Harvard Pals Mastermind Transition

Barack Obama has tapped his Harvard Law School connections to staff his transition team, with 20 of his classmates among the dozens of grads shaping the next administration, Politico reports. “The numbers seem very large to me,” said one presidential historian (from Princeton) about what looks like the most crimson administration since that of JFK, Harvard College '40.

The group has been instrumental, if low profile, in Obama’s ascension. Eying national office, “he didn’t have a national network of people he could call on,” says Cassandra Butts, a classmate who’s the transition’s general counsel. “The Harvard group was helpful on that front.” The exodus to DC is a mixed blessing, according to the Harvard Law Record: “Obama’s gain is Harvard’s drain,” read a recent headline. (More Barack Obama stories.)