TWELVE TO THE BAR - Paul Harvey

This is a test. Not an easy test.

You are about to read the names of twelve of our nation's most prominent lawyers. Only one of them was a law school dropout.

Can you guess his name?

Ready ... get set ...

Patrick Henry. Member of the Continental Congress, governor of Virginia. He passed his oral bar examinations in 1760; within three years he had handled more than eleven hundred cases.

John Jay. He was admitted to the bar in 1768, subsequently distinguishing himself as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

John Marshall. Another Supreme Court Chief Jus-tice; he passed his bar exams in 1780.

William Wirt. Barely twenty, he practiced law in Culpeper County, Virginia, eventually becoming United States Attorney General.

Now remember, one of these nationally prominent lawyers was a law school dropout, and you're trying to discover him ...

Roger Taney. Admitted to practice in 1799, he worked his way up. First Secretary of the Treasury, then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Daniel Webster, He was admitted to the Boston bar in 1805, established a phenomenal legal reputation; subsequently he was appointed Secretary of State in 1841.

Salmon Chase, United States Senator, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he gained his early prominence as a defense attorney for runaway slaves.

Abraham Lincoln. Sixteenth president of the United States, an occupation greatly enhanced by his former experience as a lawyer.

Stephen Douglas. Admitted to the bar in 1834, he later became representative, then senator, from Illinois.

He debated Lincoln.

Clarence Darrow. A lawyer of world renown, his most famous case was the Scopes, so-called Monkey, trial of 1925.

Robert Storey. Born in 1893, he was president of the American Bar Association in 1952 and 1953.

Strom Thurmond. Admitted to the bar in 1930, he later became governor of South Carolina, then senator from that state.

Those are the twelve.

Only one of them abandoned law school after the first year, never to return.

Once more, names only:

Patrick Henry 

John Jay ..

John Marshall

William Wirt...

Roger Taney...

Daniel Webster .

Salmon Chase...

Abraham Lincoln...

Stephen Douglas...

Clarence Darrow...

Robert Storey ..

Strom Thurmond...

Time's up. Of the names you've just read, only one was a law school dropout. He was Clarence Darrow.

That's right. Clarence Darrow, the one name the whole world associates with the practice of law, attended law school for one year only. He did not distinguish himself and dropped out to study law on his own.

Oh, did I mention that the other eleven-those eleven most distinguished American lawyers could not have dropped out of law school, because they never went to law school at all? 

That is THE REST OF THE STORY.