Street in Houston, Texas, United States, 77018.Waltrip, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston Independent School District....
and earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Saint Thomas
University of St. Thomas (Houston)
The University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, United States is a comprehensive Catholic university, grounded in the liberal arts...
in Houston.
Career
As a newcomer, she achieved a surprising measure of success, working for HBO and Stacey Keach Productions. She earned a Juris DoctorJuris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree from Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is the law school of Yeshiva University, located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The school is named for Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo. Cardozo's success as a young school has been remarkable, leading some to characterize Cardozo as a...
. In the early 1990s, she worked as an associate at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering where she did civil litigation for several years before becoming an assistant U.S. attorney.
In 1994, she left to work for the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, becoming chief investigative counsel for the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. In that position, she led the Travelgate and Filegate investigations into the Clinton administration. She co-founded the Independent Women's Forum
Independent Women's Forum
The Independent Women's Forum is an American conservative, non-profit, non-partisan research and educational institution focused on domestic and foreign policy issues of concern to women...
with Rosalie Silberman and Anita K. Blair
Anita K. Blair
Anita K. Blair was one of the co-founders of the Independent Women's Forum and served as United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 2001 to 2006 and as acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 2008.-Biography:Anita K...
. She was later a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Alabama law firm Balch & Bingham
Balch & Bingham
Balch & Bingham, LLP is a regional law firm based in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 1920, Balch & Bingham also has offices in Montgomery, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, Gulfport, Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi and in Washington, D.C....
.
Her support of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas led to the formation of the Independent Women's Forum, which had its origins in 1991–92, when Mrs. Olson and friend "Ricky" Rosalie Gaull Silberman started an informal network of women who supported the Thomas nomination despite allegations of sexual harassment by Anita Hill
Anita Hill
Anita Faye Hill is an American attorney and academic—presently a professor of social policy, law and women's studies at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She became a national figure in 1991 when she alleged that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had...
, a former colleague at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Mrs. Olson also had worked with Thomas at the commission and was a close friend. During his contentious confirmation, she spoke out on his behalf and helped edit The Real Anita Hill
The Real Anita Hill
The Real Anita Hill is a controversial 1993 book written by David Brock that claims to reveal the "true motives" of Anita Hill, who had accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his 1991 confirmation hearings....
, a book by David Brock
David Brock
David Brock is an American journalist and author, the founder of the media watchdog group, Media Matters for America, and a Democratic political operative...
that savaged Hill and portrayed her charges as a political dirty trick (Brock later recanted his claims and apologized to Hill). The idea for the Independent Women's Forum was to create a high profile group of women who advocated economic liberty, personal responsibility, and political freedom.
She married Theodore Olson
Theodore Olson
Theodore Bevry Olson is a former United States Solicitor General, serving from June 2001 to July 2004 under President George W. Bush.- Early life :...
in 1996. He went on to successfully represent presidential candidate George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
in the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
case of Bush v. Gore
Bush v. Gore
Bush v. Gore, , is the landmark United States Supreme Court decision on December 12, 2000, that effectively resolved the 2000 presidential election in favor of George W. Bush. Only eight days earlier, the United States Supreme Court had unanimously decided the closely related case of Bush v...
, which effectively determined the final result of the contested 2000 Presidential election
United States presidential election, 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
. He subsequently served as United States Solicitor General
United States Solicitor General
The United States Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States. The current Solicitor General, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 2011 and sworn in on June...
in the Bush administration.
She was a frequent critic of the Bill Clinton administration
Presidency of Bill Clinton
The United States Presidency of Bill Clinton, also known as the Clinton Administration, was the executive branch of the federal government of the United States from January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001. Clinton was the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second full term...
and wrote a book about then First Lady
First Lady
First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
, Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton (1999). Olson was working on her second book, The Final Days: The Last, Desperate Abuses of Power by the Clinton White House (published October 2001) at the time of her death. She was a resident of Great Falls, Virginia
Great Falls, Virginia
Great Falls is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 15,427 at the 2010 census.Although primarily a bedroom community for Washington, D.C., one major attraction is Great Falls Park which overlooks the Great Falls of the Potomac River, for which...
.
Death and legacy
Olson was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77American Airlines Flight 77
American Airlines Flight 77 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Washington Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
on her way to a taping of Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect is a late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997, and later on ABC in 1997, which cancelled it in 2002....
in Los Angeles, when it was flown into the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
in the September 11 attacks.
Flight 77 was hijacked at 8:54. At some point between 9:16 and 9:26, Olson called her husband. According to him, she reported that the flight had been hijacked, and the hijackers had knives and box-cutters. She further indicated that the hijackers were not aware of her phone call, and that they had put all the passengers in the rear of the plane. About a minute into the conversation, the call was cut off.
Shortly after, Barbara reached her husband again. She reported that the "pilot
Hani Hanjour
Hani Saleh Hasan Hanjour was the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, crashing the plane into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks....
" had announced that the flight had been hijacked, and asked her husband what she should tell the captain to do. Ted Olson asked for her location and she replied that the aircraft was then flying over houses. Another passenger told her they were traveling northeast. Ted Olson informed Barbara of the two previous hijackings and crashes. She did not display signs of panic at the time. The second call was soon cut off.
Politically Incorrect host Bill Maher
Bill Maher
William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
left a panel seat vacant for a week following her death.
The Federalist Society
Federalist Society
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, most frequently called simply the Federalist Society, is an organization of conservatives seeking reform of the current American legal system in accordance with a textualist and/or originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution...
has established the Barbara K. Olson Memorial Lectures, "an annual lecture on limited government and the spirit of freedom",
held every November. The first lecture was a eulogy for her by her husband.
Subsequent speakers have included Supreme Court Associate Justice
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...
Antonin Scalia
Antonin Scalia
Antonin Gregory Scalia is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As the longest-serving justice on the Court, Scalia is the Senior Associate Justice...
, Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, and Chief Justice John G. Roberts.
At the National 9/11 Memorial, Olson is memorialized at the South Pool, on Panel S-70.
Books
- Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton (November 1999; ISBN 0895262746)
- The Final Days: The Last, Desperate Abuses of Power by the Clinton White House (October 2001; ISBN 0895261677)
External links
- Barbara Olson at findagrave.com
- Wife of Solicitor General alerted him of hijacking from plane
- Barbara Olson Mourned at Arlington Service
- Barbara Olson: A Sparkling Celebrity 'Full of Energy' Newsday.com-Victims Search
- Barbara Olson, RIP Memorial essay by Alfred S. Regnery, president of Regnery Publishing