William Rehnquist
| William Rehnquist | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 16th Chief Justice of the United States | |
|
In office September 26, 1986 – September 3, 2005 |
|
| Nominated by | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Warren Burger |
| Succeeded by | John Roberts |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
|
In office January 7, 1972 – September 26, 1986 |
|
| Nominated by | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | John Harlan |
| Succeeded by | Antonin Scalia |
| United States Assistant Attorney General for Legal Counsel | |
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In office January 29, 1969 – December 1971 |
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| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Frank Wozencraft |
| Succeeded by | Ralph Erickson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
William Donald Rehnquist October 1, 1924 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died |
September 3, 2005 (aged 80) Arlington, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Nan Cornell (1953–1991) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater |
Stanford University Harvard University |
| Religion | Lutheranism |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1943–1946 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
William Hubbs Rehnquist (October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States for 33 years, first as an Associate Justice from 1972 to 1986, and then as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2005. Considered a conservative, Rehnquist favored a conception of federalism that emphasized the Tenth Amendment's reservation of powers to the states. Under this view of federalism the Court, for the first time since the 1930s, struck down an act of Congress as exceeding its power under the Commerce Clause.
Rehnquist served as chief justice for nearly 19 years, making him the fourth-longest-serving chief justice after John Marshall, Roger Taney, and Melville Fuller, and the longest-serving chief justice who had previously served as an associate justice. The last 11 years of Rehnquist's term as chief justice (1994–2005) marked the second-longest tenure of a single unchanging roster of the Supreme Court, exceeded only between February 1812 and September 1823. He is the eighth-longest-serving justice in Supreme Court history.
Rehnquist was born William Donald Rehnquist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on October 1, 1924. He grew up in the suburb of Shorewood. His father, William Benjamin Rehnquist, was a sales manager at various times for printing equipment, paper, and medical supplies and devices; his mother, Margery Peck Rehnquist—the daughter of a local hardware store owner who also served as an officer and director of a small insurance company—was a local civic activist, as well as translator and homemaker. Rehnquist changed his middle name to Hubbs, a family name, because a numerologist told his mother he would be successful with a middle initial of H. His paternal grandparents immigrated from Sweden.
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