Thomas Hardiman,Taxi Driver? His Father Ran a Cab Company

Thomas Hardiman, the federal judge under consideration for the U.S. Supreme Court, has an interesting job on his resume: He was briefly a taxi driver.

Hardiman is said to be one of four 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. In the end, Trump chose Kavanaugh.

Hardiman’s blue-collar life story appeals to his backers. He was the second choice when Trump chose Judge Neil Gorsuch to Antonin Scalia’s seat on the court. He’s a George W. Bush appointee who also spent time in private practice.

Here’s what you need to know:

Hardiman Drove a Taxi in the 1980s

Thomas Hardiman is a registered Republican.

Hardiman’s stint as a taxi driver didn’t last very long, and it was a long time ago. However, 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, Hardman 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.

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.”

Hardiman’s Dad Also Worked for a Bank

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.”

Hardiman Drove the Taxi Cab to Help Pay His Way Through Law School

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.”

Maryanne Trump Barry, Trump’s sister, served on the 3rd Circuit with Hardiman and has reportedly spoken highly of him. Hardiman’s blue-collar bio is rounded out by the fact he didn’t graduate from an Ivy League School.

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.”