Why was william rehnquist important

Constitution, the Supreme Court, and money, politics, and the First Amendment. Davis, Sue. Princeton, N. Hudson, David L. Westport, Conn. Schwartz, Herman. New York: Hill and Wang, Segall, Eric John. Haiman, Franklyn. Greenhouse, Linda. David Schultz. William Rehnquist [electronic resource]. Other articles in Judges and Justices. Want to support the Free Speech Center? Donate Now. Dale Butterworth v. Bellotti Flag Desecration Givhan v.

Falwell Jenkins v. Tatum Larry Flynt Madsen v. His colleagues all said he was a private person. What was his personal style? Jenkins: He was viewed as someone who was extremely fair and even revered for how he handled the private conference and the assigning of opinions. The chief justice has several important functions to play. He's responsible for the administration of the entire federal judiciary. And also responsible for running the conference, where the nine justices privately decide who is going to write an opinion and what the opinion is going to be.

Rehnquist gets very high marks on both of these scores by his peers. He was a passionate advocate for the judicial machinery and efficiency. He was never anything but fair in that conference.

In terms of his personal relationships with the justices, I think it's more mixed. If you look through his letters, memos and relationships with the justices, you see a very much more mixed situation which I think is indicative of Rehnquist -- he could at times be remote, taciturn, he could be petty, as all of us can be.

Potential Supreme Court picks if Romney wins. CNN: After years of research, you conclude he was a very complex person. Jenkins: Rehnquist is a man who just had a tremendous amount going on in his mind that he really wasn't revealing to anyone who was around him in the court.

He was trying desperately and passionately to write a novel that he could get published, starting in the early s. He was never successful. He wanted to argue with the rejection letters -- he wasn't accustomed to being told that something that he did was not good. He was also a painter and a gifted cartoonist.

In high school and college, he was a great sketch artist. He was kind of a guy -- like Picasso was to art, he was to law. He could look at a blank piece of paper and he could imagine all sorts of things that could go on it. And he wanted to make time for that.

He could be stern and abrupt and harsh in his judgment. He was like the guy who told you to eat your broccoli. He believed there were certain things that you needed to do -- keep your word, uphold the code. Potential Supreme Court picks if Obama wins second term. CNN: What would Rehnquist think of the current court? Jenkins: Roberts a former law clerk for Rehnquist is his natural heir, and I believe that Rehnquist would be largely satisfied with how things are going.

I don't think the court is operating in a significantly different way than it operated under Rehnquist. The thing that has me scratching my head is what he would say about the Affordable Health Care Act decision in June, upholding the law championed by President Obama , how he would have voted. I don't think Rehnquist would have voted as his successor voted.

A Democratic Senate overwhelmingly confirmed his nomination. On January 7, , Rehnquist took his oath of office as an associate justice. Fourteen years later, President Ronald Reagan nominated him as chief justice, to replace the retiring Warren Burger. William H. Rehnquist's lengthy service on the Supreme Court allowed him to witness — and to influence — a dramatic transition in political ideology, from the liberalism of the Warren and Burger years to an era of more conservative jurisprudence.

In his early days on the Court, Rehnquist often spoke out as the Court's lone dissenter against the expansion of federal power. As chief justice, however, Rehnquist occasionally ruled with his liberal colleagues in decisions that protected gay rights and free speech, for example , and he earned widespread respect for his efficient management of court affairs and his encyclopedic knowledge of constitutional law.