I've been looking for historical comparisons to confirm the long intertwining of the legal and political professions. Here's some eye-opening stats.
The U.S. Congress has long been dominated by lawyer-politicians. Friedman notes that, "From 1780 to 1930, two thirds of the senators and about half of the House of Representatives were lawyers; the percentage seems to have stayed fairly stable" At the beginning of the 102nd Congress in January, 1991, 244 of the 535 members of both houses (46%) claimed attorney as their profession.
Background info.
