Robert Hardiman, Thomas Hardiman's father, ran a Waltham, Massachusetts taxi cab company.
Robert Hardiman, the father of Thomas Hardiman, the federal judge under consideration for the U.S. Supreme Court, ran a taxi cab company in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Hardiman is said to be one of the finalists for Anthony Kennedy’s position on the U.S. Supreme Court. President Donald Trump has announced that he will publicly reveal his choice on July 9, 2018. The other judges said to be under consideration are Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and Raymond Kethledge, with Kavanaugh the strongest contender other than Hardiman. However, in the end, Trump picked Kavanaugh for the nomination.
Hardiman’s blue-collar life story appeals to his backers. He was the second choice when Trump chose Judge Neil Gorsuch for Antonin Scalia’s seat on the court. He’s a George W. Bush appointee who also spent time in private practice.
The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Trump has made his choice, but did not reveal the name. However, the newspaper says Hardiman’s allies were told to get ready to roll out his life story. Key to that life story: His dad’s blue-collar background with taxi cabs.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Hardiman’s Father Owned a Taxi Cab Company & Thomas Hardiman Drove a Taxi in the 1980s
Thomas Hardiman’s stint as a taxi driver didn’t last very long, and it was a long time ago. However, he did briefly drive for his dad’s cab company.
His father ran a cab and school transportation company, according to The Boston Globe. Hardiman, who is from Waltham, Massachusetts, “worked as a driver/dispatcher for Waltham Central Square Taxi in 1987,” The Globe reported.
According to the Globe, at the time he drove taxi, Hardiman was transitioning from the University of Notre Dame to Georgetown Law School. He currently serves on the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. He was born in Winchester, Massachusetts. Waltham is located about 13 miles from Boston.
Patch reports that Hardiman’s father, Bob, ran Waltham Central Square Taxi. Hardiman “drove a cab and worked as a dispatcher at his dad’s company,” the site reports. The family is Irish-Catholic, according to Patch. Hardiman’s dad also goes by the name Robert Hardiman.
In a testimonial for a local chiropracter, Hardiman said the key to longevity is staying active.
At his confirmation hearing to the federal bench, Thomas Hardiman introduced his parents and other family members, saying, “With me today is my wife, Lori, our children, Kate Josephine, Matthew Robert, Ann Marissa Frances. I am also privileged to have my parents, Robert and Judith Hardiman, and also my in-laws, Richard and Nancy Zappala, and my sister-in-law, Jordan, who is a resident of Washington.”
2. Hardiman’s Mother Worked as a Bookkeeper for the Cab Company & His Grandpa Started It With a Single Cab
(Western District of Pennsylvania)Thomas Hardiman is a registered Republican.
The cab company was a family affair. Both of Hardiman’s parents also worked for the taxi cab company.
At one point, the company was incorporated in 1971 and dissolved in 2013, online records show. Judith Hardiman, Thomas’s mother, was listed as an officer of the company (she was a bookkeeper and homemaker). However, TribLive reports that Waltham is “a blue-collar town where his family ran Waltham Central Square Taxi — a company his grandfather started in the 1930s with one cab.”
A 2013 article describes Robert Hardiman of Waltham as a member of the Waltham License Commission who was involved in suspending alcohol and food service at a local bar and grill. He was also quoted in a story about the state cracking down on idling school buses. He also appears in this video:
A story in a local Waltham paper said in 2014 that Bob Hardiman was going to retire to the Cape after 20 years of serving on the Commission.
Judith Waltham, Hardiman’s mom, is the daughter of Josephine (Donahue) and Arthur Kohler and the family was based in Waltham, according to her brother’s obituary.
3. Hardiman’s Dad Also Worked for a Bank
Everything you need to know about Judge Thomas Hardiman, a possible contender for SCOTUS nominee: t.co/DfDmxicVw7
A 2011 biography for Hardiman’s dad, Robert J. Hardiman, says he was “the President and Owner of Waltham Central School Transportation Company, Waltham Central Realty Trust and Elm Street Realty Trust. Mr. Hardiman is also the former owner of Waltham Central Square Taxi, Westway Taxi and City Hall Liquors.”
The bio describes how Hardiman’s dad was involved in banking. “Mr. Hardiman has served as a City of Waltham License Commission Member since 1999 and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Leland Home since 2004. From 1995 to 1998, Mr. Hardiman served as a Director of The Federal Savings Bank,” the bio reads.
“Mr. Hardiman is also the former President and a current member of the Massachusetts Bay Investment Trust. Mr. Hardiman’s background provides the Board of Directors with critical experience in real estate matters, which are essential to the business of the Company and the Bank. Additionally, his former service as a director of The Federal Savings Bank affords the Board valuable insight regarding the local banking industry.”
4. Hardiman’s Irish Catholic Parents Reportedly Didn’t Want Their Son to Take Over the Cab Company
The Search For A Supreme Court Nominee: Judge Thomas Hardiman Makes The Final Four t.co/VuO9vQ6DEt #biglaw
According to SCOTUS blog, Hardiman was the “first person in his family to go to college when he went to the University of Notre Dame.” The blog says “he financed his law degree at the Georgetown University Law Center by driving a taxi.”
TribLive reports that Hardiman’s “Irish-Catholic parents wanted more for their oldest son than for him to take over the family’s cab business in suburban Boston.”
Hardiman’s blue-collar bio is rounded out by the fact he didn’t graduate from an Ivy League School.
5. Hardiman Created a Scholarship in His Parents’ Names to Help First-Generation Law Students
Allies of Judge Thomas Hardiman have been told to start touting him for confirmation – report t.co/vhYpXMfhHP
Hardiman has tried to give back to others in a similar situation as he was the first member of his family to graduate from college.
According to Duquesne University, Hardiman “created the Robert and Judith Hardiman Scholarship for current or prospective law students, including first-generation law students who demonstrate academic aptitude and financial need.”
When Thomas Hardiman was in high school, “his father’s taxi company took out an ad (in the yearbook) featuring him in a tuxedo with an unidentified young woman by his side. They appear to be going to prom,” according to the Boston Globe, which says he was named most likely to succeed.