How long does it take . You talked about walking into conference for the first time. When youve watched new justices come on board since you arrived, how long does it take before they get it . Oh, i dont know. I think we all learn at different paces, but when i came to the court, i asked that same question, because it was very important to me to figure out when would i get my sea legs. And the common number was five years. And Justice White would often say it takes about that long to go around the full horn of all the cases, kinds of cases that we get. That was their number. And that may be about right. It doesnt mean you cant do your work, it just means that things are sitill new for the first five years. You may not have had as many jurisdiction cases involving water rights or boundaries. You may not have had a lot of admiralty cases. So you get all of that. It was chief Justice Renquist when i was complaining, oh, my goodness, what am i doing here my first year . I look around me and i see people like him who had been there at that time almost three decades, you see Justice White who is legendary, justice oconn oconnor, and he said, well, clarence, in your first five years, you wonder how you got here. After that you wonder how your colleagues got here. I dont know whether thats true exactly, but it certainly is an indication that that fiveyear period was fairly well accepted as the breakin period. I remember when Justice Briar, who had been the junior justice for almost a record length of time, i think 11 years before i started, he took me aside and he sort of briefed me. But it took him a while to adjust to not being the junior justice. I remember very distinctly at the first conference, there was a knock at the door, and i was sort of processing this. Someone is knocking at the door, its my job now to get up and answer the door. Before i could even start to get out of the chair, Justice Briar was out of his chair and headed for the door, and the chief justice had to say, steve, sit down, thats not your job anymore. I hadnt been in that role quite as long but i bet ill feel sort of the same way. What about the supposed practice that a new justice writes his or her first opinion after its been a unanimous decision on a particular case . I think thats something the court has tried to do. They did that with me. My first opinion was an opinion in which we were unanimous. And i think its a good practice. I remember when i sent it around and i had gotten back approvals from everybody with a few changes. Somebody said, dont think its going to be this easy all the time in the future. And that certainly has proven to be the case. But i distinctly remember drafting that opinion. Before i came here, i had been a court of appeals judge for 15 years and i had written hundreds of opinions. And i thought i had done my best on all of those. But when i drafted that first opinion, realizing where i was now, i went back over it and over it and over it. I have never revised an opinion as many times as i did before i sent that out. Justice sotomayor, the justice would remember vividly things that happened in the room. What are the impressions youll take from yours . The moment that i sat down and was able to look out and see all of the people in the audience, thats probably the moment i will most intensely remember. Because there were lawyers who ive known for years sitting at the table in front of us ready to argue, but then watching the intensity of everyones face, and i had forgotten how much people believe and know that theyre affected by the courts decisions. And you see the anticipation. And i cant actually say that its pleasurable. You note in peoples faces their concerns. And clearly i knew the sides some parties in the audience were in because some of the actual parties were there. And i forget how important it is to people sometimes. Because when youre in your Office Reading the briefs, you understand the voices that theyre giving you. But when you see their faces, it just reinforces that importance in a way nothing else can. Whats the other emotion . Absolute fear. You dont know what its like to sit with eight other colleagues. Ive sat in bonk when i was on the circuit court. But to sit on the Supreme Court and listen to the questions of your colleagues is somewhat humbling. Its somewhat completely humbling. So yes, just like justice oconnor, i will always remember that day. You had to have awareness that everyone in that room was waiting for your first question. Yes. And what is interesting is that i had gone in prepared with any number of questions. Most of them, except the two i asked, were asked by other justices. And so, yes, i was aware but i didnt know what the first question would actually be, because i didnt know what direction my colleagues were going to go with their questions and what would be left for me to ask. And so the questions i eventually did were a product of the flow of the conversation. Announcer cspan where history unfolds daily. In 1979, cspan was created as a Public Service by americas Cable Television companies. And its brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. In case you missed it on cspan. Oklahoma congressman Steve Russell on the 100th anniversary of the u. S. Entry into world war i. On the 6th of april, 100 years ago today, where i am standing with concrete evidence of german hostility to the United States, to International Peace and to liberal democracy, the congress of the United States declared war on germany. Homeland security secretary john kelly on the building of the border wall. I have no doubt when i go back to him and say, boss, this will make sense over here, high fencing makes sense over here, technology will make sense over here, i have no doubt he will tell me to go do it. Sir thomas clarence. Has your assessment included looking into the morales of the agency and put into place initiatives to actually improve mo the morale . Its what i do, yes. Actress Holly Robinson peete. Theyre showing just how amazing kids with autism are. And love coming through the sesame street friends makes it acceptable in sesame strsesame magic. Bureaucracy is when you care more about the rules than you care about the goals. That is killing us as a nation. So we are working very hard to get the inappropriate things out of the way. Representative bruce poluquin at the Consumer Protection bureaus semiannual report. You guarantee that neither you or anybody at the cpfb have used commercial devices, text, email, cell phones and fully complied with the record, yes oe at cspan. Org, on our web page and by sifting through the video library. Values of the Founding Fathers starts now by gordon wood who looks at the Founding Fathers and the shaping of their values. This is from the society of the four arts in palm beach, florida. I am so energized by all your enthusiasm about the for arts founders program. Thank you for coming. Now, todays speaker, dr. Gordon wood, is considered the foremost expert on the american