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William H. Rehnquist Biography

U.S. Supreme Court Judge / Jurist

William Hubbs Rehnquist was Chief Justice of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2005. Rehnquist was in private practice in Arizona when President Richard Nixon appointed him to a position in the Justice Department in 1969. In 1972 he was confirmed as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. President Ronald Reagan nominated Justice Rehnquist to the position of Chief Justice after the retirement of Warren Burger, and he was confirmed in 1986. Justice Rehnquist wrote several books, including All the Laws But One: Civil Liberties in Wartime (1998) and Grand Inquests: The Historic Impeachments of Justice Samuel Chase and President Andrew Johnson (1992). In 1999 he presided over the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. Rehnquist remained on the court until his death from thyroid cancer during the court's 2005 summer recess. He was succeeded as Chief Justice by John Roberts.

Extra credit: Rehnquist's death left two openings on the Supreme Court: Sandra Day O'Connor retired earlier in 2005... Rehnquist served as a weather observer in the Army Air Corps during World War II (1943-46)... He graduated first in his class from Stanford Law School in 1952... John Marshall had the longest term as Chief Justice, serving in the post for 34 years (1801-1835).

Other American Supreme Court justices include Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. and William Howard Taft.

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