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Supreme Court · Chief Justice

William Rehnquist

Republican appointee: Appointed by Richard M. Nixon (R)

Served 1971–2005 · 34 terms

Confirmed 68–26

Elevated to Chief Justice by Ronald Reagan, 1986

Biography

William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American attorney who served as the 16th chief justice of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2005, having previously been an associate justice from 1972 to 1986. Considered a staunch conservative, Rehnquist favored a conception of federalism that emphasized the Tenth Amendment's reservation of powers to the states.

Source: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ideology over time

Rehnquist and the 16 justices who overlapped with Rehnquist, 1971–2004

−8−6−4−20+2+4+6197519801985199019952000More conservativeMore liberalThomasScaliaBurgerRehnquistPowellStewartWhiteKennedyO'ConnorBreyerSouterGinsburgBlackmunStevensBrennanMarshall
  • William Rehnquist
  • 95% credible interval
  • Peer, appointed by a Democrat
  • Peer, appointed by a Republican
  • Court median
How to read this

Martin–Quinn scores place each justice on a single liberal–conservative dimension, estimated from their votes across terms, with scores allowed to shift from one term to the next. Higher is more conservative. The shaded band is the credible interval: wider when the record is thin, especially in a justice’s first terms, and narrower as votes accumulate.

Where Rehnquist sits among all justices

Career average, every justice in the data set

−4−20+2+41.264.52

Rehnquist’s range across terms

Served alongside Rehnquist

16 justices

Closest career average first. Filled dot: the peer. Ring: Rehnquist.

JusticeTogetherCareer avg
Clarence Thomas1991–2004career average 3.40 versus Rehnquist at 2.97Antonin Scalia1986–2004career average 2.50 versus Rehnquist at 2.97Warren Burger1971–1985career average 1.89 versus Rehnquist at 2.97Sandra O'Connor1981–2004career average 1.02 versus Rehnquist at 2.97Lewis Powell1971–1986career average 0.97 versus Rehnquist at 2.97Anthony Kennedy1987–2004career average 0.68 versus Rehnquist at 2.97Byron White1971–1992career average 0.44 versus Rehnquist at 2.97Potter Stewart1971–1980career average 0.40 versus Rehnquist at 2.97Harry Blackmun1971–1993career average −0.03 versus Rehnquist at 2.97David Souter1990–2004career average −0.77 versus Rehnquist at 2.97Stephen Breyer1994–2004career average −1.32 versus Rehnquist at 2.97Ruth Ginsburg1993–2004career average −1.76 versus Rehnquist at 2.97William Brennan1971–1989career average −1.78 versus Rehnquist at 2.97John Stevens1975–2004career average −1.81 versus Rehnquist at 2.97Thurgood Marshall1971–1990career average −2.82 versus Rehnquist at 2.97William Douglas1971–1975career average −4.70 versus Rehnquist at 2.97

How Rehnquist voted

Every argued case Rehnquist took part in, newest first, with how Rehnquist voted in each: with the majority, in dissent, or in an equally divided Court. A Liberal or Conservative tag is the Supreme Court Database’s coding of who prevailed in the case, not a rating of the justices.

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    Data notes

    The Decisions page’s argued cases with this justice’s vote from the Supreme Court Database. “Majority” includes a concurrence; a vote that dissented in part is coded by the side the justice took overall. Cases the justice sat out and equally divided cases are left out of the percentages. “Wrote” means authored an opinion. Source: Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.).

    Report a correction

    Scores: Martin, Andrew D. and Kevin M. Quinn. 2002. “Dynamic Ideal Point Estimation via Markov Chain Monte Carlo for the U.S. Supreme Court, 1953–1999.” Political Analysis 10:134–153, from mqscores.wustl.edu. Appointment data: Federal Judicial Center biographical directory. Biographies: Wikipedia, text abridged, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Portraits: public-domain images via Wikimedia Commons.