John Bolton 2016: 8 Highlights From Pre-Politics Life of Potential GOP Presidential Hopeful

John Bolton earned a scholarship to a private college-preparatory school in Maryland and later graduated with a professional doctorate from Yale University where he was a member of the Yale Political Union. He also worked for several years as a partner in the law firm of Lerner, Reed, Bolton, and McManus; and also served as senior vice president for public policy research at a conservative think tank.

Here are eight highlights from the pre-political life of the potential GOP presidential hopeful in 2016.

1. John Bolton was raised in Yale Heights and later earned a scholarship to McDonogh School, a private college-preparatory school in Ownings Mills, Maryland.

2. In 1964, while a student at McDonogh School, Bolton led the campus’s Students for Goldwater campaign, Yale Daily News reported.

3. In 1964 on Election Day, 15-year-old John Bolton was permitted to be absent from school so he could pass out leaflets for Barry Goldwater, a candidate in the presidential campaign of 1964, according to the National Review.

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4. Bolton attended Yale University, where he was a member of the Yale Political Union, and ultimately earned a B.A. summa cum laude in 1970 and a professional doctorate in 1974.

5. In 1974, after earning a law degree from Yale, Bolton spent seven years at Covington and Burling, a Washington law firm.

6. From 1993 to 1999, Bolton worked as a partner in the law firm of Lerner, Reed, Bolton, and McManus.

7. From 1997 to 2001, Bolton served as senior vice president for public policy research at the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute.

8. During the time period between 1997 and 2000, Bolton worked for James Baker as a pro bono assistant during Baker’s role as Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan’s personal digital assistant to the Western Sahara.

In 2012, when Bolton considered running for president in the 2012 election, he told the National Review: “I write, I give speeches, I appear on television — but the only way in contemporary American circumstances to make those issues as salient as they should be is to run for president.”

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