William Rehnquist Becomes Chief Justice
William Rehnquist had been appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, in January 1972, by President Richard Nixon. On this day, he was elevated to Chief Justice by President Ronald Reagan.
He served nearly 19 years as Chief Justice before retiring in September 2005.
Rehnquist was far more conservative than his moderate conservative predecessor, Warren Burger, and he moved the Court in a more anti-civil libertarian direction.
Read About the Rehnquist Court: Mark V. Tushnet, A Court Divided: The Rehnquist Court and the Future of Constitutional Law (2005)
Watch a 2002 Interview with Chief Justice Rehnquist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1M3OORPbJc
Learn more about the Rehnquist Court: Herman Schwartz, The Rehnquist Court: Judicial Activism on the Right (2003)