The Court Remembers Its Chief Justice
William H. Rehnquist's Career and Legacy
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died at his Arlington, Virginia, home on September 3, 2005, at the age of 80, after battling thyroid cancer for nearly a year. He had served on the Supreme Court since being nominated to be an associate justice by President Richard M. Nixon in 1972. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan elevated him to chief justice. He was the fourth-longest-serving chief justice in American history and the first justice to die in office since 1954.Prior to joining the Court, Rehnquist served as an assistant attorney general in the Nixon Administration and as a law clerk for…
