Ronald Reagan Supreme Court Candidates
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Speculation abounded over potential nominations to the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
by
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
even before his presidency officially began, due to the advanced ages of several justices, and Reagan's own highlighting of Supreme Court nominations as a campaign issue. Reagan had promised "to appoint only those opposed to
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
and the ' judicial activism' of the Warren and Burger Courts". Conversely, some opposed to Reagan argued that he could "appoint as many as five Justices" and would "use the opportunity to stack the Court against women, minorities and social justice".


Sandra Day O'Connor nomination

During his 1980 campaign, Reagan pledged that, if given the opportunity, he would appoint the first female Supreme Court Justice.David M. O'Brien, ''Storm Center, Sixth Edition'' (2003), p. 70. That opportunity came in his first year in office when he nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice
Potter Stewart Potter Stewart (January 23, 1915 – December 7, 1985) was an American lawyer and judge who was an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1958 to 1981. During his tenure, he made major contributions to criminal justice reform ...
. O'Connor was approved by the Senate by a vote of 99–0 on September 21, 1981. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) did not vote.


William Rehnquist elevation

In his second term, Reagan elevated
William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist (October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) 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. ...
to succeed
Warren Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul College of Law i ...
as Chief Justice.U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes — Nomination of William Rehnquist
''senate.gov''
Rehnquist's confirmation was largely split along party lines, showing that he had not improved his standing among Senate Democrats since his contentious 1971 nomination to the Court. Rehnquist's elevation to Chief Justice was approved by the Senate by a vote of 65–33 on September 17, 1986. Senators
Jake Garn Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn (born October 12, 1932) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Utah. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1974 to 1993. Garn ...
(R-UT) and
Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...
(R-AZ) did not vote. Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) made public note on the Senate floor that Senator Garn's vote would have been to confirm had he been present. Democratic Senators who voted against Rehnquist's confirmation as an Associate Justice in 1971 and as Chief Justice in 1986 were
Alan Cranston Alan MacGregor Cranston (June 19, 1914 – December 31, 2000) was an American politician and journalist who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from California from 1969 to 1993, and as President of the Citizens for Global S ...
(CA),
Daniel Inouye Daniel Ken Inouye ( , , September 7, 1924 – December 17, 2012) was an American attorney, soldier, and statesman who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. A Medal of Honor recipi ...
(HI), Edward M. Kennedy (MA) and
Claiborne Pell Claiborne de Borda Pell (November 22, 1918 – January 1, 2009) was an American politician and writer who served as a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island for six terms from 1961 to 1997. He was the sponsor of the 1972 bill that reformed the Basic ...
(RI). Two Democrats who voted for Rehnquist's nomination as Associate Justice voted against his nomination as Chief Justice, Thomas Eagleton (MO) and
Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A Democratic Pa ...
(WV).


Antonin Scalia nomination

After deciding to elevate Rehnquist to Chief Justice, Reagan considered both
Robert Bork Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American legal scholar who served as solicitor general of the United States from 1973 until 1977. A professor by training, he was acting United States Attorney General and a judge on ...
and Antonin Scalia to fill the vacant seat left by Rehnquist's elevation, but ultimately chose the younger and more charismatic Scalia. Scalia was approved by the Senate by a vote of 98–0 on September 17, 1986. Senators
Jake Garn Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn (born October 12, 1932) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Utah. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1974 to 1993. Garn ...
(R-UT) and
Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...
(R-AZ) did not vote.


Anthony Kennedy nomination


Robert Bork selection

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
Associate Justice Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. was a moderate/conservative but the "swing vote" on close decisions, and even before his expected retirement on June 27, 1987, Senate Democrats had asked liberal leaders to form "a solid phalanx" to oppose whomever President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
nominated to replace him, assuming the appointment would send the court rightward; Democrats warned Reagan there would be a fight. Reagan considered appointing
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
Senator
Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senat ...
to the seat, but Congress had approved $6,000 pay raises for Supreme Court Justices in February, raising a problem under the Ineligibility Clause of the
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...
, which prohibits a member of Congress from accepting an appointment for which the pay had been increased during that member's term. A memorandum by Assistant Attorney General Charles J. Cooper rejected the notion that a Saxbe fix—a rollback of the salary for the position—could satisfy the Ineligibility Clause. Hatch had been on the short list of two finalists with
Robert Bork Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American legal scholar who served as solicitor general of the United States from 1973 until 1977. A professor by training, he was acting United States Attorney General and a judge on ...
, but after the Ineligibility Clause had been brought to light, Hatch was no longer under consideration. Reagan nominated
Robert Bork Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American legal scholar who served as solicitor general of the United States from 1973 until 1977. A professor by training, he was acting United States Attorney General and a judge on ...
for the seat on July 1, 1987. Within 45 minutes of Bork's nomination to the Court, Ted Kennedy (D-MA) took to the Senate floor with a strong condemnation of Bork in a nationally televised speech, declaring: A brief was prepared for
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
, head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the ''Biden Report''. Bork later said in his best-selling book ''The Tempting of America'' that the report "so thoroughly misrepresented a plain record that it easily qualifies as world class in the category of scurrility". TV ads narrated by
Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...
attacked Bork as an extremist, and Kennedy's speech successfully fueled widespread public skepticism of Bork's nomination. The rapid response of Kennedy's "Robert Bork's America" speech stunned the Reagan White House; though conservatives considered Kennedy's accusations slanderous, the attacks went unanswered for months. A hotly contested
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
debate over Bork's nomination ensued, partly fueled by strong opposition by civil rights and women's rights groups concerned with what they claimed was Bork's desire to roll back civil rights decisions of the Warren and Burger courts. Bork is one of only four Supreme Court nominees to ever be opposed by the
ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...
. Bork was also criticized for being an "advocate of disproportionate powers for the executive branch of Government, almost executive supremacy", as demonstrated by his role in the Saturday Night Massacre. During debate over his nomination, Bork's video rental history was leaked to the press, which led to the enactment of the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act. His video rental history was unremarkable, and included such harmless titles as '' A Day at the Races'', '' Ruthless People'' and '' The Man Who Knew Too Much''. The list of rentals was originally printed by Washington D.C.'s '' City Paper''. To pro-choice legal groups, Bork's originalist views and his belief that the Constitution does not contain a general "
right to privacy The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 185 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. Since the globa ...
" were viewed as a clear signal that, should he become a Justice of the Supreme Court, he would vote to reverse the Court's 1973 decision in '' Roe v. Wade''. Accordingly, a large number of liberal advocacy groups mobilized to press for Bork's rejection, and the resulting 1987 Senate confirmation hearings became an intensely partisan battle. Bork was faulted for his bluntness before the committee, including his criticism of the reasoning underlying '' Roe v. Wade''. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Joe Biden presided over Bork's hearing.''Almanac of American Politics'' 2008, p. 364. Biden stated his opposition to Bork soon after the nomination, reversing an approval in an interview of a hypothetical Bork nomination he had made the previous year and angering conservatives who thought he could not conduct the hearings dispassionately. pp. 138–139, 214, 305. At the close, Biden won praise for conducting the proceedings fairly and with good humor and courage, as his 1988 presidential campaign collapsed in the middle of the hearings. Biden framed his discussion around the belief that the U.S. Constitution provides rights to liberty and privacy that extend beyond those explicitly enumerated in the text, and that Bork's strong originalism was ideologically incompatible with that view. Bork's nomination was rejected in the committee by a 9–5 vote, and then rejected in the full Senate by a 58–42 margin.U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes - Nomination of Robert Bork
''senate.gov''
On October 23, 1987, the Senate rejected Bork's confirmation, with 42 senators voting in favor and 58 voting against. Senators
David Boren David Lyle Boren (April 21, 1941 – February 20, 2025) was an American lawyer and politician from Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 21st governor of Oklahoma from 1975 to 1979 and thr ...
(D-OK) and Ernest Hollings (D-SC) voted in favor, with Senators
John Chafee John Lester Hubbard Chafee ( ; October 22, 1922 – October 24, 1999) was an American politician and officer in the United States Marine Corps. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 66th Governor o ...
(R-RI),
Bob Packwood Robert William Packwood (born September 11, 1932) is an American retired lawyer and politician from Oregon who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1969 to 1995. He resigned from the U.S. Senate under threat of expulsion, in 1995 ...
(R-OR),
Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 â€“ October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...
(R-PA), Robert Stafford (R-VT), John Warner (R-VA) and Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (R-CT) all voting no.


Douglas Ginsburg selection

Following Bork's defeat, Reagan announced his intention to nominate
Douglas H. Ginsburg Douglas Howard Ginsburg (born May 25, 1946) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, U.S. Court of App ...
, a former Harvard Law professor whom Reagan had appointed to the District of Columbia Circuit the previous year. Ginsburg almost immediately came under some fire for an entirely different reason when NPR's
Nina Totenberg Nina Totenberg (born January 14, 1944) is an American legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) focusing primarily on the Supreme Court of the United States. Her reports air regularly on NPR's news magazines ''All Things Consid ...
revealed that Ginsburg had used
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
"on a few occasions" during his student days in the 1960s and while an assistant professor at Harvard in the 1970s. In 1991, a similar admission by then-nominee
Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served since 1991 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. President George H. W. Bush nominated him to succeed Thurgood Marshall. Afte ...
that he had used the drug during his law school days had no effect on his nomination. Prior to being formally nominated, Ginsburg withdrew his name from consideration due to the allegations but remained on the federal appellate bench.


Anthony Kennedy selection

After Ginsburg's withdrawal, Reagan nominated Anthony Kennedy on November 11, 1987, and he was then confirmed to fill the vacancy on February 3, 1988. While vetting Kennedy for potential nomination, some of Reagan's Justice Department lawyers said Kennedy was too eager to put courts in disputes many conservatives would rather leave to legislatures, and to identify rights not expressly written in the Constitution. Kennedy's stance in favor of privacy rights drew criticism; Kennedy cited ''Roe v. Wade'' and other privacy right cases favorably, which one lawyer called "really very distressing". In another of the opinions Kennedy wrote before coming to the Supreme Court, he criticized (in dissent) the police for bribing a child into showing them where the child's mother hid her
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
; Kennedy wrote that "indifference to personal liberty is but the precursor of the state's hostility to it".Greenburg, Jan Crawford. Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court.2007. Penguin Books. Page 55. The Reagan lawyers also criticized Kennedy for citing a report from
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
to bolster his views in that case. Another lawyer said "Generally, ennedyseems to favor the judiciary in any contest between the judiciary and another branch." Kennedy endorsed ''Griswold'' as well as the
right to privacy The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 185 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. Since the globa ...
, calling it "a zone of liberty, a zone of protection, a line that's drawn where the individual can tell the Government, 'Beyond this line you may not go.'"Greenhouse, Linda. Becoming Justice Blackmun. Times Books. 2005. Page 189. This gave Kennedy more bipartisan support than Bork and Ginsburg. The Senate confirmed him by a vote of 97 to 0.


Names frequently mentioned

Following is a list of individuals who were mentioned in various news accounts and books as having been considered by Reagan or being the most likely potential nominees for a Supreme Court appointment under Reagan:


United States Supreme Court (considered for elevation to Chief Justice)

*
William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist (October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) 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. ...
(1924–2005) (Nominated and Elevated) *
Byron White Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White (June 8, 1917 – April 15, 2002) was an American lawyer, jurist, and professional American football, football player who served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, associate justice of the Supreme ...
(1917–2002) * Sandra Day O'Connor (1930-2023)


United States Courts of Appeals

* Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ** Amalya Kearse"Advisers Said to Narrow Choice for Seat on Court", ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' (June 23, 1981), A-15, Column 2.
Elizabeth Olson, "Reagan may have strong hand over high court", ''United Press International'' (November 9, 1980). (born 1937) ** Roger Miner (1934-2012) ** Wiliam Hughes Mulligan (1918-1996) ** Ralph K. Winter Jr. (1935-2020) * Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ** A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. (1928-1998) * Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ** William W. Wilkins Jr. (born 1942) * Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ** Patrick Higginbotham (born 1938) ** Edith Jones (born 1949) * Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ** James L. Ryan (born 1932) ** Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy (1923-2014) * Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ** Pasco Bowman II (born 1933) * Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ** Cynthia Holcomb Hall (1929-2011) ** Anthony Kennedy (born 1936) (Nominated and Confirmed) ** Joseph T. Sneed (1920-2008) ** J. Clifford Wallace (born 1928) * Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit **
Gerald Bard Tjoflat Gerald Bard Tjoflat (born December 6, 1929) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a Senior United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He was appointed in 1975 by President Gerald Ford. He previously ...
(born 1929) * Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit **
Robert Bork Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American legal scholar who served as solicitor general of the United States from 1973 until 1977. A professor by training, he was acting United States Attorney General and a judge on ...
(1927-2012) (Nomination rejected) ** James L. Buckley (1923-2023) **
Douglas H. Ginsburg Douglas Howard Ginsburg (born May 25, 1946) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, U.S. Court of App ...
(born 1946) (Nomination withdrawn) ** Antonin Scalia (1936-2016) (Nominated and Confirmed) ** Laurence Silberman (1935-2022) **
Malcolm Richard Wilkey Malcolm Richard Wilkey (December 6, 1918 – August 15, 2009) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and United States Ambassador to Uruguay. Early life and education Wilkey ...
(1918-2009)


United States District Courts

* Sam C. Pointer Jr. (1934-2008) — Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama * Pamela Ann Rymer (1941-2011) — Judge,
United States District Court for the Central District of California The United States District Court for the Central District of California (in case citations, C.D. Cal.; commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is a United States district court, federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in South ...
* Charles E. Simons Jr. (1916-1999) — Chief Judge,
United States District Court for the District of South Carolina The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (in case citations, D.S.C.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of South Carolina. Court is held in the cities of Aiken, Anderson, Beaufort, Charle ...


State Supreme Courts

* Mary S. Coleman (1914-2001) — Chief Justice of the
Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the s ...
* C. Bruce Littlejohn (1913-2007) — Associate Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court * Dallin H. Oaks (born 1932) — Associate Justice of the
Utah Supreme Court The Utah Supreme Court is the supreme court of the state of Utah, United States. It has final authority of interpretation of the Utah Constitution. The Utah Supreme Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, an associate chief justice ...
* Frank K. Richardson (1914-1999) — Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court * Susie Sharp (1907-1996) — Chief Justice of the
North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...
* David H. Souter (born 1939) — Associate Justice of the
New Hampshire Supreme Court The New Hampshire Supreme Court is the state supreme court, supreme court of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and sole appellate court of the state. The Supreme Court is seated in the state capital, Concord, New Hampshire, Concord. The Court is ...
(Nominated in 1990 by
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
and Confirmed)


United States Senators

*
Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senat ...
(1934-2022) — Utah * Howell Heflin (1921-2005) — Alabama * Paul Laxalt (1922-2018) — Nevada


Members of the United States House of Representatives

* Henry J. Hyde (1924-2007) – Illinois


Administration officials

* William P. Clark Jr. (1931-2013) — Deputy Secretary of StateSteven R. Weisman, "Reagan Aides Say 'Short List' of Candidates for Court is Ready", ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' (July 1, 1981), A-19, Column 1.
* Elizabeth Dole (born 1936) — assistant to the President for public liaison, later Secretary of Transportation *
Edwin Meese Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) is an American attorney, law professor, author and member of the Republican Party who served in Ronald Reagan's gubernatorial administration (1967–1974), the Reagan presidential transition team (1980â ...
(born 1931) — Counselor to the President and later
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
* William French Smith (1917-1990) —
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
* William H. Webster (born 1924) Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation


Other backgrounds

* Anne L. Armstrong (1927-2008) — former ambassador to Britain * Sylvia Bacon (1931-2023) — District of Columbia superior court judge * William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. (1920-2017) — former
United States Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...
* Rita Hauser (born 1934) — former representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights *
Carla Anderson Hills Carla Anderson Hills (born January 3, 1934) is an American lawyer and former government official. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, she previously served as the 5th United States secretary of housing and urban dev ...
(born 1934) — former
United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development The United States secretary of housing and urban development is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and thirteenth in the presidential line of succession. T ...
* Joan Dempsey Klein (1924-2020) — California appeals court judge * Mildred Lillie (1915-2002) — California appeals court judge * Wade H. McCree (1920-1987) — former
United States Solicitor General The solicitor general of the United States (USSG or SG), is the fourth-highest-ranking official within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and represents the federal government in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. ...
* Sandra Day O'Connor (1930-2023) — judge of the
Arizona Court of Appeals The Arizona Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Arizona. It is divided into two divisions, with a total of twenty-eight judges on the court: nineteen in Division 1, based in Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, and nine in ...
(Nominated and Confirmed) * A. Kenneth Pye (1931-1994) — former President of Duke Law School * William P. Rogers (1913-2001) — former
United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...


See also

*
United States federal judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. S ...
* Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reagan, Ronald, Supreme Court candidates United States Supreme Court candidates by president Supreme Court candidates