Story highlights The former senior adviser to President Obama recalls when Scalia asked for the appointment of a justice who is a stalwart liberal

Scalia knew Obama wouldn't pick a conservative, so he lobbied for a friend, Elena Kagan, Axelrod says

David Axelrod is CNN's senior political commentator and host of the podcast "The Axe Files." He was senior adviser to President Barack Obama and chief strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama campaigns. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) When the shocking news of Justice Antonin Scalia's passing hit Saturday night, my mind raced back to a White House Correspondents Association dinner seven years ago, when we were seated together.

David Axelrod

We bantered about my hometown of Chicago, where he had taught law before ascending to the bench. He opined on wine and music and generally lived up to his reputation as a man who told and enjoyed a good story.

And then our conversation took an unexpected turn.

Justice David Souter, Scalia's longtime colleague on the court, had just announced his retirement, creating a vacancy for President Obama to fill. Scalia figured that as senior adviser to the new president, I might have some influence on the decision -- or at least enough to pass along a message.

Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who was found dead on Saturday, February 13, was one of the most influential conservative justices in history. He was 79. Hide Caption 1 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos President Ronald Reagan announces the nomination of Scalia to the Supreme Court on June 17, 1986, as a result of Chief Justice Warren E. Burger's retirement. Hide Caption 2 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia works in his office in Washington on July 28, 1986. Scalia, who was appointed in 1986, was the longest-serving justice on the Supreme Court. Hide Caption 3 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearings in Washington on August 6, 1986. Hide Caption 4 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia, seen in a 1986 photo, was the first justice of Italian-American heritage and passed through confirmation with a unanimous vote. Hide Caption 5 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Retiring Chief Justice Warren Burger, right, administers the oath to Scalia, as Scalia's wife, Maureen, holds the Bible on September 26, 1986. Scalia was the 103rd person to sit on the court. Hide Caption 6 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos U.S. Supreme Court justices pay their respects in front of the casket of former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger during a prayer ceremony in the Great Hall at the Supreme Court Building in Washington on June 28, 1995. Hide Caption 7 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia speaks to a crowd gathered at the Religious Freedom Monument in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to celebrate Religious Freedom Day on January 12, 2003. Scalia complained that courts have gone overboard in keeping God out of government. Hide Caption 8 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia shakes hands with U.S. Marines Corps Maj. Gen. Robert C. Dickerson, commanding general, upon Scalia's arrival at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, for an official visit on March 12, 2004. Hide Caption 9 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia speaks to Presbyterian Christian High School students in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, April 7, 2004. Hide Caption 10 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos The casket of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist lies in the Great Hall of the U.S. Supreme Court as Scalia and Sandra Day O'Connor, left, walk past on September 6, 2005, in Washington. Hide Caption 11 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Members of the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Stephen Breyer, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice David Souter, Justice William Kennedy, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Justice John Paul Stevens file out of the U.S. Supreme Court Building to attend funeral services for Chief Justice William Rehnquist on September 7, 2005, in Washington. Hide Caption 12 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Surrounded by security, Scalia walks in the annual Columbus Day Parade on October 10, 2005, in New York City. Hide Caption 13 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia calls on people during a question-and-answer period at the American Enterprise Institute on February 21, 2006, in Washington. Scalia delivered the keynote address about foreign law and the debate about how it is used in American Law during the seminar called "Outsourcing Of American Law." Hide Caption 14 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Heather Myklegard, Scalia, Dirk Kempthorne and U.S. President George W. Bush walk through the Rose Garden before Kempthorne is sworn in as the new interior secretary at White House on June 7, 2006, in Washington. Hide Caption 15 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia listens as U.S. President George W. Bush speaks at the the Federalist Society's 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner at Union Station in Washington, on November 15, 2007. Hide Caption 16 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia speaks during the American Bar Association's 59th annual antitrust law spring meeting in Washington on March 31, 2011. Hide Caption 17 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia testifies during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 5, 2011. The justice testified on "Considering the Role of Judges Under the Constitution of the United States." Hide Caption 18 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia and his wife, Maureen, arrive for a state dinner in honor of British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House on March 14, 2012, in Washington. Hide Caption 19 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia conducts a naturalization ceremony for 16 new U.S. citizens during the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's historic Gettysburg Address on November 19, 2013, at Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Hide Caption 20 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos U.S. President Barack Obama greets Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Sonia Sotomayor, Anthony Kennedy and John Roberts at Obama's inauguration for his second term of office. Hide Caption 21 of 22 Photos: Justice Antonin Scalia's life in photos Scalia speaks at the University of Minnesota as part of the law school's Stein Lecture series on October 20, 2015, in Minneapolis. Hide Caption 22 of 22

"I have no illusions that your man will nominate someone who shares my orientation," said Scalia, then in his 23rd year as the court's leading and most provocative conservative voice. "But I hope he sends us someone smart."

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