William Rehnquist - Chief Justice

Chief Justice

See also: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Rehnquist Court

When Chief Justice Warren Burger retired in 1986, President Ronald Reagan nominated Rehnquist to fill the position. Although Rehnquist was to the right of Burger, "his colleagues were unanimously pleased and supportive," even his "ideological opposites." The nomination "was met with 'genuine enthusiasm on the part of not only his colleagues on the Court but others who served the Court in a staff capacity and some of the relatively lowly paid individuals at the Court. There was almost a unanimous feeling of joy.'" Justice Thurgood Marshall would later call him "a great Chief Justice."

During confirmation hearings, Senator Edward Kennedy challenged Rehnquist on his unwitting ownership of property that had a restrictive covenant against sale to Jews (such covenants were held to be unenforceable under the 1948 Supreme Court case Shelley v. Kraemer). Despite this and other controversies, including a concern over his membership in the Alfalfa Club (which at the time did not allow women to join), the Senate confirmed his appointment by a 65–33 vote, and he assumed the office on September 26. Rehnquist's seat as an associate justice was filled by newly appointed Antonin Scalia.

In 1999, Rehnquist became the second Chief Justice (after Salmon P. Chase) to preside over a presidential impeachment trial, during the proceedings against President Bill Clinton. In 2000, Rehnquist wrote a concurring opinion in Bush v. Gore, the case that effectively ended the presidential election controversy in Florida. He concurred with four other justices in that case that the Equal Protection Clause barred a "standardless" manual recount of the votes as ordered by the Florida Supreme Court.

In his capacity as Chief Justice, Rehnquist administered the Oath of Office to the following Presidents of the United States:

• George H.W. Bush in 1989
• Bill Clinton in 1993 and 1997
• George W. Bush in 2001 and 2005