William Rehnquist | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 1986 | |
| 16th Chief Justice of the United States | |
| In office September 26, 1986 – September 3, 2005 | |
| Nominated by | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Warren E. Burger |
| Succeeded by | John Roberts |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| In office January 7, 1972 – September 26, 1986 | |
| Nominated by | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | John Marshall Harlan II |
| Succeeded by | Antonin Scalia |
| United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel | |
| In office January 29, 1969 – December 1971 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Frank Wozencraft |
| Succeeded by | Ralph Erickson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Donald Rehnquist October 1, 1924 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | September 3, 2005 (aged 80) Arlington, Virginia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Nan Cornell
(m. 1953; died 1991) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Stanford University (BA, MA, LLB) Harvard University (AM) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1943–1946 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in the United States |
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William Hubbs Rehnquist[a] (October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 16th chief justice of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2005, having previously been an associate justice from 1972 to 1986. Considered a staunch conservative, Rehnquist favored a conception of federalism that emphasized the Tenth Amendment's reservation of powers to the states. Under this view of federalism, the Court, for the first time since the 1930s, struck down an act of Congress as exceeding its power under the Commerce Clause.
Rehnquist grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and served in the U.S. Army Air Forces from 1943 to 1946. Afterward, he studied political science at Stanford University and Harvard University, then attended Stanford Law School, where he was an editor of the Stanford Law Review and graduated first in his class. Rehnquist clerked for Justice Robert H. Jackson during the Supreme Court's 1952–1953 term, then entered private practice in Phoenix, Arizona. Rehnquist served as a legal adviser for Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater in the 1964 U.S. presidential election, and President Richard Nixon appointed him U.S. Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel in 1969. In that capacity, he played a role in forcing Justice Abe Fortas to resign for accepting $20,000 from financier Louis Wolfson before Wolfson was convicted of selling unregistered shares.[1]
In 1971, Nixon nominated Rehnquist to succeed Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan II, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him that year. During his confirmation hearings, Rehnquist was criticized for allegedly opposing the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and allegedly taking part in voter suppression efforts targeting minorities as a lawyer in the early 1960s.[2] Historians debate whether he committed perjury during the hearings by denying his suppression efforts despite at least ten witnesses to the acts,[2] but it is known that at the very least he had defended segregation by private businesses in the early 1960s on the grounds of freedom of association.[2] Rehnquist quickly established himself as the Burger Court's most conservative member. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan nominated Rehnquist to succeed retiring Chief Justice Warren Burger, and the Senate confirmed him.
Rehnquist served as Chief Justice for nearly 19 years, making him the fifth-longest-serving chief justice and the eighth-longest-serving justice overall. He became an intellectual and social leader of the Rehnquist Court, earning respect even from the justices who frequently opposed his opinions. As Chief Justice, Rehnquist presided over the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. Rehnquist wrote the majority opinions in United States v. Lopez (1995) and United States v. Morrison (2000), holding in both cases that Congress had exceeded its power under the Commerce Clause. He dissented in Roe v. Wade (1973) and continued to argue that Roe had been incorrectly decided in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). In Bush v. Gore, he voted with the court's majority to end the Florida recount in the 2000 U.S. presidential election.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Dean, John (February 2002). The Rehnquist Choice. Free Press. ISBN 978-0-7432-2979-1. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
- ^ a b c Jenkins, John A. (October 2, 2012). The Partisan: The life of William Rehnquist. PublicAffairs. pp. [search "flatly denied" in Google Books link – page numbers are not listed on preview]. ISBN 978-1-58648-888-8. Retrieved January 3, 2022.