Who really politicized the Supreme Court? All it took to end the bloody confirmation battles were a few middle-of-the-road nominees.
David StraussDec 19, 2001
WORK DISCUSSED IN THIS ESSAY:
Stephen Carter,
The Confirmation Mess: Cleaning Up the Federal Appointments Process (Basic, 1994).
Before Ronald Reagan nominated Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, Reagan reportedly showed an influential Democratic Senator a list of five possible nominees. The senator, pointing to Bork's name, said, "All of them are acceptable except this one." Reagan nominated Bork anyway, and of course the Senate ultimately rejected him.
