Thread by @JoshuaMatz8

Today was @tribelaw's last day in the classroom at Harvard Law School

Of course, he will continue to teach us all in op-eds, essays, tweets, TV appearances, and many other settings

Still, I'd like to mark the occasion & celebrate my friend, mentor, hero, and co-author

Without exaggeration, @tribelaw is one of the most important legal thinkers in American history. His legacy and contributions are hard to overstate. Few judges -- indeed, few #SCOTUS justices -- come anywhere close to matching his influence or mastery of the Constitution.

Yet in many ways, @tribelaw has been just as influential through his teaching as his scholarship and advocacy

Generations of bright-eyed students at @Harvard_Law have explored the Constitution -- its secrets, structure, harmony, and history -- under his masterful tutelage

It's often noted that @tribelaw has had some famous students: @BarackObama, Merrick Garland, Elena Kagan, and John Roberts. This is true. But it's just the tip of an iceberg. Larry has taught *many* thousands of lawyers at HLS, who have shaped our lives in ways large and small

To state the obvious, @tribelaw is no ordinary teacher. As I sat in his classroom, I experienced the same sense of wonder and exuberance that I felt as a child first discovering the world. He brought the Constitution to life; he showed us its triumphs and failures and aspirations

Larry made clear that each of us has a role to play in the story of the Constitution. His lectures burst with brilliant abstractions. But he emphasized that we were playing with live ammo; that these are rules by which people live and die, and through which we shape our destiny

Many of Larry's lectures drew upon his experience fighting for justice. Here was a man who argued for gay rights at #SCOTUS in the mid-1980s. Who championed the rights of women. Who represented Al Gore in Bush v. Gore. Who helped write democracies into existence.

Larry's students have gone on to great achievement in nearly every realm of professional endeavor, including law, academia, politics, business, and public policy. That is no surprise. The wisdom he offers and the ethos he embodies reach far beyond any single field of study.

That helps to explain why Larry's classroom has never actually been confined to a campus. It is why captains of industry, heads of state, and famous judges have sought his guidance and will continue doing so. It is why he will remain a vital voice in these dark, dangerous times.

Since graduating from HLS, I've been lucky enough to work with @tribelaw on two books: the first on #SCOTUS, the second on #impeachment. I've come to know him not only as a brilliant scholar and teacher, but also as a friend and a profoundly wise and warm and wonderful man.

They say you shouldn't meet your heroes. That may be true most of the time. It wasn't true of Larry.

So congratulations, @tribelaw, on concluding an epic career in one set of classrooms.

But make no mistake: You have plenty of students left and we are eager to keep on learning.