From today’s New York Times:

At Hunter College High School in the 1970s, Ms. Kagan was a standout in a school of ultrabright girls. At least one classmate there, Natalie Bowden, remembers she had an ambitious goal: to become a Supreme Court justice.

“That was a goal from the very beginning,” Ms. Bowden said. “She did talk about it then.”

This reminds me of a post where I commented that Kagan’s thirty year gamble of staying quiet has payed off.

It seems every effort Kagan has taken over the past three decades was made intently, and with a focus on not generating any paper trail. She had her eyes on the SCOTUS prize, and worked towards that goal.

In short, Elena Kagan’s gamble paid off. How so? In order to flourish as an academic, one must produce scholarship that distinguishes oneself. Kagan chose not to do that, and succeeded nonetheless. For an academic, that is an awfully difficult feat. Kudos to her. She played her cards flawlessly

I suppose I should rephrase my time frame, and note that her 40-year gamble has paid off. Supreme Ambition FTW.

H/T Ilya Shapiro.