Supreme Court nominee John Roberts grew up in Indiana just a stone's throw from Lake Michigan in an exclusive community popular among steel executives and attended Catholic schools in LaPorte County.
Roberts' family settled in Long Beach in the 1960s when his father was transferred to the then new Bethlehem Steel mill in Burns Harbor from Buffalo, New York.
Many of his fellow students at the elite La Lumiere boarding school in La Porte also had parents in management positions at local mills.
Tuition and room and board at the time was about $7,000 per year.
Lawrence Sullivan, who was Roberts' algebra and calculus teacher, says the Roberts family was well off, but the future Supreme Court nominee was no spoiled rich kid.
Roberts, like the sons of other Bethlehem executives, worked summers in the steel mill as a helper to electricians, lugging tools and running errands.
So far, not one of the Senate's 44 Democrats is calling for the rejection of John Roberts' nomination to the Supreme Court.
But that doesn't mean there won't be a vigorous debate over the jurist who grew up in LaPorte County.
Abortion rights groups are already declaring their opposition.
On the steps of the Supreme Court today, members of NARAL-Pro Choice America and the National Organization for Women urged lawmakers to explore Roberts' record and his past writings against Roe-v-Wade.
NOW president Kim Gandy says if Roberts is confirmed, "he would be a disaster for us."
Former Senator Fred Thompson, who'll be helping guide Roberts through the confirmation process, says people shouldn't read too much into Roberts' comments against abortion, saying many times he was speaking as "an advocate" on behalf of a client.
Governor Mitch Daniels says Roberts is "a person of tremendous character and ability."
Daniels worked with Roberts in the Reagan administration.
Speaking in Evansville today, Daniels says he can't think of a reason other than "blind partisanship" that anyone would oppose his nomination.
Roberts has donated to the political campaigns of several Republican candidates, including Indiana Senator Richard Lugar.
Campaign contribution reports show Roberts, gave $500 to Lugar's 2000 re-election bid.
Roberts also gave $250 to Peter Rusthoven, a Republican who worked with Roberts in the Reagan White House and failed to gain the GOP nomination against Democratic Senator Evan Bayh in 1998.
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