Hey, history lovers. I'm Mike Rosenwald with Retropod, a show about the past, rediscovered.

In Washington, there is no fight like a Supreme Court nomination fight.

Anthony Kennedy's retirement will set in motion the biggest change in the U.S. Supreme Court in half a century.

With maximum drama in prime time,

President Trump announced the nomination and praised Brett Kavanaugh as a solid conservative.

Fireworks on the first day of hearings to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

And as the newest nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh,

endures withering questioning from senators,

one case in particular will be high on the agenda,

just as it has been for decades.

Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

The story of Roe v. Wade is taught in schools and debated endlessly.

But one very important character has largely been forgotten.

Wade.

Henry Wade, the Dallas County prosecutor, sued in the case.

They called him the chief.

He stalked the halls of Dallas courthouses chewing a cigar.

In his office, he sometimes spat.

Born in 1914, Wade was one of 11 kids raised in East Texas.

He studied law at the University of Texas, joined the Navy,

became an FBI agent, worked for Lyndon Johnson, and then, in 1950, was elected Dallas County

prosecutor, a job he held down without challenge for 36 years. To Texans, he was unforgettable. As district attorney for almost four decades,

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