William Rehnquist

William Hubbs Rehnquist (* October 1, 1924 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, † September 3, 2005 in Arlington, Virginia) was an American lawyer and 1986-2005 Presiding Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States ( Chief Justice of the United States).

Life

Rehnquist was a descendant of Swedish immigrants. He was born in 1924 as son of William Benjamin Rehnquist paper merchant and translator born Margery Peck and got the name William Donald. He changed his middle name during his time at the high school in Hubbs, the maiden name of his grandmother. He served from 1943 to 1946 in the U.S. Army. At Stanford University, he earned the title Bachelor, Master and LL.B.; he also possessed a Master of Harvard University. Rehnquist was 1951 and 1952 worked as an intern in the Supreme Court; 1953 to 1969 he practiced in Phoenix, Arizona, as a lawyer. In addition, he was active in the Republican Party, including as a legal adviser in the presidential candidacy of Barry Goldwater in 1964.

1969 Rehnquist went to Washington, D.C. and was there as a representative of the Attorney General ( Assistant Attorney General ) in the Ministry of Justice worked until he officially to the judge (Associate Justice) of the Supreme Court, on 7 January 1972. President Richard Nixon had nominated him as successor to the retiring John Marshall Harlan, and the Senate had agreed with 68:26 voices.

For the 16th Presiding Judge ( Chief Justice ) of the Supreme Federal Tribunal was appointed in 1986 first proposed by President Ronald Reagan William H. Rehnquist after the resignation of Warren E. Burger; here too, the Senate voted, despite violent clashes, eventually with 65:33 to votes. Antonin Scalia took his seat as an Associate Justice.

In his long tenure has the Rehnquist Supreme Court and indirectly influenced the American policy. He was regarded as a pragmatic conservative and was an advocate of a strict interpretation of the text of permanent Constitution of the United States. In appropriate cases, he voted in favor of maintaining or restoring the death penalty, against abortion and for more rights of the individual states ( federalism ). In his early years on the Supreme Court, as this took very liberal positions under Warren Burger, he was often in the minority. His dissenting opinions about Roe v. Wade ( woman's right to abortion ) earned him the nickname " Lone Ranger" a ( lone guardian ). Through his court opinions he strengthened the power of the U.S. President and the Federal States, while at the same time he limited the powers of Congress.

With the appointment of other conservative judges but his views were a majority again, although the court trying not completely overturn earlier decisions. At the latest after his appointment as Chief Justice, he became the majority leader. General was the Supreme Court under Rehnquist as more conservative than in previous compositions. Judge Rehnquist and a slim majority met then the controversial decision of Bush v. Gore (confirmation of election of George Bush as U.S. president ) (December 2000). On the other hand, he also voted with the majority in Dickerson v. United States (Jun. 2000), by which the momentous decision Miranda v. Arizona was confirmed by June 1966 ( the duty of the investigating authorities relating to notify defendants of their rights ) of the liberal Warren Court.

In 1998, he chaired the meetings of the Senate impeachment against President Bill Clinton.

In the years 2004/2005 Rehnquist was unable to attend a large number of sessions of the court, because he was suffering from thyroid cancer. However, he certified in January 2005, President George W. Bush for his second term. However, his disease was speculation aloud if he would not resign early from his office, which intensified after the resignation letter to his colleague Sandra Day O'Connor in July 2005. On July 14, he made but publicly clear that he would keep his job as long as his health would allow him this. He died on 3 September 2005 was the first Judge of the Supreme Court since Fred M. Vinson († 1953), who died in office. The conservative jurist John Roberts was sworn successor Rehnquist and on 29 September 2005 as the new Chief Justice of the United States. Rehnquists body was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Rehnquist was married from 1953 until her death in 1991 with Natalie Cornell. The marriage produced three children.