Replacement As Chief Justice
Rehnquist's death, just over two months after O'Connor announced her impending retirement, left two vacancies to be filled by President George W. Bush. On September 5, 2005, Bush withdrew the nomination of Judge John Glover Roberts, Jr. of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to replace O'Connor as Associate Justice, and instead nominated him to replace Rehnquist as Chief Justice. Roberts was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in as the new Chief Justice on September 29, 2005. Roberts had clerked for Rehnquist in 1980–1981. O'Connor, who had made the effective date of her resignation the confirmation of her successor, continued to serve on the Supreme Court until the confirmation and swearing in of Samuel Alito in January 2006.
Eulogizing his predecessor in the Harvard Law Review, Roberts wrote that Rehnquist was "direct, straightforward, utterly without pretense – and a patriot who loved and served his country. He was completely unaffected in manner."
Read more about this topic: William Rehnquist
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