Law students honor John Ashcroft, JD'67, with Lee Liberman Otis Award

Allyson Ho praised John Ashcroft’s commitment to the Constitution, liberty and justice, commending his leadership after the event of Sept. 11—reorienting the Department of Justice’s approach to terrorism from reactionary to preventative—and for helping to reduce the country’s violent crimes by 30 percent.

John Ashcroft spoke about the importance of reliability, authenticity and integrity in one’s work, telling students to stick with their principles but to understand that sometimes they might be wrong. On a lighter note, he told students that he may have lost three out of four elections he ran in, but each time he “fell uphill” into a better job, including losing a U.S. Senate bid before being appointed U.S. Attorney General.