William Rehnquist

William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer and jurist. He served on the Supreme Court of the United States for 33 years, first as an Associate Justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as Chief Justice from 1986 until his death in 2005. Considered a conservative, he favored a conception of federalism that emphasized the Tenth Amendment’s reservation of powers to the states. He opposed the court’s Roe v. Wade decision and continued to argue that Roe had been incorrectly decided in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

About William Rehnquist in brief

William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer and jurist. He served on the Supreme Court of the United States for 33 years, first as an Associate Justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as Chief Justice from 1986 until his death in 2005. Considered a conservative, he favored a conception of federalism that emphasized the Tenth Amendment’s reservation of powers to the states. He opposed the court’s Roe v. Wade decision and continued to argue that Roe had been incorrectly decided in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. As Chief Justice, he presided over the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. He is the fourth-longest-serving Chief Justice and the eighth-longer-serving Justice. He was a member of the conservative wing of the court, though Associate Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas were often regarded as more conservative. His wife, Sandra O’Connor, was the first woman to serve on the court with whom he dated as well as his future wife, Hillary Clinton. His son, Donald, served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during the final years of World War II. After the war’s end in 1945, he studied political science at Stanford University and Harvard University, then earned a law degree from the Stanford Law School. He went to Washington D.C. to work as a law clerk for Justice Robert H. Jackson during the Court’s 1952–1953 term, then entered private practice in Phoenix, Arizona. He later returned to Stanford and graduated from the same class as Sandra O’Connor, whom he would later date as her future husband.

He died in 2005 at the age of 90. He leaves behind a wife, four children, a son, two step-daughters, and a step-granddaughter. He also leaves a wife and a son-in-law, who he met at Stanford and who he later married. He had three children with his wife, who died of cancer in 2008. He has a daughter with his second wife, Mary Ann Rehnberg, and one with his third wife, Susan Rehnenberg. He and his wife had two children with their third child, who was born in 2010 and died in 2012. He left behind a son and a daughter- in-law who he also served as a legal adviser for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election, and later served as an Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Nixon administration. His father was a sales manager at various times for printing equipment, paper, and medical supplies and devices. His mother was a local civic activist, and his paternal grandparents had immigrated from Sweden. He attended Kenyon College, in Gambier, Ohio, for one quarter in the fall of 1942, and served from 1943–1946, mostly in assignments in theUnited States. In 1948, he received both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degree in political science. In 1950, he attended Harvard Phi Beta Kappa, where he received another Master of Art degree in government. In 1952, he wrote a law clerkship for Associate Justice Robert Jackson.

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