Remembering Rehnquist

Abstract

Remembering Rehnquist SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR William Hubbs Rehnquist spent the last thirty-three years of his life as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, fifteen as an Associate Justice and eighteen as Chief Justice. I met Bill when I was a freshman at Stanford in 1946. He was attending Stanford and working part time as a “hasher” at my dormitory during the evening meal. He amazed all of the young women by carrying such heavy loads of dishes on his tray. Perhaps that is how he learned to carry all those heavy loads in all of the years that followed. He was tall and good-looking, and he had a sharp sense of humor. In 1950—after he had graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford with a B.A. and an M.A., and received another M.A. from Harvard—he and I enrolled at Stanford Law School. He re­ ally put the “Bill” into the “G.I. Bill”: he had attained the rank ofsergeant and had served in the Army Air Corps as a weather observer in the United States and North Africa. Like many of my classmates who had served in the war, he was serious about his studies and eager to get his LL.B. and practice law. Bill was clearly the brightest in our class, always prepared and willing to express his views when asked, and his conservative views were backed up by bril­ liant analysis. We also enjoyed bridge games, charades, and occasional movies. Little did ei­ therofus expectto serve on the Supreme Court one day. Our class was very excited when Bill got a Supreme Court clerkship with Justice Robert Jackson. At that time, not many Stanford law graduates were invited to clerk at the Court. Bill left for Washington in his dilapidated Studebaker for a life in our highest Court. Bill married another undergraduate class­ mate of mine, Nan Cornell, who was bright and engaging and also worked in Washington. After he finished his clerkship, Bill and Nan settled in Phoenix. They wanted a city that was both the political and economic center of its state, and Phoenix suited them. They became the parents of Janet, Jim, and Nancy. When my husband John and I moved to Phoenix af­ ter John’s military service, we enjoyed seeing the Rehnquists on a regular basis. They and two other law-school classmates were our only good friends in Phoenix when we moved there. We had a play-reading group and a bridge group, and we went on family desert outings. Bill was a successful lawyerin a civil prac­ tice, and was active in the Arizona Republi­ can party. He thoroughly enjoyed the practice 6 JOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY Sandra Day O'Connor and William H. Rehn­ quist served together on the Supreme Court for twenty-four years. of law in Arizona and in later years would willingly reminisce about particular opposing lawyers, trial judges, and cases. When he was offered the post ofAssistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel in 1969, the Rehnquists moved to northern Virginia and their children entered the public school system. I remember being surprised at the move away from Arizona, but it seems to have worked out well for Bill: only two years later, President Nixon appointed him to the Supreme Court. I traveled to Washington to attend the joint investiture of Justices Rehnquist and Lewis Powell on January 7, 1972. It was a proud and poignant moment. Warren Burger, who was Chief Justice at the time, grew to admire Justice Rehnquist. As a member of the Court in the post-Earl Warren years, Justice Rehnquist found him­ selffrequently in dissent. In 1986, when Chief Justice Burger retired and President Reagan nominated Justice Rehnquist for ChiefJustice, Bill served ably both as an administratorand as a member ofthe Court. He had no pretenses at all and was always friendly to Justices and staff alike. He never twisted arms to get a vote on a case. He relied on the power ofhis arguments, and he was always fair. Even with the added duties ofa ChiefJus­ tice, Bill Rehnquist enjoyed his family life as well. He attended...