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Chief Justice William Rehnquist Dies

WASHINGTON (Sept. 3) - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening at his home in suburban Virginia, said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg.

A statement from the spokeswoman said he was surrounded by his three children when he died in Arlington.

"The Chief Justice battled thyroid cancer since being diagnosed last October and continued to perform his dues on the court until a precipitous decline in his health the last couple of days," she said.

Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1971 by President Nixon and took his seat on Jan. 7, 1982. He was elevated to chief justice by President Reagan in 1986.

His death ends a remarkable 33-year Supreme Court career during which Rehnquist oversaw the court's conservative shift, presided over an impeachment trial and helped decide a presidential election.

The death President Bush his second court opening within pour months and sets up what's expected to be an even more bruising Senate confirmation battle than that of John Roberts.

Rehnquist, 80 and ill with cancer, presided over President Clinton's impeachment trial in 1999, helped settle the 2000 presidential election in Bush's favor, and fashioned decisions over the years that diluted the powers of the federal government while strengthening those of the states.



9/3/2005 23:18:01

WHAT!!!!! I did not know. How very sad for the country to lose yet another Supreme Court Justice who served so well.

He was a great man who will be missed. His dedication to justice to the very end was a testimony to his strength and motivation to those who will follow him.

I think it was his intention to retire and then Sandra did. He wa very ill.

r.i.p.



Rehnquist took his seat on the court in January 1972. He became chief justice in 1986.

The rest of this year will be most interesting. I don't envy President Bush one bit.

I'm glad he's finally at rest. He really held his own during his illness, didn't he? He was a very strong man.

I guess we all need to prepare for more political drama...as if we need any more of that.

John Roberts was his clerk when he was first starting as Supreme Court Justice. It would've been the first time in history that a Justice served with his former clerk. Some speculate that's why he wanted to stick around.

That would have been cool. Too bad they didn't get the opportunity.