Today is Wednesday, January 23, 2008. We are continuing the oral history
interview of Judge Laurence Silberman. The interviewer is still Ray Rasenberger.
The purpose of this addendum to Judge Silberman’s earlier oral history is to
cover the ground that he has covered since we completed the last interview in 2002,
which includes his service as Co-Chairman of the Commission on Intelligence
Capabilities of the U.S. Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.
MR. RASENBERGER: So, Judge Silberman, before we begin, is there
anything…it has been almost 4 years now since we last interviewed. Do you have
anything you want to change or say about your personal life – we did cover that quite a bit
in the earlier oral history – that might be relevant in view of this later time?
JUDGE SILBERMAN: I certainly should mention that Feb. 18 of last year,
2007, my wife, Ricky, died at Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center. She had been
fighting breast cancer for seven years and it had finally engulfed her. We had planned,
only the next month, to have a black tie dance at the Metropolitan Club, to which,
incidentally, you would have been invited, along with John Nolan, to celebrate our 50th
anniversary. I had always prayed that she would last long enough to make the 50th
anniversary. But, as I said at her funeral, I also prayed that she would not suffer and I
was glad that God heard the latter prayer and overrode the first. We had a funeral at
Georgetown Chapel, which is where Ricky wanted a service. Unfortunately, it is small
and the crowd overwhelmed the chapel. I believe that all of my colleagues on this Court
238
