Vincent Walker Foster Jr. (January 15, 1945 – July 20, 1993) was an American attorney who served as deputy White House counsel during the first six months of the Clinton administration.
Foster had been a partner at Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas, where, as The Washington Post later wrote, he rose to "the pinnacle of the Arkansas legal establishment." In July 1993, he was found dead of a gunshot wound in Fort Marcy Park. Five official governmental investigations ruled his death a suicide, but several conspiracy theories emerged.
Foster was born in Hope, Arkansas, to Vincent W. Foster Sr. and Alice Mae Foster (1914–2012). His father became a successful real estate developer. Vincent had two sisters, Sheila and Sharon.
Vincent was a childhood friend of Bill Clinton, then known as Billy Blythe. Clinton, a year and a half younger than Foster, resided in an adjoining property to Foster's with his grandparents while his mother was often away studying nursing. Clinton later recalled, "I lived with my grandparents in a modest little house across from Vince Foster's nice, big, white brick house." Another Clinton recollection was that Foster "was kind to me and never lorded it over me the way so many older boys did with younger ones." Another childhood friend was Mack McLarty, who would one day become White House Chief of Staff for Clinton. In 1950, Clinton's mother remarried and they relocated to a different part of Hope. By several accounts, Foster and Clinton attended Miss Marie Purkins' School for Little Folks together, a private kindergarten, although Foster was a year ahead in school. Then, around late 1952, the Clintons moved away to Hot Springs. However, Clinton would often return to visit his grandparents in Hope during summers, weekends, and holidays and he maintained connections with the people there.
Foster excelled as a student and athlete. At Hope High School, he became president of the student council, with McLarty serving as vice president. He graduated from Hope High School in 1963.
Foster attended Davidson College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1967. His father wanted him to join the family real estate business, but instead, he opted to attend law school.
After starting at Vanderbilt University Law School, he joined the Arkansas National Guard during the height of the Vietnam War to avoid the military draft. To be closer to his guard responsibilities, he transferred to the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he was managing editor of the law review. He received his Juris Doctor in 1971, graduating first in his class. He scored the highest in his class on the Arkansas bar exam.
Foster met Elizabeth Braden, known as Lisa, during his sophomore year at Davidson; she was the daughter of an insurance broker from Nashville and was attending Sweet Briar College. They married on April 20, 1968, at St. Henry Catholic Church in Nashville. They had three children: Vincent III, Laura, and John.
In 1971, Foster joined Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas, and in 1974 was made partner, one of only nine in the firm at the time. He was the head of the Arkansas Bar Association committee that oversaw legal aid, and as such worked with legal aid clinic worker Hillary Rodham in successfully overcoming an unreasonable measuring requirement for indigent clients. Foster then initiated the hiring of Rodham at Rose Law Firm, where she became its first ever female associate (and later first female partner); Foster and fellow partner Webster Hubbell were instrumental in overcoming the reluctance of other partners to hire a woman. The hiring occurred soon after Bill Clinton was elected attorney general of Arkansas, which led Clinton and Rodham to move from Fayetteville to Little Rock. Foster and Rodham worked together on a number of cases. And as Bill Clinton's political career gained force, Foster supported him. They were also personal friends and Foster was the one who taught their daughter Chelsea Clinton how to swim.
Foster practiced mostly corporate law, eventually earning nearly $300,000 a year. Known for his extensive preparation of cases ahead of time, including the creation of decision trees, Foster developed a reputation as one of the best trial litigators in Arkansas. Hillary Rodham Clinton's memoir calls Foster "one of the best lawyers I've ever known," and compared him in style and substance to Gregory Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch in the classic 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. In Bill Clinton's memoir, he characterizes Foster as "a tall, handsome, wise, good man." Writer Carl Bernstein has described Foster as "tall, with impeccable manners and a formal mien ... elegant in perfectly tailored suits, and soft-spoken to the point of taciturnity." Writer Dan Moldea characterized him as "a 'can-do' lawyer who worked best when under pressure." Phillip Carroll, the leading litigator at Rose Law Firm, once said of Foster, "He was my ideal of a young lawyer." The ABA Journal reported that Foster was "acknowledged by many as the soul of the firm".
He appeared to experience only success at Rose Law; a partner later said, "I never saw a professional setback. Never. Not even a tiny one." The firm grew five times its size during his time there. The Arkansas Bar Association gave him a number of awards and in June 1993 would name him as its Outstanding Lawyer of the Year. He was also listed in the Best Lawyers in America book. His wife Lisa described him as driven to prevail, staying up around the clock to prepare for big cases, believing he would lose the case even though he rarely did; she later viewed this as an early sign of depressed behavior.
By 1992, Vince Foster was, as The Washington Post later wrote, at "the pinnacle of the Arkansas legal establishment." He was also an established figure in Little Rock society, serving as the chair of the board of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre and belonging to the exclusive Country Club of Little Rock.
After Clinton's 1992 election, Foster joined Clinton's presidential transition team. Once Clinton was inaugurated, Foster joined his White House staff as Deputy White House Counsel in early 1993. This was despite Foster's initial reluctance to leave his Little Rock life behind and come to Washington. There he worked under the White House Counsel, Bernard W. Nussbaum, although Nussbaum would consider the pair to be "co-senior partners". He was also joined with two other Rose Law Firm partners, William H. Kennedy, III, who served as his associate counsel, and Webster Hubbell, who became Associate Attorney General. The Foster residence was a small rented house in Georgetown in Washington, D.C.
Foster had difficulty making the transition to life and politics in Washington. Unlike some other Clinton-associated figures, he had no experience with campaigns or electoral politics. His wife and youngest son were not with him, having stayed behind in Arkansas so the son could complete his senior year of high school at Catholic High in Little Rock. His initial role was in vetting potential administration appointees. As one subject of the vetting process later said, "I wondered why I was being interviewed by the guy who would be deputy counsel. Seemed his job was to find out how honest I was, and what level of ego I was bringing. It's a measure of how much the Clintons trusted him." But Foster found this involvement in vetting appointments to be causing him depression and anxiety. In particular, he blamed himself for the failed Zoë Baird nomination; he had thought that Baird had been justified in following her lawyer's advice regarding the payment of taxes on household employees, but he had failed to anticipate the political backlash that led to it becoming known as "Nannygate" and that blemished the early days of the administration. The equally unsuccessful Kimba Wood and Lani Guinier appointments were also under Foster's purview. He had to resign from the Country Club of Little Rock once its all-white membership became a political issue for others in the administration.