Robert “Buzz” Hines (former Pence clerk, now with Farella Braun + Martel) reminded me of something I now vaguely remember:
Of course, Judge Pence should have been the first judge appointed, but President Eisenhower appointed Judge Tavares — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Nils_Tavares — before President Kennedy took office. So, Judge Pence was in fact the first Kennedy appointee, and the second federal judge in the state.
According to the Wikipedia link above, Tavares received a recess appointment on October 13, 1960. He was formally nominated on January 1, 1961 and confirmed by the Senate on September 21, 1961. Judge Pence was nominated on September 14, 1961 and also confirmed by the Senate on September 21, 1961. Both Tavares and Pence received their commission the following day.  Â
The upshot, I vaguely recall, is that Judge Pence had seniority by virtue of the timing of the confirmation votes.  If you know, please contact me.
Fortunately, Buzz didn’t always work through lunchtime:Â
my co-clerk and I were regaled with stories at lunch in the federal cafeteria (Monday – Wed. usually; Judge Pence had a lunch group he went out with on Thursday’s, and Friday’s he did not come in by the time I clerked for him ’85 – ’86). The start of many a story went, “Boys, back then, Hilo was a wide-open town! ” (recall he moved to Honolulu in 1930 or so, and then moved to the big island about a year later (campaigning in the sugar cane fields with slogans like, “don’t let your pence down”)
As for his clerkship:
probably among the best experiences of my life, and it has certainly shaped my career and more important shaped me as a person and a lawyer.
Thanks, Buzz